I have a 180 gallon mixed reef tank. Some of you have helped me work on my numbers. I now feel that my lighting is off. When I set the tank up about a year and a half ago I was told to set uv, violet, royal, and blue at 100%. Green and red at 0%. Cool white at 50%. I have 3 AI 26 at 9 inches above the tank. I would appreciate any advice and thank you
Lighting
- Thread starter Hoffer
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smitten with ocean life
5000 Club Member
Red_Beard
I already did
Mixed reefs are fun to try and keep everything happy. What is giving you the feeling your lighting is off?
Red_Beard
I already did
What kinds of coral and what kinds of issues? Just looking pale?
One thing you could do, if feasible, is add a strip/bar type light and lower your intensity on your hydras from 100 to 80 or so. That would help get rid of hot spots and also increase coverage, if it is the lighting really at issue here.
If you ask for a recommendation, quanta helix bars can't be beat for the money, but you will need a smart plug or controller to turn them off and on automatically.
The other aspect to investigate here would be your chemistry. Coral can usually tolerate some pretty intense light, but you have to have correspondingly higher values of nitrates and phosphates as well as sufficient alk etc. for them. Low N and P can cause washed out coloration and sometimes even bleaching in high light applications. If you are still running the same numbers you were in the last thread though, i don't think that is your issue. If anything your phosphate could use for some lowering, it was a bit high. (i like to shoot for .2 ish) Also, did you ever get your pH back in the low 8.'s? That could also account for some of what you are seeing.
One thing you could do, if feasible, is add a strip/bar type light and lower your intensity on your hydras from 100 to 80 or so. That would help get rid of hot spots and also increase coverage, if it is the lighting really at issue here.
If you ask for a recommendation, quanta helix bars can't be beat for the money, but you will need a smart plug or controller to turn them off and on automatically.
The other aspect to investigate here would be your chemistry. Coral can usually tolerate some pretty intense light, but you have to have correspondingly higher values of nitrates and phosphates as well as sufficient alk etc. for them. Low N and P can cause washed out coloration and sometimes even bleaching in high light applications. If you are still running the same numbers you were in the last thread though, i don't think that is your issue. If anything your phosphate could use for some lowering, it was a bit high. (i like to shoot for .2 ish) Also, did you ever get your pH back in the low 8.'s? That could also account for some of what you are seeing.
Red_Beard
I already did
:) that is likely the issue! Try and run it up to 2-5ppm for a few weeks, i bet they color right back up!
calcium nitrate on amazon or sodium nitrate. Get a 1 gallon jug and mix according to directions. Loudwolf is a brand that is well regarded here. Will save you lots of money instead of using brightwell.
Also, you can dose ammonia which is interesting.
Red_Beard
I already did
You can dose any nitrate product, like a brightwell neo-nitro OR you could dose ammonium bicarbonate.
I would advocate for the ammonium bicarb. i have been dosing it myself now for over a year and it has been working great. Randy has an awesome writeup on it here:
DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems
Some reef aquaria have chronic low nitrogen availability. One indicator is very low nitrate. Nitrate dosing is a fine remedy, but it is possible that ammonia dosing may be more beneficial for some organisms since ammonia can be energetically easier to assimilate than is nitrate. For this...
www.reef2reef.com
He also states that Ammonium Chloride can be used, but I would recommend bicarb. To quote from his article:
"""
Ammonium Bicarbonate
Ammonium bicarbonate, also known as baking ammonia, NH4 HCO3 is essentially ammonia (NH3) plus CO2 and water.
As mentioned above, dosing NH3 followed by consumption by organisms to form tissue in a net alkalinity neutral process. The CO2 and water also do not impact alkalinity. Thus, ammonium bicarbonate is a net alk neutral way to dose ammonia.
High quality ammonium bicarbonate is also available from Amazon as baking ammonia. It is readily available and inexpensive. One brand sells 11 ounces for $15, so it's cost is similar to the Loudwolf ammonium chloride per unit of ammonia added (one needs to use more of the ammonium bicarbonate than the ammonium chloride, evening out the cost).
Dosing
Don't be overly afraid of dosing ammonia due to toxicity, but one cannot dose substantial amounts all at once. IMO, it is safe to add 0.1 ppm ammonia (equivalent to 0.36 ppm nitrate) at once to any reef tank, and one can likely add more, if it mixes in well. Don't dose it right onto a fish, but dosing 2-3x that amount at once is also likely OK. Of course, using a dosing pump to spread out the dosing is fine and may be preferable, but be sure to guard against dosing pumps out of control (e.g., stuck on). Stock solutions can be increased or decreased in potency to match pumping needs. The ammonia could also be put into an ato since exact daily dosing is not required.
To add 0.1 mg/L ammonia to an aquarium, you would need to add 2.3 mL of either stock solution to a 100 L (26 gallon) aquarium. You may need to add this amount multiply times per day to dose enough.
I'd add it to a sump, if possible, to dilute it well before it gets to the main tank. Most folks dosing ammonia wouldn't also be using media intended to push the nitrogen cycle in various ways, but if you do, dose downstream of that media.
Of course, if anything seems to react badly the first time or two that you dose, stop dosing, double check the amounts, and perhaps come back to this thread for further discussion of what might be happening.
This article has a lot more on ammonia in reef aquaria, although some parts of it may not be correct (such as the utility of products such as Prime):
Ammonia and the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
"""
TLDR;
* purchase this:
* Mix it at 20 grams of ammonium bicarbonate (about 4 and 3/4 teaspoons) to 1 L RO/DI water.
* add 2.3 mL per 26 gallons of tank water to start with ***Add it to the sump***
That is a great starting dose, you can dose more should you need to, but start there.
Will this mess with alkalinityYou can dose any nitrate product, like a brightwell neo-nitro OR you could dose ammonium bicarbonate.
I would advocate for the ammonium bicarb. i have been dosing it myself now for over a year and it has been working great. Randy has an awesome writeup on it here:
DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems
Some reef aquaria have chronic low nitrogen availability. One indicator is very low nitrate. Nitrate dosing is a fine remedy, but it is possible that ammonia dosing may be more beneficial for some organisms since ammonia can be energetically easier to assimilate than is nitrate. For this...
He also states that Ammonium Chloride can be used, but I would recommend bicarb. To quote from his article:
"""
Ammonium Bicarbonate
Ammonium bicarbonate, also known as baking ammonia, NH4 HCO3 is essentially ammonia (NH3) plus CO2 and water.
As mentioned above, dosing NH3 followed by consumption by organisms to form tissue in a net alkalinity neutral process. The CO2 and water also do not impact alkalinity. Thus, ammonium bicarbonate is a net alk neutral way to dose ammonia.
High quality ammonium bicarbonate is also available from Amazon as baking ammonia. It is readily available and inexpensive. One brand sells 11 ounces for $15, so it's cost is similar to the Loudwolf ammonium chloride per unit of ammonia added (one needs to use more of the ammonium bicarbonate than the ammonium chloride, evening out the cost).
Dosing
Don't be overly afraid of dosing ammonia due to toxicity, but one cannot dose substantial amounts all at once. IMO, it is safe to add 0.1 ppm ammonia (equivalent to 0.36 ppm nitrate) at once to any reef tank, and one can likely add more, if it mixes in well. Don't dose it right onto a fish, but dosing 2-3x that amount at once is also likely OK. Of course, using a dosing pump to spread out the dosing is fine and may be preferable, but be sure to guard against dosing pumps out of control (e.g., stuck on). Stock solutions can be increased or decreased in potency to match pumping needs. The ammonia could also be put into an ato since exact daily dosing is not required.
To add 0.1 mg/L ammonia to an aquarium, you would need to add 2.3 mL of either stock solution to a 100 L (26 gallon) aquarium. You may need to add this amount multiply times per day to dose enough.
I'd add it to a sump, if possible, to dilute it well before it gets to the main tank. Most folks dosing ammonia wouldn't also be using media intended to push the nitrogen cycle in various ways, but if you do, dose downstream of that media.
Of course, if anything seems to react badly the first time or two that you dose, stop dosing, double check the amounts, and perhaps come back to this thread for further discussion of what might be happening.
This article has a lot more on ammonia in reef aquaria, although some parts of it may not be correct (such as the utility of products such as Prime):
Ammonia and the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
"""
TLDR;
* purchase this:
* Mix it at 20 grams of ammonium bicarbonate (about 4 and 3/4 teaspoons) to 1 L RO/DI water.
* add 2.3 mL per 26 gallons of tank water to start with ***Add it to the sump***
That is a great starting dose, you can dose more should you need to, but start there.
VintageReefer
10K Club member
Nope!
And above advice is solid but too complex for me (even if it’s easy)
I buy neonitro on Amazon it comes with simple instructions and is ready to go. Just measure out what the bottle says and pour it in. Increases nitrates without increasing phosphates
Red_Beard
I already did
Nope.
It looks harder at first glance than it really is. Once youve done it, it is easy peasy. I usually weigh out 20g into 800ml(a little more potent than Randy's mix), mix it up good, and dose about 5ml per day (75 gallon display), just dumped into the overflow in the tank.
I used to use neonitro, but my tank was burning through it so fast it got expensive. This is way cheaper and that bag of ammonium bicarbonate will last like 2 years.
Either way you go though is totally fine.
Red_Beard
I already did
311grams/11oz. Is what's in that bag.
Neonitro is pretty easy. Grab a bottle and see what a week or two dosing 1-2ppm /day does for your corals. I bet they perk right up.
Neonitro is pretty easy. Grab a bottle and see what a week or two dosing 1-2ppm /day does for your corals. I bet they perk right up.
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