Flow for coral

[fox0521]

Hello!

New to the saltwater side of the hobby here I’ve got a 55 gallon tank, with the following:

2 Tunze 6045 power heads
2 AI prime 16hd, running the Saxby preset

2 Snow Onyx Clownfish
12 blue leg hermit crabs
12 astraea snails
Green tip hammer
Green polyp Duncan
Green star polyp that snuck in on some live rock

the reason I’m here really pertains to lighting and flow for my coral. Starting with lighting, is the Saxby preset fitting for a 55 gallon tank? The schedule runs from about 10 am - 11 pm, sunrise is around 8 am here so there is some daylight that enters the room (through blinds) before the light schedule starts. Any concerns I should have? Second question, I’ve attached video of both my hammer and my duncan, I’m looking for input on flow for these guys. Too strong, too low? They’re new to the tank so I’d like to adjust their placement if needed sooner
rather than later! Thanks!

 

[zuri]

welcome to R2R! unfortunately that link requires a paid extension was unable to view

 

[HuduVudu]

Hello!

New to the saltwater side of the hobby here I’ve got a 55 gallon tank, with the following:

2 Tunze 6045 power heads
2 AI prime 16hd, running the Saxby preset

2 Snow Onyx Clownfish
12 blue leg hermit crabs
12 astraea snails
Green tip hammer
Green polyp Duncan
Green star polyp that snuck in on some live rock

the reason I’m here really pertains to lighting and flow for my coral. Starting with lighting, is the Saxby preset fitting for a 55 gallon tank? The schedule runs from about 10 am - 11 pm, sunrise is around 8 am here so there is some daylight that enters the room (through blinds) before the light schedule starts. Any concerns I should have? Second question, I’ve attached video of both my hammer and my duncan, I’m looking for input on flow for these guys. Too strong, too low? They’re new to the tank so I’d like to adjust their placement if needed sooner
rather than later! Thanks!

Best to upload to another place like YouTube or something and then post link from there. I am getting a blank screen on the two .mov files you posted.

 

[Pistondog]

Hello!

New to the saltwater side of the hobby here I’ve got a 55 gallon tank, with the following:

2 Tunze 6045 power heads
2 AI prime 16hd, running the Saxby preset

2 Snow Onyx Clownfish
12 blue leg hermit crabs
12 astraea snails
Green tip hammer
Green polyp Duncan
Green star polyp that snuck in on some live rock

the reason I’m here really pertains to lighting and flow for my coral. Starting with lighting, is the Saxby preset fitting for a 55 gallon tank? The schedule runs from about 10 am - 11 pm, sunrise is around 8 am here so there is some daylight that enters the room (through blinds) before the light schedule starts. Any concerns I should have? Second question, I’ve attached video of both my hammer and my duncan, I’m looking for input on flow for these guys. Too strong, too low? They’re new to the tank so I’d like to adjust their placement if needed sooner
rather than later! Thanks!

Welcoome fox,
The video looks sped up

 

[fox0521]

Hello!

New to the saltwater side of the hobby here I’ve got a 55 gallon tank, with the following:

2 Tunze 6045 power heads
2 AI prime 16hd, running the Saxby preset

2 Snow Onyx Clownfish
12 blue leg hermit crabs
12 astraea snails
Green tip hammer
Green polyp Duncan
Green star polyp that snuck in on some live rock

the reason I’m here really pertains to lighting and flow for my coral. Starting with lighting, is the Saxby preset fitting for a 55 gallon tank? The schedule runs from about 10 am - 11 pm, sunrise is around 8 am here so there is some daylight that enters the room (through blinds) before the light schedule starts. Any concerns I should have? Second question, I’ve attached video of both my hammer and my duncan, I’m looking for input on flow for these guys. Too strong, too low? They’re new to the tank so I’d like to adjust their placement if needed sooner
rather than later! Thanks!

 

[fox0521]

Sorry for the confusion with the videos! Below is a link to a few videos of both corals. No adjustments to speed, etc.

Sean Marsischke-Fox

www.youtube.com

 

[jeffrey750750]

Hello and welcome!

 

[HuduVudu]

Sorry for the confusion with the videos! Below is a link to a few videos of both corals. No adjustments to speed, etc.

Sean Marsischke-Fox

www.youtube.com

How old is your tank?

 

[fox0521]

How old is your tank?

About 6 weeks

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Hello!

New to the saltwater side of the hobby here I’ve got a 55 gallon tank, with the following:

2 Tunze 6045 power heads
2 AI prime 16hd, running the Saxby preset

2 Snow Onyx Clownfish
12 blue leg hermit crabs
12 astraea snails
Green tip hammer
Green polyp Duncan
Green star polyp that snuck in on some live rock

the reason I’m here really pertains to lighting and flow for my coral. Starting with lighting, is the Saxby preset fitting for a 55 gallon tank? The schedule runs from about 10 am - 11 pm, sunrise is around 8 am here so there is some daylight that enters the room (through blinds) before the light schedule starts. Any concerns I should have? Second question, I’ve attached video of both my hammer and my duncan, I’m looking for input on flow for these guys. Too strong, too low? They’re new to the tank so I’d like to adjust their placement if needed sooner
rather than later! Thanks!

Flow in the video looks ok to me. Two AI 16HD lights might be enough if you plan to keep only lower light corals, but if you want to venture into anything that requires higher light, you will need to add more light for that size tank.

 

[HuduVudu]

About 6 weeks

What kind of rock and sand did you start your tank with?

 

[fox0521]

What kind of rock and sand did you start your tank with?

I used Cribsea ocean live sand, a piece of basic and a piece of premium live rock from my lfs, and some rock I got off a guy with a matured 220 gallon reef setup. Not the best picture due to the lighting (I was messing with the ai’s just after they came in ) but here’s my setup.

 

[HuduVudu]

a piece of basic and a piece of premium live rock from my lfs

This is where you went wrong.

LFSs shock me at how unscrupulous that they can be. You need REAL live rock. Your tank is not mature enough to really have success at corals especially since you started with essentially a dead rock tank.

I am currently in process on my build and right now you don't have many choices for live rock. Pretty much just Florida rock. It is good rock, but that is your only choice. I have an established tank and I am still going to add about 20lbs of rock to my new tank plus my established rock from my old tank. The rest I will fill in with more interesting dead rock. It saddens me that the live rock phase passed so quickly and people don't know the huge benefits that you get from cured live rock.

My suggestion is that you get 10-15lbs (no more than 30) of live rock (I use Live Rock and Reef) and replace some of your dead rock with it. Your rock may need to cure depending on where you get it. If you go this route let me know and I will explain the curing process. I would put a moritorium on additions for about 3 months until the rock gets fully established. Then after that you should be able to add things slowly into the tank.

Just my two cents.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

IMO, you are fine for now. I started my most recent tank with all Carrib Life Rock. I like the fact that I don't have to worry about any unwanted hitchhikers on the "fake" rock. If you want to be successful in salt water, remember to not make drastic changes and the there are many ways to accomplish your goals.

 

[fox0521]

Thanks for all of the great advice everyone! Hudu, I’ll gladly heed your warning and add additional rock. Figure it can only help. Better picture of it before I added any inhabitants attached btw. Everything seems happy for the time being. I monitor parameters probably to an obsessive level and I’m very meticulous in my maintenance. I don’t plan to add anything else for quite some time, until I really get a feel for saltwater and my tank matures.

I had a weird situation today though where my Duncan closed up really rather quickly. I walked away and came back, about 30 seconds, it was open when I left and closed (not as tightly as when I first introduced it though) when I returned. I know corals are sensitive to fluctuations in chemistry, but everything has been stable (although calcium and mg were a tad high, and I haven’t added any supplements). SG is 1.024 (use a digital Hanna reader), pH reading 7.8 (on the low end, I know. Tips for raising?), ammonia/nitrates/nitrites all 0, temp 78. Calcium was above 500 (Hanna colorimeter) and mg was above 1300 (salifert test). It’s open again now, any ideas?

One last question, is it necessary or recommended to reduce flow at night? I ask more in relevance to fish health, any concerns with exhaustion? Thanks everyone!

 

[fox0521]

I said one last question, but I lied. As previously stated in currently running 2 Tunze 6045 power heads for circulation. There’s also the outlet and return for my canister filter and the same for my hang on protein skimmer (I know, I should have gone with a sump ).

The question I have is, should I continue with these power heads or would a jebao rw8 wave maker be better suited? I worry an awful lot about my clownfish. I just feel like the current is a lot even with the power heads directed at the walls of the tank. Pros and cons of each? Recommendation for a different wavemaker if a wavemaker is recommended but the jebao specifically is not? Thanks a bunch!

 

[HuduVudu]

I said one last question, but I lied. As previously stated in currently running 2 Tunze 6045 power heads for circulation. There’s also the outlet and return for my canister filter and the same for my hang on protein skimmer (I know, I should have gone with a sump ).

The question I have is, should I continue with these power heads or would a jebao rw8 wave maker be better suited? I worry an awful lot about my clownfish. I just feel like the current is a lot even with the power heads directed at the walls of the tank. Pros and cons of each? Recommendation for a different wavemaker if a wavemaker is recommended but the jebao specifically is not? Thanks a bunch!

Tunze has a wave mode.

 

[fox0521]

Tunze has a wave mode.

the 6045’s do?

 

[HuduVudu]

Ahhhh nvm ... AC

 

[Miguel Negron]

I think the flows looking good