First reef tank, would like others thoughts on my setup

[Ellissp]

Hi my name’s Ellis,
I’ve recently gotten into the saltwater tank hobby and would like some people opinions on my setup I’ve had for around 2 months now. I’m probably doing some things wrong and I always like to hear what other people have to say. I’ll post a pic or two for reference. It’s a 6 gallon setup with 3 corals (2 Soft and one Monti) and one electric blue damsel. CUC includes 2 astrea snails, 2 nassarius snails, 1 hermit, and 1 bumble bee snail.
Parameters: nitrate- 5.5
Alk dkh- 9.5
Phosphate- .03
Salinity- 1.025
PH- 8.2
I still need to test calcium and magnesium but I’ve been feeding benereef powder coral food that has some in it so I just kinda assume there’s some in there, plus I only have one small monti the size of a quarter so I don’t think it’s taking up much calcium.
My ultimate question for y’all is if my lightings really at all sufficient for the monti to grow, the max par reading you can even get from my light is 50 par but I have the tank in a spot that gets pretty good sunlight throughout the day. If it isn’t good enough it’d be cool if I could just slap another one of the same lights on it but I’d just like to hear other people’s opinions first.

 

[Lasse]

The best answer are from the corals by themself - do they grow or not? Do the monty show white edges?

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Paul B]

I would take a guess and say, no. Not enough light but I am not the God of Monti's

 

[Tonycass12]

No that light won't work. Get an AI Prime and you will be good

 

[Ellissp]

No that light won't work. Get an AI Prime and you will be good

Okay, thank you!

 

[Ellissp]

I would take a guess and say, no. Not enough light but I am not the God of Monti's

I think I might just add another of same lights, I mean it’s like 30$ so if it ends up failing ‍ And I’ll get an AI prime

 

[Ellissp]

The best answer are from the corals by themself - do they grow or not? Do the monty show white edges?

Sincerely Lasse

The monti’s had this slight whiteness on its side but I’ve been noticing it start to diminish after fitting an 80 gph pump in the tank and aiming it directly at it, it’s at about 30% power. Also, that leather I have has grown an in incredible amount but I haven’t had the other corals long enough to tell

 

[tharbin]

Welcome to R2R! That does not look like enough light for the monti. I can't be sure from the photos, is it a monti cap? They like a little more light usually. Also don't direct the pump at the monti, direct it where it will bounce off a pane to hit the monti. They like flow but not a direct blast. Montis are very tolerant so adding a second lite 50 par light may be sufficient. It certainly wouldn't hurt. You may also want to rethink the "gets pretty good sunlight" part. It often makes algae control more difficult with direct sunlight.

 

[ReeferSamster]

Hi my name’s Ellis,
I’ve recently gotten into the saltwater tank hobby and would like some people opinions on my setup I’ve had for around 2 months now. I’m probably doing some things wrong and I always like to hear what others

WOW.

This is your first reef tank and its 2 months old? You are way ahead of the curve. I wish my first reeftank looked like that when I started. I think you're off to a great start.

Hi my name’s Ellis,
I’ve recently gotten into the saltwater tank hobby and would like some people opinions on my setup I’ve had for around 2 months now. I’m probably doing some things wrong and I always like to hear what other people have to say. I’ll post a pic or two for reference. It’s a 6 gallon setup with 3 corals (2 Soft and one Monti) and one electric blue damsel. CUC includes 2 astrea snails, 2 nassarius snails, 1 hermit, and 1 bumble bee snail.

6 gallons is budget friendly, but the smaller the tank, the more challenging in terms of maintaining stability. The slightest evaporation or a miscalculation with alk or calc dosage will have larger effects than in a larger tank. So double check your readings, your dosages, and your ATO!

Parameters: nitrate- 5.5
Alk dkh- 9.5
Phosphate- .03
Salinity- 1.025
PH- 8.2
I still need to test calcium and magnesium but I’ve been feeding benereef powder coral food that has some in it so I just kinda assume there’s some in there, plus I only have one small monti the size of a quarter so I don’t think it’s taking up much calcium.

The amount of minerals in benereef is not enough for the tank. Remember, food is for food. Not for minerals. You should get specific mineral additives for your inorganic needs.
I wouldn't worry about magnesium, its the least of the big 3. The big 3 in terms of priority are alkalinity, calcium and magnesium, but water changes should take care of mag needs for now. When you become a pro and have wall to wall corals in there it might be something to consider. Keep up your alkalinity and calcium. I noticed you didn't state the calc levels. (~400ppm) Eventually, test that too. For a tank that size, and the current bioload of corals, if you do enough water changes, that should be sufficient. Since its a 6 gallon, I would just keep a small 8oz cup and premixed salt water in a 5 gallon covered bucket next to the stand and everyday just scoop water out and scoop new water in! Simple.

My ultimate question for y’all is if my lightings really at all sufficient for the monti to grow, the max par reading you can even get from my light is 50 par but I have the tank in a spot that gets pretty good sunlight throughout the day.

50 par and additional sunlight might actually keep the corals at just survival levels, considering the low depth of the small tank. But I'd advise getting something better. AI primes are good, but they probably cost as much as your tank. If you want to go budget friendly, any nano size black box from amazon will work for a fraction of the cost. Its a tiny tank and minimal dpeth penetration is needed. This is less than half the price of AI prime, but even this might be overkill! ;Woot

Best of all you can reuse the lights for your refugium or sump when you inevitably upgrade to a 100 gallon reeftank. Don't be discouraged if you start seeing nuisance algae. All new tanks, even longtime reefers go through the "nuisance stage" in new tanks as the harmony of the tank starts to balance itself. Don't feed too much and keep up those water changes! You'll know when you've generally past the nuisance algae phase when you notice purple hard algae growing on the rocks and glass moreseo than soft green\brown algae in the tank

Good luck! Its gorgeous and you are way ahead of the curve in terms of knowledge and setup for your first reef tank.

You know when you are really in trouble and bit the reefing bug when in a few months, you decide to "upgrade" to a 10 gallon. then a 40 breeder....it won't stop. ;Woot

 

[Lasse]

"gets pretty good sunlight" part. It often makes algae control more difficult with direct sunlight.

IMO - this is a myth based on freshwater tanks with very low light intensity. Light is light - does not differ if it sun or artificial light. if you increase the artificial light - it will also promote algae growth. The part with sunlight as an additional light source make me not to say - invest in more artificial light. If you would not have sunlight - IMO - your fixture is to weak but if you live in a sunny place - the sum of the two light source may be enough. Only your corals can tell

Sincerely Lasse

 

[ReeferSamster]

You may also want to rethink the "gets pretty good sunlight" part. It often makes algae control more difficult with direct sunlight.

IMO - this is a myth based on freshwater tanks with very low light intensity. Light is light - does not differ if it sun or artificial light.

With all due respect, I think the big picture goal of tharbin's message was not that natural light is any different than artificial light (light is light), but because you have more control over artificial light, you have more control over the potential algae growth. Whereas with direct sunlight, you are at the mercy of the natural light's spectrum, intensity and duration.

 

[Ellissp]

Welcome to R2R! That does not look like enough light for the monti. I can't be sure from the photos, is it a monti cap? They like a little more light usually. Also don't direct the pump at the monti, direct it where it will bounce off a pane to hit the monti. They like flow but not a direct blast. Montis are very tolerant so adding a second lite 50 par light may be sufficient. It certainly wouldn't hurt. You may also want to rethink the "gets pretty good sunlight" part. It often makes algae control more difficult with direct sunlight.

Oh thank you so much for the tips!! They’re well appreciated! I didn’t even think about the sunlight and algae growth

 

[tharbin]

With all due respect, I think the big picture goal of tharbin's message was not that natural light is any different than artificial light (light is light), but because you have more control over artificial light, you have more control over the potential algae growth. Whereas with direct sunlight, you are at the mercy of the natural light's spectrum, intensity and duration.

You just saved me some typing and said it better than I would...

 

[Ellissp]

WOW.

This is your first reef tank and its 2 months old? You are way ahead of the curve. I wish my first reeftank looked like that when I started. I think you're off to a great start.


6 gallons is budget friendly, but the smaller the tank, the more challenging in terms of maintaining stability. The slightest evaporation or a miscalculation with alk or calc dosage will have larger effects than in a larger tank. So double check your readings, your dosages, and your ATO!

The amount of minerals in benereef is not enough for the tank. Remember, food is for food. Not for minerals. You should get specific mineral additives for your inorganic needs.
I wouldn't worry about magnesium, its the least of the big 3. The big 3 in terms of priority are alkalinity, calcium and magnesium, but water changes should take care of mag needs for now. When you become a pro and have wall to wall corals in there it might be something to consider. Keep up your alkalinity and calcium. I noticed you didn't state the calc levels. (~400ppm) Eventually, test that too. For a tank that size, and the current bioload of corals, if you do enough water changes, that should be sufficient. Since its a 6 gallon, I would just keep a small 8oz cup and premixed salt water in a 5 gallon covered bucket next to the stand and everyday just scoop water out and scoop new water in! Simple.



50 par and additional sunlight might actually keep the corals at just survival levels, considering the low depth of the small tank. But I'd advise getting something better. AI primes are good, but they probably cost as much as your tank. If you want to go budget friendly, any nano size black box from amazon will work for a fraction of the cost. Its a tiny tank and minimal dpeth penetration is needed. This is less than half the price of AI prime, but even this might be overkill! ;Woot

Best of all you can reuse the lights for your refugium or sump when you inevitably upgrade to a 100 gallon reeftank. Don't be discouraged if you start seeing nuisance algae. All new tanks, even longtime reefers go through the "nuisance stage" in new tanks as the harmony of the tank starts to balance itself. Don't feed too much and keep up those water changes! You'll know when you've generally past the nuisance algae phase when you notice purple hard algae growing on the rocks and glass moreseo than soft green\brown algae in the tank

Good luck! Its gorgeous and you are way ahead of the curve in terms of knowledge and setup for your first reef tank.

You know when you are really in trouble and bit the reefing bug when in a few months, you decide to "upgrade" to a 10 gallon. then a 40 breeder....it won't stop. ;Woot

Aye thank you so much for all your advice! I’m definitely going to be doing that 8oz cup idea!

 

[Lasse]

but because you have more control over artificial light, you have more control over the potential algae growth. Whereas with direct sunlight, you are at the mercy of the natural light's spectrum, intensity and duration.

With all respect - when you have dial up your artificial light to that intensity and wavelength your corals want/need - you are way much higher than the PAR that can limit your algae growth. Light and nutrients promote algae growth, hence photosynthetic corals growth (they relay on incorporated algae for their photosynthesis) but you can´t control algae growth with limitation of light and nutrients without also limite your corals growth - but grazing with help of a disent CUC do limite algae growth without limit the growth of your corals

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Ellissp]

Since the whole things kind of an experiment anyway I just went ahead and put another light on, I gotta say it’s definitely a lot brighter, but now I feel like I have to be really cautious of algae. I think I can help that by putting one light blue and the other full spectrum but I’ll have to play with it. The corals are definitely the best way to tell what’s up like he said ^^^^

 

[Ellissp]

With all respect - when you have dial up your artificial light to that intensity and wavelength your corals want/need - you are way much higher than the PAR that can limit your algae growth. Light and nutrients promote algae growth, hence photosynthetic corals growth (they relay on incorporated algae for their photosynthesis) but you can´t control algae growth with limitation of light and nutrients without also limite your corals growth - but grazing with help of a disent CUC do limite algae growth without limit the growth of your corals

Sincerely Lasse

I fully agree with this, it’s all a cycle. And ever since I updated my cuc it’s definitely solved out of control algae growth!

 

[Ellissp]

Welcome to R2R! That does not look like enough light for the monti. I can't be sure from the photos, is it a monti cap? They like a little more light usually. Also don't direct the pump at the monti, direct it where it will bounce off a pane to hit the monti. They like flow but not a direct blast. Montis are very tolerant so adding a second lite 50 par light may be sufficient. It certainly wouldn't hurt. You may also want to rethink the "gets pretty good sunlight" part. It often makes algae control more difficult with direct sunlight.

Oh I just took the direct flow off the monti cap and am now directing it off the rock to it and the little polyps on it opened back up immediately!

 

[tharbin]

With all respect - when you have dial up your artificial light to that intensity and wavelength your corals want/need - you are way much higher than the PAR that can limit your algae growth. Light and nutrients promote algae growth, hence photosynthetic corals growth (they relay on incorporated algae for their photosynthesis) but you can´t control algae growth with limitation of light and nutrients without also limite your corals growth - but grazing with help of a disent CUC do limite algae growth without limit the growth of your corals

Sincerely Lasse

We may be going a little far afield here and I apologize.

Lasse,

I don't disagree with anything you said. However, finding a suitable CUC for a 6 gallon tank is challenging. Most of the better grazers are too large for the aquarium. When you get an algae problem in a small tank like this it can be very hard to completely rely on your CUC for control. By reducing the whites and reds in your spectrum you can slow down the growth of most algae, yes it will also slow, but not stop, the growth of your corals. This allows you to use light to reduce the stress on your CUC so that they can catch up. Limiting natural light allows you better spectral control. There are times, especially in young, small, aquariums where reducing, but not eliminating, coral growth rate is preferable to the alternatives.

 

[ReeferSamster]

IMO - this is a myth based on freshwater tanks with very low light intensity. Light is light - does not differ if it sun or artificial light.

when you have dial up your artificial light to that intensity and wavelength your coralswant/need - you are way much higher than the PAR that can limit your algae growth. Light and nutrients promote algae growth, hence photosynthetic corals growth (they relay on incorporated algae for their photosynthesis) but you can´t control algae growth with limitation of light and nutrients without also limite your corals growth - but grazing with help of a disent CUC do limite algae growth without limit the growth of your corals

What?

Nothing you said is incorrect, but it has no relevance to tharbins post. It wasn't about the myth of artificial light differences to natural light, or dialing up artificial light PAR. He wasn't even talking about CUC's, or nutrient limitations.

He simply cautioned against direct sunlight as opposed to artificial light, because by inference, this is due to the tunability and control we have over artificial light regarding spectrum, duration and intensity; as opposed to direct sunlight which may foster unwanted algae growth.