Nicrew 150 watt light settings

[Crystal08]

I recently bought the Nicrew 150 watt light for my 36 gallon bow front tank. We have a few different soft corals already in. My question is what percentage blue/ white light would be best. Unfortunately I do not have a par meter so I’m guessing. The blue and white lights both have 6 settings each 100%, 80%, 60%, 40%, 20% and 5%. I realize without a par meter nothing will be completely accurate but any help picking a good setting would be appreciated!

 

[Timfish]

Looking at your picture i would suggest doing some research on your gorgonians to see what they preffer. HAve you checked locally to see if an LFS has one to rent or a local reefer has one you can pay to check or borrow?

 

[Crystal08]

Looking at your picture i would suggest doing some research on your gorgonians to see what they preffer. HAve you checked locally to see if an LFS has one to rent or a local reefer has one you can pay to check or borrow?

The red gorgonians seemed to be doing better than the orange one. I can move them. Do you think they are too high? Yes my local store didn’t have one I could rent unfairly

 

[dwest]

I recently bought the Nicrew 150 watt light for my 36 gallon bow front tank. We have a few different soft corals already in. My question is what percentage blue/ white light would be best. Unfortunately I do not have a par meter so I’m guessing. The blue and white lights both have 6 settings each 100%, 80%, 60%, 40%, 20% and 5%. I realize without a par meter nothing will be completely accurate but any help picking a good setting would be appreciated!

I don’t have that light so hopefully someone else will chime in. But if I had your light and tank,I would start at 20% blue and 5% white. Then watch my corals and see if I could borrow a PAR meter from someone. Gorgonians were always tough for me.

 

[Crystal08]

The red gorgonians seemed to be doing better than the orange one. I can move them. Do you think they are too high? Yes my local store didn’t have one I could rent unfortunately

 

[dwest]

Some gorgonians are non photosynthetic so the lighting shouldn’t matter for those. I don’t know if your are photosynthetic or not.

NPS: Red Finger Gorgonians (are they expert level only?)

Hello fellow saltines, I couldn't find an NPS section so I'm posting in the newbie section. So after four months of my tank (5g) running smoothly I'm starting to develop my coral list. I was given great advice in a previous post of mine and one of the corals mentioned are gorgonians...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Crystal08]

I don’t have that light so hopefully someone else will chime in. But if I had your light and tank,I would start at 20% blue and 5% white. Then watch my corals and see if I could borrow a PAR meter from someone. Gorgonians were always tough for me.

The fish store I bought them from sold them to me saying they are Hardy and easy to keep. They knew this was my first reef tank so I didn’t know any better. Not trying to blame anyone because I should of done better research, so that’s on me. All I can do now is learn from my mistakes and hopefully do the best I can to keep them doing well.

 

[Timfish]

Fist off, I don't like changing animals around too fast and these are alraady in your system. COnatantly moving photosynthetic animals around and forcing them to change their photobiology is subjecting the animal to additional stress. I try to match the same conditions the animal was grwoing in and after it appears to have acclimated then sdjust lighting, flow or location. So my advice for now is leave everything along and be patinet. See what you can find out about feeding them and how much flow they like and maybe how much light and what spectrum they grew in..

 

[Crystal08]

Some gorgonians are non photosynthetic so the lighting shouldn’t matter for those. I don’t know if your are photosynthetic or not.

NPS: Red Finger Gorgonians (are they expert level only?)

Hello fellow saltines, I couldn't find an NPS section so I'm posting in the newbie section. So after four months of my tank (5g) running smoothly I'm starting to develop my coral list. I was given great advice in a previous post of mine and one of the corals mentioned are gorgonians...

www.reef2reef.com

Yikes reading though some of that is worrisome. Definitely not a expert on coral feedings. So I have been trying to feed them phytoplankton a couple times a week and coral roids once a week.

 

[dwest]

The fish store I bought them from sold them to me saying they are Hardy and easy to keep. They knew this was my first reef tank so I didn’t know any better. Not trying to blame anyone because I should have done better research, so that’s on me. All I can do now is learn from my mistakes and hopefully do the best I can to keep them doing well.

The fish store could be right. I don’t know. I hope the gorgonians work out because I think they are awesome.

And your tank is very nice BTW! (If that is a damsel in the back, keep an eye on him bothering your clowns.) After 30 years of reefing, clownfish are still my favorite :)

 

[Crystal08]

Fist off, I don't like changing animals around too fast and these are alraady in your system. COnatantly moving photosynthetic animals around and forcing them to change their photobiology is subjecting the animal to additional stress. I try to match the same conditions the animal was grwoing in and after it appears to have acclimated then sdjust lighting, flow or location. So my advice for now is leave everything along and be patinet. See what you can find out about feeding them and how much flow they like and maybe how much light and what spectrum they grew in..

The more I learn about reef keeping the more I realize I literally know almost nothing. I really do try my best to do right by everything I already bought. There is a big learning curve and I may of been too excited and introduced some things I shouldn’t of into the tank.

 

[Crystal08]

The fish store could be right. I don’t know. I hope the gorgonians work out because I think they are awesome.

And your tank is very nice BTW! (If that is a damsel in the back, keep an eye on him bothering your clowns.) After 30 years of reefing, clownfish are still my favorite :)

Thank you! Yes that’s a damsel and he’s a feisty little guy but nothing too crazy. The clowns chase him off sometimes but they mostly co exist pretty good. I really enjoy the clown fish since they are always out wiggling around lol they were our first fish.

 

[dwest]

Yikes reading though some of that is worrisome. Definitely not an expert on coral feedings. So I have been trying to feed them phytoplankton a couple times a week and coral roids once a week.

I’ve learned to try to focus on the good things in my tank. So try not to worry.

The only thing that I think you might want to change is to put that clam (I’m assuming that’s a clam on the left) right under the center of the light on the sand for now. The clams we keep are photosynthetic and need lots of light for sure.

I also would keep asking around the local fish stores if they know how you could rent or borrow a PAR meter.

 

[dwest]

My clowns just now. The bigger one is about 25 years old.

 

[Crystal08]

I’ve learned to try to focus on the good things in my tank. So try not to worry.

The only thing that I think you might want to change is to put that clam (I’m assuming that’s a clam on the left) right under the center of the light on the sand for now. The clams we keep are photosynthetic and need lots of light for sure.

I also would keep asking around the local fish stores if they know how you could rent or borrow a PAR meter.

It is just a clam shell. It was dead before I got it as a decoration. The clown fish use it as a house. But yeah you’re right just focus on what good things I’ve got going and try to learn from my mistakes for the future.

 

[Timfish]

The more I learn about reef keeping the more I realize I literally no almost nothing. I really do try my best to do right by everything I already bought. There is a big learning curve and I may of been to excited an introduced some things I shouldn’t of into the tank.

Get used to it. :D I've been keeping reefs for 4 decades and am dumber now than when I started. No matter how much I learn the sphere of what I don't know expands exponetially. The two most important things to do IMO is water changes and keeping algae under control. Third, to avoid playing musical chairs with lights which many corals don't like, is setting the lights at a set value then getting animals that like those conditions.

Here's a data bomb to both help and overwhelm. Expect any of this material to show up on the final exam. :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

"Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas" This video compliments Rohwer's book of the same title (Paper back is ~$20, Kindle is ~$10), both deal with the conflicting roles of the different types of DOC in reef ecosystems. While there is overlap bewteen his book and the video both have information not covered by the other and together give a broader view of the complex relationships found in reef ecosystems


Changing Seas - Mysterious Microbes


Microbial view of Coral Decline


Nitrogen cycling in hte coral holobiont


BActeria and Sponges


Maintenance of Coral Reef Health (refferences at the end)


Optical Feedback Loop in Colorful Coral Bleaching


DNA Sequencing and the Reef Tank Microbiome


Richard Ross What's up with phosphate"


15 Answers

 

[Crystal08]

My clowns just now. The bigger one is about 25 years old.

Aww just beautiful! I hope I can keep my clowns happy for even half that long.

 

[Crystal08]

Get used to it. :D I've been keeping reefs for 4 decades and am dumber now than when I started. No matter how much I learn the sphere of what I don't know expands exponetially. The two most important things to do IMO is water changes and keeping algae under control. Third, to avoid playing musical chairs with lights which many corals don't like, is setting the lights at a set value then getting animals that like those conditions.

Here's a data bomb to both help and overwhelm. Expect any of this material to show up on the final exam. :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

"Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas" This video compliments Rohwer's book of the same title (Paper back is ~$20, Kindle is ~$10), both deal with the conflicting roles of the different types of DOC in reef ecosystems. While there is overlap bewteen his book and the video both have information not covered by the other and together give a broader view of the complex relationships found in reef ecosystems


Changing Seas - Mysterious Microbes


Microbial view of Coral Decline


Nitrogen cycling in hte coral holobiont


BActeria and Sponges


Maintenance of Coral Reef Health (refferences at the end)


Optical Feedback Loop in Colorful Coral Bleaching


DNA Sequencing and the Reef Tank Microbiome


Richard Ross What's up with phosphate"


15 Answers

I’m overwhelmed just thinking about watching those videos lol but thanks I will check them out tonight.

 

[Timfish]

I’m overwhelmed just thinking about watching those videos lol but thanks I will check them out tonight.

Take your time, watch one every few days, let the ifo stew awhile then watch them agian, then repeat. Remmeber, you'll never catch up. ;)

 

[Crystal08]

Take your time, watch one every few days, let the ifo stew awhile then watch them agian, then repeat. Remmeber, you'll never catch up. ;)

The ocean is a wise woman and I’ll definitely never catch up At least I know more this week than last week so it’s not all for nothing.