What kind of corals CANT i keep ??

[badazztealcobra]

Hey everyone, I finally have my tank setup and things are going great so far. Im trying to find out what kind of corals I need to stay away from with the setup I have. I have a Oceanic Biocube 29 gallon tank, and I have the nanotuners 4.36 mod done to it. I have 144w total with that light kit, with 2 being actinic, one 10K, and one 50/50 which is a 10K and 7100K in the same bulb. I assume with this PC lighting there is some corals which I shouldnt even attempt, and wanted to know if there is just a general rule of thumb to stay away from. Keep in mind that it is exactly 13" from the bulbs to the top of the substrate. So although it is only 144w's worth of power compacts, it is extremely strong lighting, atleast it looks like it compared to some tanks I see at LFS's.

Thanks in advance guys/gals...

Doug

 

[reefer718]

For shure all soft corals, not too shure about SPS or clams

 

[Sullyman]

I agree, you've got a nice set, but clams and sps won't like it. Softies and some lps will give you good results with your set up.

 

[paininthewrasse]

Def no clams, and no SPS.

 

[badazztealcobra]

What about like a BTA... I wanted to try to keep one to host a clown in the tank... I know they will be coming out with a MH conversion for the tank shortly, Im just really impatient and had to go get this kit to tide me over for awhile...

You can definitely see the difference in the lighting between the stock and the modded.... look at the walls behind the tank to see how much is coming through there now....

Stock:

New nanotuner kit:

The pics dont even show how much brighter it is, I couldnt believe it.

Okay, so no clams or sps's.... sounds good. Although ive seen a few really cool clams... ( never thought id hear myself say that a few months ago. )

 

[glassbox-design]

Most sps would not do well. But Digitata and other easy to keep sps would be alright. I've grown and propagated digitata and slimers under 2 NO flors. It's about water quality and clarity when dealing with lower or limited light. With that said stick to the softies and LPS, if they do well 6+months from now maybe try a green digitata frag up high in the tank.

e+f

 

[nmprisons]

softies, all LPS, many montipora would be fine.

no clams, no acropora

 

[reefer718]

defenetly more lr lol

 

[NewSchool04]

allright, I'm going to go against what everyone says. I think you can keep any type of coral, acro's, LPS, clams, etc. It's not a light issue, you have enough light.

Your problem will be keeping the water clean in such a small system.

If you are dedicated to doing massive water changes, then I think you can be successful in keeping acros. If you are not that dedicated, go with some LPS and a BTA w/ clowns, zoa's and you will not have problems.

 

[badazztealcobra]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8469014#post8469014 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefer718
defenetly more lr lol

HAHAHA, I know, that was just some stuff that I got from someone on here that was getting rid of it, I actually got rid of that rock and 95% of that live sand and re-did the whole aquascaping. I now have around 26 pounds of rock in there, and a thin layer of some larger size substrate since it was blowing around WAY too much with my flow in the tank.

I upgraded the pump from the stock 243GPH to a 350 GPH unit. I modded the back chamber to allow me to squeeze a Tunze nano-skimmer 9002 into the unit. I will also be adding a Tunze 6025 nanostream as soon as they become available. So I'll have plenty of flow and some good cleaning....

I was planning on 3-5 gallons a week of water changes, does that fit into your "massive" description ?? Seemed like a good amount to perform...

 

[TheGent]

I would suggest that you keep on the 5 gal side of the water changes. I change out 3 gallons a week in a 12g nano and have had fantastic results. My lighting is higher in terms of w/gal, but I've have very little issue with acros. I needed to add more flow and a spray bar though to get good polyp extention.

The one thing I believe you will have issues with (I did and a lot of nanos do) is tempature stability. When I first got the nano it would swing betwen 84 to 78 during a day. Open top and a fan later, the tank is a solid 78.

 

[badazztealcobra]

My temps do fluctuate, but not too bad... atleast I dont think theyre too bad... at night I see 77.8 usually and during the day with all 4 bulbs going the highest Ive seen is 79.1 on the thermostat... usually in the high 78's...

 

[badazztealcobra]

Well, I just got word that Nanotuners will be releasing a (2) 70w MH with 1-36w PC kit within the next few weeks. I will definitely be upgrading to that, I assume it would be okay to keep clams and SPS with that much lighting ?? I would assume with the 140w of MH, and then make the 36w an actinic ???

Now the only problem I can forsee is keeping all that heat under control.

Why did nobody inform me how expensive this hobby was before I started ?!?!? I feel like im starting paintball all over again when I used to travel all over to play... got expensive REALLY fast.