Hey new here

[tomfoolery]

New to R2R and just thought i would throw out some pics of my tank and see if you guys have any advice or constructive criticism. I have a 20 long tank that is well over a year old, i think its pretty cool and being new to the saltwater reef world i wanted to start small and cheap. I found out nothing is cheap in this hobby but i think its amazing so ill stick with it. Im running a two bulb HO T5 30" 24watt each, 460 actinic and 10,000k daylight. Also there is another deepblue 36" t5 light running only a single 21 watt actinic because the other light slot doesnt work but it adds a darker blue color that looks nice on the tank. Its also an old light that i had on a cichlid tank before i started saltwater. I have a Koralia 2(i think) two hob filters one has chemipure in it and the other charcoal. had a stealth heater just took it out because it was shocking my everytime i put my hand in the water. but it was like that for about half a year and nothing died. I just found out it was that i always thought it was my light fixture.

A couple of question is how long should i be running my lights?
Should i run actinic first then run daylights then keep actinics on after i shut off the daylight? if so how long for morning and night?
What is the best actinic colors in your opinion? and daylight K?

Thanks

Actinic

Ill be putting up more pictures of the corals pretty soon.

 

[revhtree]

Great tank and welcome to R2R!!

 

[Russellaqua]

Welcome!

 

[florida reef]

Personally, I have found my reef does best with an 8 hour light cycle. Actinics are on for 8 hours and the daylight bulbs are on for 3 or 4 hours. I have 6 bulb t5 fixture, 54w. Sometimes I'll extend the lighting period a little longer if I am working on the tank or just want to look at it a bit longer. I'd suggest starting with something like an 8 hour and tweaking it, longer or shorter, to fit your aquarium.

 

[_sludgefactory]

Those stealth heaters were recalled. The thermostats weren't working properly and the auto shut of didn't work. Mine burned out one day when I wasn't home and my friend's didn't shut off and spike his water temp to over 98 degrees.
Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk

 

[swannyson7]

Welcome to R2R!! I agree that an 8 hr light cycle is a good starting point and then you can adjust from there. However, don't make any rapid chanxges from your current lighting schedule or else some corals may bleach. I wouldn't make changes of more than one hour per week in order to allow your tank to acclimate to the new lighting schedule.

 

[tomfoolery]

Some neat zoas under a single LED flashlight keychain. It made stuff look cool until i dropped it in the tank

Neon Candycane under that LED flashlight

Neon Candycane

Hollywood Stunner

Hollywood Stunner Actinic

Hollywood Stunner (4 months ago)

Alien Eye (the mother colony i got this from is amazing)

Alien Eye Actinic

Lavender Candycane Actinic(If you cant tell i like candycanes)

Yellow Polyps

 

[tomfoolery]

Ricordia

Thanks guys for the responses and welcomes. I will definitely try the 8 hr light cycle ive been doing like 6 and some lady at a saltwater store said 12 hrs and i was like what the heck that cant be right.

Wow did the Stealths really? mine kept it at a good 76-78 for over a year in my saltwater and worked fine in my cichlid tank. But i cant believe it started to shock me, thats unacceptable.

Thanks again yall

 

[GR808]

welcome!!!
whatever you're doing to your tank you should keep doing because it looks fantastic..
I also have a 20 as well and would like it to look have as good as yours.. What's your secret?

 

[tomfoolery]

welcome!!!
whatever you're doing to your tank you should keep doing because it looks fantastic..
I also have a 20 as well and would like it to look have as good as yours.. What's your secret?

Thanks! you have any pics of it? im looking for some ideas that i can add im my tank. You use any skimmers? refugium? or anything different from what i have going on?

I think what helped me out the most is that the center rock and the rock with all the zoas on it, they where covered in coraline algea when i bought them. I think i spent like 140 for like 10lbs of live rock, It was rediculous but i figured it was needed. It seeded all the other rocks and they got covered really really fast. The rock with the torch coral and zoas i added like 3-4 months ago and its completely covered in coraline algea. The only things i add to it is Brightwells Aquatics Liquid Reef and Kent Marine Zooplex every 3 days. Oh but the secret is plenty of love lol. But one thing ive realized for corals is find a spot for them and glue them down and dont touch them! They grow sooo much faster when they are not being meddled with.

 

[GR808]

got this phone pic during cycling of tank and pulled some xenia from my larger tank to see how they'll do. I got a skimmer and some chaeto in a sump with 4 24w t5s.. You need to send my some of that love you put into your tank in a bottle... lol

 

[skinz78]

Welcome to R2R!

Great looking tank!

 

[tomfoolery]

got this phone pic during cycling of tank and pulled some xenia from my larger tank to see how they'll do. I got a skimmer and some chaeto in a sump with 4 24w t5s.. You need to send my some of that love you put into your tank in a bottle... lol

Nice. i really like the rock set up. I maybe moving soon and im thinking about a 20 tall but i cant decide. Do you have a Koralia or any kind of current maker? I think having one helps a lot. I sell a 2 liter of reef love for only two small payments of 19.99 + S&H lol.

The only problems wrong with my tank is flat worms and some diatom algea. Im going to get a wrasse within the next couple of days though so hopefully he will clean em up. im really ticked about the flat worms

 

[GR808]

Nice. i really like the rock set up. I maybe moving soon and im thinking about a 20 tall but i cant decide. Do you have a Koralia or any kind of current maker? I think having one helps a lot. I sell a 2 liter of reef love for only two small payments of 19.99 + S&H lol.

The only problems wrong with my tank is flat worms and some diatom algea. Im going to get a wrasse within the next couple of days though so hopefully he will clean em up. im really ticked about the flat worms

I do have a koralia for circulation but I need a bigger one.
As for the flat worms you should dip your pieces weekly. I've been using a great cheap dip from your local hardware store. It's Bayer advanced Complete insect killer. Works like a charm and all you need is 5-8ml per liter of water.. Try it, works great.

 

[LBA]

Welcome native Floridian!

 

[GR808]

I forgot to mention that you should use a turkey baster to flush the aefw off just before done dipping. Works great. since I've been using that, I've seen better PE and better coloration.

 

[Stinger]

Im envy your beautiful tank TOM , i would love to have your setup