Buying reef lights!! Help decide.

[Heera]

every day feedings can be stressful. you can feed them chopped fish, shrimp, clam, anything from the salt water section at the supermarket.

Thanks, I will go shopping for that and i will try feeding every 3 days. Is that good?

 

[mr_X]

yes. just make sure to use small pieces...nothing larger than a pea for now. as i said, it's stressful digesting food, and a big chunk might do more harm than good.

 

[Heera]

This is what i do; I thaw out brine shrimp in tank water first. Than I put a bit of brine shrimp in a long straw. And hold it about an inch over the anemone. It slowly goes out and anemone grabs it.

 

[Heera]

Just checked my light again.

Here Is what I am running;

Lights turn on at 9:30 am
1 x colormax
1x 460nm attenic

Goes on at 11am
1 x 10k
1x 460 attenic

At 6 pm -10k and 1 attenic turn off.
At 8 the other colormax and attentic turn off too.

Plz advice if this is good. Also let me know how your day cycle goes if ur running a reef.
Also how good is colormax, what is it good for.

Also got another colourmax and 10 extra with the light.

 

[mr_X]

it's not being touched by the large piece of food that would stress it out, it's the digestion process. digesting a large amount of food all at once takes a lot of energy.
are you referring to the coralife colormax lamp that is 6500k? are all the bulbs coralife lamps? check into ATI lamps. they will allow you to squeeze every bit out of that fixture you are using.
if that image you use as your avatar is your current tank, you can see it appears a bit yellow. this is from that colormax lamp. it's not going to hurt anything, but i think you'll be alot happier with some high end lamps.
if you don't mind spending the money, try ATI blue plus and aquablue specials. if you can't find ATI lamps locally, giesemann bulbs are also high quality.
as for the on off question- corals don't benefit from a morning evening transition. turning them on all at once and off all at once will achieve the same goal. the morning evening transition is just for humans to enjoy.

 

[Heera]

Thanks Mr_X.
Yes I was referring to Coralife 6500k colormax. No all are not Coralife.
Yes I will for the bulbs u suggested.

But I want to know. Is current setup enough for anemone and corals or should I run 2- 10k and 2 atenics?

How many hours daily will be good for them?

 

[mr_X]

the actinic lamps are unnecessary and just for aesthetic purposes. the reason i say this is that all of the lamps we use for the aquarium trade these days are full spectrum, meaning each bulb puts out all of the different wavelengths needed for photosynthetic creatures to thrive.
I would like to know the PAR numbers on what you have though. PAR is a measurement of the radiation a photosynthetic creature can utilize. it will tell you exactly how much of that light coming out of that fixture is useful to corals and anemones.
most people don't have access to a PAR meter, so i would then tell them to purchase some high end lamps to be sure.
did you buy this fixture used? how old are the bulbs? age plays a part in intensity and color too.
as for the photo period, i try to mimic the natural day out at the reefs. i like 12 hours on and 12 off, unless you have a super intense light source.

 

[Heera]

Thanks for great info.
I am not sure what par value they have. I will try searching for it for it and get back to u.

Yes used. I am told it's used for 3 months. Than she shut down the whole thing.

 

[mr_X]

well, not to discredit anyone, but i don't remember the last time i saw a fixture for sale that was used longer than 3 months...lol. run it for a while, and if it doesn't do what you need it to, change out the bulbs. this fixture has an individual reflectors, correct?

 

[carey]

LOL, the light I bought today was used for 1 month! But the same guy sold me my 72" fixture and was straight about it being a year old.

Just look at what youre buying, if it looks hinky in any way just pass.

 

[Heera]

So to say the PAR value goes down over time??
What changes? I thought u can use the bulbs until they fuze.

 

[mr_X]

na...you should replace T5 lamps every 8-12 months. sometimes less if you overdrive them, but in a regular fixture, i wouldn't use them for more than a year. heat makes them wear out quicker. if you have a fixture that is open or has fans, it's helpful.
their potency diminishes, along with the color shifting. they change color over time.

 

[Heera]

Oh ok. This does have a fan.

 

[Heera]

I got bit of a issue. I understand that lights should be 12 on and 12 off.

My house lights go on around 7am. My tank light goes on at 11am-11pm. On till late because I come home around 10-10:30pm. So my tank only get 9 hours off (11-8 am).

If I run them from 8am- 8pm. I will never see my tank.

Any solutions??????

 

[mr_X]

you can run the lights less than 12 hours. how much light does the tank get when the tank light is off during the day? what "house lights" go on at 7 am? if it's not that bright, you should be fine.

 

[Heera]

It's regular house lights but fish wake up. So fish only get about 6-7 hours of night.

 

[Heera]

Love my lights they are awesome. Thanks again everyone who helped...

 

[carey]

Glad you're pleased. I was literally giddy when I got my nova extreme. I kept turning them on and off cause they looked so cool. lol

 

[Heera]

Glad you're pleased. I was literally giddy when I got my nova extreme. I kept turning them on and off cause they looked so cool. lol

Thanks Carey, it's awesome.
Any thoughts on this.

It's regular house lights but fish wake up. So fish only get about 6-7 hours of night. Good / bad.

Also going to pick up some coral frags today.
Deciding between;

trumpet corals-$20
Candy corals - $10/head
Anthelia - $8 each
Green Star - $8 each
Zoas - $1 - $2 per polyp
Bright Blue Mushrooms - $5 each

As you know I never kept corals before. Plz advise on what should I start. Goods, bads, care?????

Parameters;
1.024-1.026
Ph-7.8-8
Temp79-82f
Ammonia, nitrite,0 nitrate >5.

Not adding another supplements.

 

[carey]

I think the fish should be fine with only a few hours of "sleep".

if I was picking corals i would go for some zooas, the mushrooms and maybe trunpet or candycanes. You can get crazy with zooa's, they add alot of color for a small price. The GSP is alos nice, but be aware that it grows like a weed. lol A tiny frag plug in my tank has taken over an entire large rock in a matter of months. The ones mentioned should be nice and easy to care for and should show growth over a shorter period of time.

Another nice coral are duncans, see if he has any and if you like em.

make sure we get pictures!!