Reef not maturing

[hellasinc]

How are they testing it and with what kits?
This wattage will likely not promote coralline and the light intensity in pic is quite low.

Thats because the in the pictures the light is off. Scroll to the top and watch the video its set at 23k 80% blues only at the moment

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thats because the in the pictures the light is off. Scroll to the top and watch the video its set at 23k 80% blues only at the moment

I see that now and try 35% blue and 45% white. This light lacks spectrum colors such as red and green to support algae and you will have to create a blend for coral and coralline support in this case. Im very familiar with this light and while designed for a tank with 20' x 20" spread has minimal shimmer and you'll to play with intensities to get coralline growth

 

[hellasinc]

I see that now and try 35% blue and 45% white. This light lacks spectrum colors such as red and green to support algae and you will have to create a blend for coral and coralline support in this case. Im very familiar with this light and while designed for a tank with 20' x 20" spread has minimal shimmer and you'll to play with intensities to get coralline growth

Is this the intensity you recommend for coral also ? I ask cause I with thinking of adding GSP and maybe zoas in 2 weeks

 

[vetteguy53081]

Is this the intensity you recommend for coral also ? I ask cause I with thinking of adding GSP and maybe zoas in 2 weeks

Yes and once corals added, adjust accordingly but should be a good start, When adding coral, start with more blue, then increase the whites 3-5% every few days until desired intensity

 

[G&B Reefing]

I have this light on my nano. Turn it up. I have this light plus two ai blade grow bars. This light at 55% and the bars at 80%.

As mentioned above your tank is sterile bc you have not added any source of diversity. Add a few frags and leave them on the plugs, life will take off.

 

[hellasinc]

I have this light on my nano. Turn it up. I have this light plus two ai blade grow bars. This light at 55% and the bars at 80%.

As mentioned above your tank is sterile bc you have not added any source of diversity. Add a few frags and leave them on the plugs, life will take off.

What would you recommend in terms of intensity for whites and blues for this light ? planning on adding zoas and gsp in 2 weeks

 

[shkeats]

In reply to: G&B Reefing. Yep, I think all this lighting discussion is slightly wide of the point. Your tank looks immature because you've not added any sources of diversity. Where are we expecting the coralline and other algae types to have come from in this scenario?

It looks to me like you have a mature fish only tank but not a mature reef tank. This isn't a problem, and go ahead and add coral, but expect to go through the stages of pain people do in their first year when starting a mixed reef with corals immediately.

 

[hellasinc]

In reply to: G&B Reefing. Yep, I think all this lighting discussion is slightly wide of the point. Your tank looks immature because you've not added any sources of diversity. Where are we expecting the coralline and other algae types to have come from in this scenario?

It looks to me like you have a mature fish only tank but not a mature reef tank. This isn't a problem, and go ahead and add coral, but expect to go through the stages of pain people do in their first year when starting a mixed reef with corals immediately.

The tank is over a year old, I have 3 fish inside 1 clownfish 1 yellow wrasse and a dottyback and 3 astra snails and 2 mexican turbos. I did add a live rock in the sump about 7 months ago but after a year tank looks new. Im planning on adding gsp and maybe zoas in 2 weeks maybe that will help it mature.

 

[G&B Reefing]

Set the light %white to what ever looks good to you. No real wrong answer here in the split. Target blues at 60%.

As mentioned, be ready for the uglies to start up.

 

[shkeats]

The tank is over a year old, I have 3 fish inside 1 clownfish 1 yellow wrasse and a dottyback and 3 astra snails and 2 mexican turbos. I did add a live rock in the sump about 7 months ago but after a year tank looks new. Im planning on adding gsp and maybe zoas in 2 weeks maybe that will help it mature.

Sounds good, go slow and stick to what you can afford to lose in any initial hiccups. See if they can give you some more live rock or better yet buy corals on rock, and leave it out in the light among the other rocks instead of the sump so any light loving species can flourish!

There are some things you can buy directly to help, like coralline seeding plates, and you can buy live copepods etc to try and kick start things if you want. (The fish might eat them pretty quick)

 

[CoralBiomorph]

As someone who ran ReefLEDs at a reduced intensity for far too long, crank those lights up before you add coral.

Use the Photone app to get a ballpark estimate of the PAR intensity at the sandbed and aim to get it around 100-120.

Add some nice softies, zoas, leathers. Toadstools are nice.

 

[hellasinc]

As someone who ran ReefLEDs at a reduced intensity for far too long, crank those lights up before you add coral.

Use the Photone app to get a ballpark estimate of the PAR intensity at the sandbed and aim to get it around 100-120.

Add some nice softies, zoas, leathers. Toadstools are nice.

Any recommendations for the intensity of blue and white?

 

[CoralBiomorph]

Any recommendations for the intensity of blue and white?

Blues probably around 75/80. White to whatever you like. It has far less impact on PAR or algae than you think. But just download the photone app and find some white paper as diffuser. It won’t be perfect measurements but absolutely good enough.

For context, I kept running my reefleds 160s at around 50 to 60 because I hated the fan noise and I assumed it would be powerful enough for a tank without SPS. Turns out my tank was running at only 70PAR on the sandbed and my LPS corals hated it. Had to bump them to 100% due to browning corals. Corals started recovering color immediately. Zoas did great though.

Now I’m running about 170PAR on the sandbed, all my coral took off like crazy. My torches are around 250-300 and seem to be growing and nicely extending polyps.

All to say, I think too little light is worse than “more than needed” light, but speaking from personal experience.

 

[hellasinc]

Blues probably around 75/80. White to whatever you like. It has far less impact on PAR or algae than you think. But just download the photone app and find some white paper as diffuser. It won’t be perfect measurements but absolutely good enough.

For context, I kept running my reefleds 160s at around 50 to 60 because I hated the fan noise and I assumed it would be powerful enough for a tank without SPS. Turns out my tank was running at only 70PAR on the sandbed and my LPS corals hated it. Had to bump them to 100% due to browning corals. Corals started recovering color immediately. Zoas did great though.

Now I’m running about 170PAR on the sandbed, all my coral took off like crazy. My torches are around 250-300 and seem to be growing and nicely extending polyps.

All to say, I think too little light is worse than “more than needed” light, but speaking from personal experience.

I appreciate it thank you

 

[hellasinc]

As someone who ran ReefLEDs at a reduced intensity for far too long, crank those lights up before you add coral.

Use the Photone app to get a ballpark estimate of the PAR intensity at the sandbed and aim to get it around 100-120.

Add some nice softies, zoas, leathers. Toadstools are nice.

i tried the app but not sure if it worked correctly, the bottom it has 0.1 half way 0.2 and a little further up 0.3

 

[BryanM]

Intensity of white and blues is arguably a preference thing.

You could easily go 80% blue, 40-60% white.

 

[CoralBiomorph]

i tried the app but not sure if it worked correctly, the bottom it has 0.1 half way 0.2 and a little further up 0.3

Make sure to use the blue/white LED preset at the bottom. The PAR meter should say PPFD.

 

[schooncw]

To me, the reason for this is obvious, as is the solution: Add some "real", wet live rock.

 

[X-37B]

I have no experience with that light but 20% on any light is weak sauce.

Looks like a dead rock start that never took off if its 1 year old.

So many reefers would never have these issues if they used some live rock from day one. 50% minimum but any is better than none.

This is my 15g and its 1 year old.
I run a gen5 xr15, ab+ @ 100%.
20% on this light would be extremely low par. Your light is much weaker.

 

[Kooma]

Red Sea ReefLED 50. In regards to the algae ive attached some photos

You started with dry rock, you need to see the tank to have things grow. I’d say some live rock from another tank you know if clean would be a good start.

I find coraline grows faster in whiter lights than in deep blues as well, but ymmv