Moved my reef tank

[crb530]

Hey guys its been a while sense i have been on here.

i started my 10 gallon reef tank may of last year and well after a full year i decided that it was time to move up to a 20 gallon tank.

so i bought ten more pounds of live sand and a couple more pounds of live rock (i already had 20 pounds) after adding all that and getting the new tank set up i moved the rest of my rock over to the new tank and bought a new light (130 wat pc). i knew it would through up a mini cycle so i was scared of losing alot of stuff. (might i add all the corals i have payed for still have not been moved into the new tank they are in my brothers 29 gallon thriving so why move them right?)

well good news is after the move all my fish lived (clown, blue damsol, high fin banded goby) sense then i did by one more clown sense i had the room. bad news is the clowns killed the goby (well kind the popped one of his bladers and now he can barely swim) and my BTA didnt make the move which was very sad.

confused on why my bta died (being it was fine when i turned the lights off and died when i turned them on) i ran some test and every thing seemed fine. i dont have the exact numbers because i dont remember nitrate was a little high but thats all. or so i thought......

i started testing other things and my calicum was through the ruff and i mean scary high 820ppm is what it tested at today now here is the thing i dont dose cal because i have no need to so why is it so high and how do i get it back down so i can move my corals back into the tank?



i know i have been rambling but that is my question how do i deal with the calicum

thanks,
chris

 

[Jimbo7]

I would imagine your BTA died because it didnt have enough light or space to recover from the stress of the move. They really need a larger aquarium then that to really thrive.

Do a full work up, or have your LFS do one if you don't have all the kits.
Post em here. Calcium levels are dependent on a couple other levels as well.

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
Calcium:
Magnesium:
Alkalinity:
pH:
Salinity:
Temp:

 

[crb530]

Wait so 130wats of PC on a 20 gallon tank is not enough

 

[mrg02d]

Wait so 130wats of PC on a 20 gallon tank is not enough

130W of PC is likely 65W of usable light. Im guessing you have two 65w 50/50 bulbs, right? That would mean 65W total of 10,000k light 65W of actinic (aesthetic) light. 65W of PC light isnt much over a 20g. I dont think any nems will live well under PC anyways. Nems are kinda finicky from what I read anyways...It may have died from the stress of moving, but most likely wasnt happy at all with the lighting situation.

It might have died due to whatever reason your calcium is out of wack. Something with your water chemistry is wrong for calcium to go up that high and not fall out of solution. My thing isnt chemistry though, its electricity.
Matt

 

[Jimbo7]

Try not to think in terms of watts over gallons. Watts per gallon is a good estimating tool for beginning but doesn't have much pertinence past basic. What matters more then watts is intensity and quality of light. PC bulbs are about the bottom of the selection as far as both criteria go. You could have 250w of PC and a 250w MH bulb, and I guarantee you the MH will grow better and look better.

PC really don't have the quality or intensity to sustain a BTA under anything less then perfect conditions, and even then probably not long term. You are looking at a large T5HO fixture at minimum, with MH and LEDs as an acceptable alternative. T8s and PC almost always are not going to cut it.

HTH

 

[crb530]

130W of PC is likely 65W of usable light. Im guessing you have two 65w 50/50 bulbs, right? That would mean 65W total of 10,000k light 65W of actinic (aesthetic) light. 65W of PC light isnt much over a 20g. I dont think any nems will live well under PC anyways. Nems are kinda finicky from what I read anyways...It may have died from the stress of moving, but most likely wasnt happy at all with the lighting situation.

It might have died due to whatever reason your calcium is out of wack. Something with your water chemistry is wrong for calcium to go up that high and not fall out of solution. My thing isnt chemistry though, its electricity.
Matt

the bulbs it has is 1 65wat 12000k and 1 65wat atinic i wann say 18000k not sure off hand and it is set up all on timers so the blue turns on first and all

ok well if i wanted to go t5ho how much should i do then

i wanna grow what ever

i manly have softys and some lps' but i may want some stonies

 

[Jimbo7]

If you get a 24" T5 fixture with 4 bulbs you will probably be able to do just about anything. If you think you might get into the real high line stuff, I might go with the 6. Not a lot is available for smaller tanks and T5, ideally you might want to do a 70 or 150w MH.

Your best bet for the money is going to be something like this.
TEK LIGHT T-5, 24" Light Fixture 4 x 24W lamps by Sunlight Supply* - AquaCave

 

[crb530]

gosh dang so wats dont really matter as much

so a 96 wat t5 light would do better than my 130 wat pc?

 

[mrg02d]

gosh dang so wats dont really matter as much

so a 96 wat t5 light would do better than my 130 wat pc?

Yup, hands down too. Its what I have over my 20g and I used ATI bulbs as well. I used 3 blue plus and 1 aquablue special. Nice, light blue look which means lots of fluorescence. I keep everything too. Acroporas, clams, zoas...Its actually too much light for acans though. :-( They dont seem to like it that much. Chalice also dont seem to like it. I have to keep them under rocks.

Matt

 

[crb530]

i honestly dont see how that makes sense but it would explain alot why my brothers 29 with 130 wat in t5s grows better than my tank


this really bugs for what i payed for my light but on the good note i didnt pay that much

 

[cmor1701d]

PC lights may no longer be the fashion, but they are fine for that tank. I had an LTA under PC lights for 2 years and grew till it filled the corner of the tank (125 gal). That was under 192w (96w-10k, 96w-03 Actinic).
Actinic light (50k) is just as usable as 10K, just at a different spectrum and one that is important for coral growth.

T5HO with highly polished individual parabloic reflectors can put ~98% of the bulb output into the tank. A PC can probably do 80% at best. A T5 without the proper reflector will also only put ~80% of th elight output into the tank. Because T5's are thinner, you can use more bulbs in the same space, each putting 98% of the light into the tank. That's what makes them more efficient and a better choice.

So, how old are the PC bulbs? PC bulbs should be changed every 7 - 9 months. T5's can go a year to 18 months.

Ca that high is almost impossible without it precipitating out. I would start with taking a water sample to the lfs and asking for the complete run that Jimbo asked for. I would also ask for PO4 (phosphate).

If you don't have quality test kits for those at home, get them. If your test kits are more than a year old, get new ones. I would recommend Salifert for CA, Alk, Mg, NO3.

Are you using RODI water for PWC's and for filling the tank originally?

PLease do NOT get another anemone. Their lifespan in the wild is unknown (possibly 30+ years or much longer), and rarely do they last more than a few years in a tank environment. They also really need a larger tank if you are going to keep one.

 

[crb530]

PC lights may no longer be the fashion, but they are fine for that tank. I had an LTA under PC lights for 2 years and grew till it filled the corner of the tank (125 gal). That was under 192w (96w-10k, 96w-03 Actinic).
Actinic light (50k) is just as usable as 10K, just at a different spectrum and one that is important for coral growth.

T5HO with highly polished individual parabloic reflectors can put ~98% of the bulb output into the tank. A PC can probably do 80% at best. A T5 without the proper reflector will also only put ~80% of th elight output into the tank. Because T5's are thinner, you can use more bulbs in the same space, each putting 98% of the light into the tank. That's what makes them more efficient and a better choice.

So, how old are the PC bulbs? PC bulbs should be changed every 7 - 9 months. T5's can go a year to 18 months.

Ca that high is almost impossible without it precipitating out. I would start with taking a water sample to the lfs and asking for the complete run that Jimbo asked for. I would also ask for PO4 (phosphate).

If you don't have quality test kits for those at home, get them. If your test kits are more than a year old, get new ones. I would recommend Salifert for CA, Alk, Mg, NO3.

Are you using RODI water for PWC's and for filling the tank originally?

PLease do NOT get another anemone. Their lifespan in the wild is unknown (possibly 30+ years or much longer), and rarely do they last more than a few years in a tank environment. They also really need a larger tank if you are going to keep one.

the bulbs are brand new and thank you that helps alot with explaining the lights

and dont worry i wont buy another one after talking to the people at the lfs we think we know what got the Ca so high the sea lab stones that i use (i forgot i used them) and after doing water changes (two 10% over four days) its down to 660ppm and going down so thats good.