Scott's 55 gallon reef build

[Buffy]

I have bleaching problems too but I don't have LED's. I am keeping an egg crate on top of my tank and it helps. I think I had my corals too far up when I changed light bulbs.

[mr_X]

The bleaching is definitely not from not enough light, and these fixtures are at least twice as strong as the ecoray 60D. A couple inches isn't going to make a lot of difference. I would raise them up about 6" and see what that does for you. I don't remember if you got the dimmable ones or not, but if you didn't, you can always put a strip of tape over some of the lamps...like every 3rd row maybe.
Some of my LPS is definitely having a heck of a time with this light, while other colonies are fine. Even some sps like birdsnests are not faring well. Acropora and millepora are loving it though. I have acropora extremely colorful and growing at an alarming rate 2 feet away from these fixtures. I have montipora looking awesome on the sand bed, and other montipora colonies just a few inches under water away from the fixture, both doing awesome.
IMO, you better start loving acropora!

[scottayy]

Thanks, X!

Do you have any soft or lps corals in your tank?

The fixtures are 11" above the water line and I can't move them higher inside of my canopy (unless I cut spots for them in the top and fixed them up there somehow). It looks like I will have to go with the tape idea. That's better than a permanent layer of window screen inbetween the lights and the tank.

How long should I wait before I would notice a change in the coral's appearance?

I am starting to appreciate SPS more and love the one acropora I do have. I would love to get some more sps but I also like my flowing wavy lps

[mr_X]

It can take a month or more for a coral to recover. I would try feeding the lps to speed this process.

[scottayy]

Alright. I was going to do the taping over every 3rd row as suggested. But there's an uneven number of white and blue strips. :| I couldn't decide which ones to tape. So i did my window screen idea.

Window screen over the lights:


Lights hung in canopy 11" over the surface of the water:


Actinics on (my phone doesn't do blue well :/):


Both on:


Overall I'd say about a 25% reduction in brightness. Now my question is, how do I know if it's too dim by coral response? Browning?

[Bearchumjs]

The lights look good. I hope your corals respond well to them! Once you get everything just right it's going to be awesome!

[scottayy]

Thank you, almost everything looks incredibly open today. Time will tell!

[AquaRick]

Glad things are looking up!

[scottayy]

So far so good. Corals seem to be responding well to the dimmer light.

I got some new additions yesterday!

Xenia (what kind is this?)


Pipe organ/daisy polyps:


Fire shrimp:


And.. an update on my plate coral that i'm bringing back to life after a severe bleaching. He's starting to color up, inflate, and extend his tentacles. You can see the green creeping up around the edges and the mouth is really colored.

[scottayy]

I'm debating getting a baby yellow tang I saw at the LFS. The pros would be it's a baby (like 2-3 inches front to back! so cute) and would have plenty of swimming room for now. Also, it would give me motivation to set up my 280 gallon tank that I have.

Or, I don't know if I want some small nano fish(es) to complete my stocking. It certainly is cool watching my yellow watchman goby sitting there and going in and out of caves.

[Bearchumjs]

Well, it would be so cute but are you ready yet to set up another tank? Have you got your 55 where you want it or does it need alot more attention and help? If you have the time for 2 tanks go for it. If you feel your 55 needs more work then you could wait a bit. There will be more baby yellow tangs. Whatever you decide will be the right choice.

[scottayy]

Good point. I'm not ready for two tanks - I would transfer everything to the 280. But, I don't quite believe I'm willing to dedicate enough time and energy into setting up the 280 in this house.

I think I'll save the yellow tang for my dream tank for when I'm married and settled and living in a different house.

I do need to get my quarantine tank ready though for something. Any suggestions for nano fish.. preferably ones that aren't jumpers?

[Bearchumjs]

Citrine clown gobys are cute!

[scottayy]

Yes, they are!

Just fed my corals. Darn coral beauty keeps ripping the silverside out of the corals mouth :L

Between light and flow I'm having lots of troubles with my corals, lol. I guess it just takes time to get it right. If a corals tentacles are retracting.. too much flow, right?

[Jlsardina]

Originally Posted by scottayy

Yes, they are!

Just fed my corals. Darn coral beauty keeps ripping the silverside out of the corals mouth :L

Between light and flow I'm having lots of troubles with my corals, lol. I guess it just takes time to get it right. If a corals tentacles are retracting.. too much flow, right?

That depends. Generally if they don't extend them it's probably too much flow. Some corals retract when eating tho

[scottayy]

One day I will get the hang Jodi.

[AquaRick]

You can keep moving the corals around until you find their sweet spot. Tentacle extension is just one indicator of health. If the coral is growing well, it must be in a good spot right?

[scottayy]

Thanks Rick.

I've been reading a lot about coral feeding. It appears that while some corals may ingest phyto that phyto is mostly a food for zooplankton and other non-photosynthetic organisms to ingest and then the corals eat these.

When we buy bottled phyto and zooplankton (or products it is contained in), is it still alive?

If not, I would reckon that it would be better if it were alive? I read these posts where it looks pretty darn easy to set up culturing stations for phytoplankton, zooplankton, brine shrimp, and pods. Live feasts surely must make the corals way happy! Not to mention more nutritious.

And, in addition, since phytoplankton seems to be the bottom of the food chain, wouldn't it make sense to add phytoplankton to the whole tank like daily or every other day?

[scottayy]

There is such a large improvement in my corals appearance since window screening the lights, and it hasn't even been that long.

Corals are open fuller and already more colorful. I'm going to begin moving corals now to adjust to the flow. I've learned a lot about feeding and maybe I can take care of them better now.

It's just one of those *positive* feeling days where I kind of feel like I know what I'm doing after a while of questioning myself and feeling overwhelmed.

It's a good feeling!

[Bearchumjs]

Super awesome job!! Can't wait to hear how the re- placing according to flow turns out!