postshawn
New member
So I'm still new with this coral stuff. I tried in the past with a couple softies but didn't do to well. But I wasn't using the right equipment. I finally figured I'd get the SuperLux because it was such a good deal but then I decided what the heck and got the Photon 16.
So a little bit about my setup. Tank is a 70g 36" tall corner unit. It's a custom tank that I picked up second hand. I now now I hate tall tanks, especially on tall stands. The stand is also 36" so plus the canopy the top of this tank sits at over 6 feet tall. Anyway, I don't have the money, time or space right now to go with a different setup. Behind this tank is a 15g sump. The display probably has about 60lbs of live rock and another 10-20 in the sump. In the sump I run a AquaC Remora protein skimmer and it actually does pretty well. I have a small UV light from my old 29g which I may upgrade to a larger one if I need it. My tanks stats have been pretty good with the exception of I had some high nitrates and my PH was only at 8.0. So I did some water changes and treated the nitrates with a nitrate reducing pouch I put in the sump. Two weeks later my PH is near 8.2 and my Nitrates are a lot lower. And finally the ReefBreeders Photon 16 sits at the top of my canopy so about 6 inches from the top of the tank. I couldn't fit any wider because it would have gone off the side of the tank.
A few weeks ago I had a small crash of some sort because the few corals I had started deteriorating. Since then I've been doing water changes, treating what I can and I think with the new lights they've been leveling off and maybe starting to come back. I think it was mainly that I slacked on water changes and my water was getting dirty, even for the hardy soft corals.
So my plan is I've been doing ok with fish I just wanted to add some beginner soft corals. I'll probably stick with soft corals because I don't want anything harder to take care of in this tank. One day when I get a different setup that allows easier maintenance I might try other things. I pretty much have spots at all different levels of the tank I can fit the corals depending on their needs. As far as placement the notes are that the light is 6" above the top of the tank and at the bottom if have 4-6" of sand bed so it still comes out to about 36" of depth possible at the bottom. My LFS said I don't really need to use additives since these corals are mostly going get nutrients from whatever is in my water. Would soft corals benefit from a GFO and maybe a Carbon reactor?
MY QUESTIONS ARE:
1 - How high of a intensity should I have the Photon 16 set for? I set it up 2 weeks ago. I had the blues max out at 30 and the whites at 20 to start the acclimation to the new light. Then after a week I changed it to blue at 40% and whites at 30%. They slowly ramp up over a few hours, stay at max for 4 hours and slow ramp down for a few hours with the blues coming in first and turning off last. So after the two weeks should I keep upping the intensity? Will a hight intensity help in a deeper tank?
2 - So since I'm new at the corals I wonder where I should have them placed. I ask this here because I'm not sure if the light intensity has anything to directly do with their placement. Here's what I have right now and where they have been placed for how long.
MUSHROOMS:
- 1 Hairy Green Mushroom. Places about 30" down. Got it a year ago and did ok for a long time until a month ago and it started shrinking and not doing well. It's attached to the rock so I can't move it. But with the new lights it seems to be maybe slowly coming back to better health. That would be a good thing because my clown pair have been hosting with it and would hate to see it go.
- 1 Red Mushroom. Got it a week ago. It's about 26" down. Seems to be ok. I can move this if needed.
- 5 Green Mushrooms. They are about 26-24" down. They can be moved if needed. Got a couple a year ago and same as the Hairy one. They were good, started declining and now looking a little better. And picked up another 3 on one rock a week ago that seem to be doing well.
ZOAS:
- 4 heads of Watermelon Zoas added a week ago. I placed them half way down and sort of on the side of the light. They get light but they aren't right in the middle. They are doing well and opening up nicely. Can be moved if needed.
- 5 heads of another Zoa that I don't remember the name of. 2 of the heads are starting to open up more. 3 heads are still most closed but look like they are loosening up a little to open soon. When they open all the way I'll ID them better. Can be moved if needed.
GREEN STAR POLYP:
- I got a nice 2 inch rock covered in them a week ago. They are currently placed at the top of my tank, about 6" down (so almost 12" from the light) and they seem to be doing well. If they can take it I would like to move them near the bottom on their own rock so they don't take over the top of my tank. I don't know how deep (for the light) they can go. Will they work at the bottom of my deep tank?
XENIA:
- I have a nice 3 stalk small Xenia added a week ago also. It's also placed at the same level currently as the Star Polyps. If they can take a deeper light I'd like to move them to a spot another 6-8" down (total of 18ish from the light).
FINGER LEATHER:
- A year ago I got a Toadstool Leather Coral frag. The toadstool eventually died off but under it was a finger leather that grew a little. It also started to not do well but might be having a resurgence with the new light and water treatments. Time will tell I guess. It's also placed at the same level of the Star Polyps and Xenia. It can also be moved if needed.
Just for the info my fish stock is:
- Pair of Percula Clowns. They like to host with the green hairy mushroom at the bottom.
- 1 Rusty Angelfish. He's my little bastard as it likes to pick on the others. They do fine with him though and he only chases them away and doesn't actually harm anyone else.
- 1 Female Swallowtail Angelfish (Spotbreast Angelfish). This is my biggest fish at 5 inches. Very docile and has been a great fish. Very hardy too. I love this gal.
- 1 Male Melanurus Wrasse (Hoeven's Wrasse). Also a beautiful fish. Not as jumpy as my past wrasses. (two other wrasses jumped out of my tanks in the past. One found the one 1" spot to jump out of). Still a bit timid and hasn't been a bother that I can tell to any corals or other fish. My snails do die off and the two peppermint shrimp I had at different times have disappeared so I don't know if he's the culprit for another of this.
- 3 Pajama Cardinal fish. Kind of boring but add a nice hardy small school of fish look to the tank. Peaceful to the rest. One of them seems to be the boss of the 3.
- GONE 1 Foxface Rabbit Fish. (Foxface Lo? the one without the spot.) It died about 3 months ago. I don't know why. It just one day over night looked a bit pale and then by 2 days later it died. I retrieved it out of the tank as quickly as possible and did a water change right after. No other fish seemed sick and since then no other fish have any sickness. It's a shame because it was a great fish. It didn't pick on any other fish or corals that I can tell. The mean Rusty Angle would sometimes try to pick on it but that dorsal spine would stick up and the angle would retreat. They actually seem to play with each other and hang out.
- WANT. I want a bottom fish once things are fully stable with the corals and light. Not sure what yet but we'll see.
Thanks,
Shawn
So a little bit about my setup. Tank is a 70g 36" tall corner unit. It's a custom tank that I picked up second hand. I now now I hate tall tanks, especially on tall stands. The stand is also 36" so plus the canopy the top of this tank sits at over 6 feet tall. Anyway, I don't have the money, time or space right now to go with a different setup. Behind this tank is a 15g sump. The display probably has about 60lbs of live rock and another 10-20 in the sump. In the sump I run a AquaC Remora protein skimmer and it actually does pretty well. I have a small UV light from my old 29g which I may upgrade to a larger one if I need it. My tanks stats have been pretty good with the exception of I had some high nitrates and my PH was only at 8.0. So I did some water changes and treated the nitrates with a nitrate reducing pouch I put in the sump. Two weeks later my PH is near 8.2 and my Nitrates are a lot lower. And finally the ReefBreeders Photon 16 sits at the top of my canopy so about 6 inches from the top of the tank. I couldn't fit any wider because it would have gone off the side of the tank.
A few weeks ago I had a small crash of some sort because the few corals I had started deteriorating. Since then I've been doing water changes, treating what I can and I think with the new lights they've been leveling off and maybe starting to come back. I think it was mainly that I slacked on water changes and my water was getting dirty, even for the hardy soft corals.
So my plan is I've been doing ok with fish I just wanted to add some beginner soft corals. I'll probably stick with soft corals because I don't want anything harder to take care of in this tank. One day when I get a different setup that allows easier maintenance I might try other things. I pretty much have spots at all different levels of the tank I can fit the corals depending on their needs. As far as placement the notes are that the light is 6" above the top of the tank and at the bottom if have 4-6" of sand bed so it still comes out to about 36" of depth possible at the bottom. My LFS said I don't really need to use additives since these corals are mostly going get nutrients from whatever is in my water. Would soft corals benefit from a GFO and maybe a Carbon reactor?
MY QUESTIONS ARE:
1 - How high of a intensity should I have the Photon 16 set for? I set it up 2 weeks ago. I had the blues max out at 30 and the whites at 20 to start the acclimation to the new light. Then after a week I changed it to blue at 40% and whites at 30%. They slowly ramp up over a few hours, stay at max for 4 hours and slow ramp down for a few hours with the blues coming in first and turning off last. So after the two weeks should I keep upping the intensity? Will a hight intensity help in a deeper tank?
2 - So since I'm new at the corals I wonder where I should have them placed. I ask this here because I'm not sure if the light intensity has anything to directly do with their placement. Here's what I have right now and where they have been placed for how long.
MUSHROOMS:
- 1 Hairy Green Mushroom. Places about 30" down. Got it a year ago and did ok for a long time until a month ago and it started shrinking and not doing well. It's attached to the rock so I can't move it. But with the new lights it seems to be maybe slowly coming back to better health. That would be a good thing because my clown pair have been hosting with it and would hate to see it go.
- 1 Red Mushroom. Got it a week ago. It's about 26" down. Seems to be ok. I can move this if needed.
- 5 Green Mushrooms. They are about 26-24" down. They can be moved if needed. Got a couple a year ago and same as the Hairy one. They were good, started declining and now looking a little better. And picked up another 3 on one rock a week ago that seem to be doing well.
ZOAS:
- 4 heads of Watermelon Zoas added a week ago. I placed them half way down and sort of on the side of the light. They get light but they aren't right in the middle. They are doing well and opening up nicely. Can be moved if needed.
- 5 heads of another Zoa that I don't remember the name of. 2 of the heads are starting to open up more. 3 heads are still most closed but look like they are loosening up a little to open soon. When they open all the way I'll ID them better. Can be moved if needed.
GREEN STAR POLYP:
- I got a nice 2 inch rock covered in them a week ago. They are currently placed at the top of my tank, about 6" down (so almost 12" from the light) and they seem to be doing well. If they can take it I would like to move them near the bottom on their own rock so they don't take over the top of my tank. I don't know how deep (for the light) they can go. Will they work at the bottom of my deep tank?
XENIA:
- I have a nice 3 stalk small Xenia added a week ago also. It's also placed at the same level currently as the Star Polyps. If they can take a deeper light I'd like to move them to a spot another 6-8" down (total of 18ish from the light).
FINGER LEATHER:
- A year ago I got a Toadstool Leather Coral frag. The toadstool eventually died off but under it was a finger leather that grew a little. It also started to not do well but might be having a resurgence with the new light and water treatments. Time will tell I guess. It's also placed at the same level of the Star Polyps and Xenia. It can also be moved if needed.
Just for the info my fish stock is:
- Pair of Percula Clowns. They like to host with the green hairy mushroom at the bottom.
- 1 Rusty Angelfish. He's my little bastard as it likes to pick on the others. They do fine with him though and he only chases them away and doesn't actually harm anyone else.
- 1 Female Swallowtail Angelfish (Spotbreast Angelfish). This is my biggest fish at 5 inches. Very docile and has been a great fish. Very hardy too. I love this gal.
- 1 Male Melanurus Wrasse (Hoeven's Wrasse). Also a beautiful fish. Not as jumpy as my past wrasses. (two other wrasses jumped out of my tanks in the past. One found the one 1" spot to jump out of). Still a bit timid and hasn't been a bother that I can tell to any corals or other fish. My snails do die off and the two peppermint shrimp I had at different times have disappeared so I don't know if he's the culprit for another of this.
- 3 Pajama Cardinal fish. Kind of boring but add a nice hardy small school of fish look to the tank. Peaceful to the rest. One of them seems to be the boss of the 3.
- GONE 1 Foxface Rabbit Fish. (Foxface Lo? the one without the spot.) It died about 3 months ago. I don't know why. It just one day over night looked a bit pale and then by 2 days later it died. I retrieved it out of the tank as quickly as possible and did a water change right after. No other fish seemed sick and since then no other fish have any sickness. It's a shame because it was a great fish. It didn't pick on any other fish or corals that I can tell. The mean Rusty Angle would sometimes try to pick on it but that dorsal spine would stick up and the angle would retreat. They actually seem to play with each other and hang out.
- WANT. I want a bottom fish once things are fully stable with the corals and light. Not sure what yet but we'll see.
Thanks,
Shawn
Last edited:
