photoperiod, mixed reef with PC

[aquarius77]

I have a ten gallon tank with some acro frags some pink birdsnest frags and some soft stuff like shrooms, GSP, yellow colony and xenia.
Nemo and the inverts too...

The light is a 96 watt coralife light. it has 2 10,000k and 2 atinic 03 tubes, i originally had it on when it got turned on and off, then i got timers and set a 14 hour photoperiod.
I later deemed this to be excessive and bringin on the alge pretty good, so i cut it to 12 hours
I have since done countless hours worth of reading and i still have two questions i would love answered:

With my Livestock what photoperiod should i use? When the daylight is not on i have a 1 watt blue led moon light.

How much should i feed Nemo? He is a gold banded maroon clown
I have been giving him either New Life Spectrum Marine pellets or Formula 2 flakes once a day, he eats agressively when i feed and i am wondering if i am starvin the guy.

Any comments are welcomed and all advice is appreciated.

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[aquarius77]

Bump!

 

[Snakebyt]

12 hours is plenty, you will never get a solid answer to what is the best, just do what you feel comfortable with, and what works well with the tank.

the fish is getting plenty to eat, once a day feeding is plenty

 

[stereomandan]

Do you have fish in the nano? In a 10g, almost any fish will add a large bioload.

Anytime you add a lot of light, algae will appear until things settle out.

I would say 10 hours.

Dan

 

[aquarius77]

Yes i have one small gold banded maroon clown in there.

I have a small 201 powerhead wich i run blowing at the surface some weeks and some weeks I blow it down acrossed the back wall, it is turned down to a little less than half flow, wich is the lowest i can go without it blowing bubbles, a aquatech 30-60 gallon filter loaded with live rock and some floss to catch fine stuff that I rinse in tank water every time i do a water change.

How often should i change out water? I seem to be doing it sometimes 2 times a week. I would say i change out about 2-3 gallons of water a week. I use RO/DI water from the LFS(not so local).

Is this excessive?

 

[aquarius77]

BTW
My powerhead is on the timer with my lights so it only flows when the lights are on.

 

[stereomandan]

I would keep the powerhead on 24/7 as long as it's not blasting any certain coral, etc. The ocean motion doesn't stop at night all the time.

Gold Striped Maroons are awesome, but if you are going reef in a 10g, then he adds a decent amount of bioload. There is no problem, but be aware that it will add to the algae potential. It is one of the drawbacks of a nano.

I love nano's and am constantly impressed with many I see. Most don't have fish though. If I were to recommend a fish for a nano, it would be a green or yellow clown goby.

Dan

 

[aquarius77]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8221587#post8221587 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stereomandan
I would keep the powerhead on 24/7 as long as it's not blasting any certain coral, etc. The ocean motion doesn't stop at night all the time.

Dan

Thank you for your reply, it makes good sense and i just went and changed my powerhead to an untimed socket

 

[ADA33]

I think it gets a little calmer at night. I set my wavemaker for less turbulent waters at night. I think my fish appreciate it.

 

[Zoos]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8220547#post8220547 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Snakebyt
12 hours is plenty, you will never get a solid answer to what is the best, just do what you feel comfortable with, and what works well with the tank.

the fish is getting plenty to eat, once a day feeding is plenty

I agree people some peeple say 3-4 hours. some say 12

 

[kass03]

I always ran my PC's for 14 hrs a day. 12 daylight and 14 actinic.

I would run the powerhead 24/7 especially at night when O2 is less. I'm not sure how many gph that powerhead puts out but if it fits you might wanna try a hydorflo on it. They go around in a cirlce to aim flow everywhere. I use one in my aquapod. They also slow down the flow a bit.
heres what a hydorflo is
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=0&Nty=1

Maroon clowns get big and have a reputation for being the nastiest of the clowns. Especially in a small tank. I wouldnt add anymore fish to that tank. Live aquaria recommends a 30 gal for minimum tank size for them.

kass

 

[aquarius77]

I have seen the tank requirements for the maroon clowns...
I could not help myself they are such beautiful fish. I do have many larger tanks here but they are all freshwater so maybe someday i will upgrade? It has been my plan all along to only keep one fish so im not stressing on that.

Thank you for your replies on lighting and flow, its good to hear from people with experience.

Any thoughts on my water changes?


Kevin