10g Rimless AIO LED SPS Reef

[Dasani]

My FAS order came in today.
My plans are to ship the pump back Monday, hopefully get the new filter by Thursday the 11th. Then get this tank up and running as soon as I do.

 

[Dasani]

Got all my LED stuff in today except for the heatsink. Gonna paint the back of the tank tonight.

 

[Dasani]

 

[Dasani]

It's about time....

Glued down...

All wired up...

Blues

Whites

All

New canopy

Finally

 

[Dasani]

My levels are just about where I want them.
sg is at 1.026 (gonna lower to 1.024-1.025)
calcium- 440
alk-8 (trying to raise to 10)

The only thing is temp. I has been fluctuating from 76-81 everyday. Any suggestions on how to keep this stable without a chiller?

 

[H@rry]

I'd keep the SG @ 1.026. The coral will like it better. Can you put a fan over the sump or over the tank in the heat of the day? That will make a big difference. You'll have to replenish more water for topoff though.

Good Luck.

 

[Dasani]

I'd keep the SG @ 1.026. The coral will like it better. Can you put a fan over the sump or over the tank in the heat of the day? That will make a big difference. You'll have to replenish more water for topoff though.

Good Luck.

I do have a fan. It's hooked on the back of my bed about 1ft away from the tank. It is around 76* when the lights come on and around 80* when they cut off.

 

[pickupman66]

Im impressed the LED's heat that water up that much. do you have a fan on them? how cool is the room at night? I see you have a heater in there. but 6 degrees daily can be a little IFFY. before I had a temperature controlled tank, my old tank fluctuated 3 degrees daily.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Nowadays, a lot of coral researchers seem to believe that a little bit of temperature variation is well tolerated by reef organisms, and may even be useful in promoting higher thermal tolerances in corals, reducing the risk of disaster in the case of high temperature stress. Most corals and other reef organisms tend to have thermal optima within the range of 77-82 degrees F.

 

[Dasani]

@pickupman I don't think the LED's are that hot. I can feel the fan blowing over the tank and I can't feel any heat from the LED's. I can touch the heatsink without being burned. The tank is in my bedroom, so it stays around 74* all the time.

@Tomoko This makes since, but I have heard SPS can't survive when the temp changes 3-5* everyday.

 

[H@rry]

If your room stays at 74 all the time and you don't think the LEDs heat the water up, where do you think the heat is coming from? You don't have to be burned for them to heat the water up. 80 won't burn you. You don't have a heater hooked up do you.

SPS can survive a wide temp swing. Mine go from 76.8 to 81.2 on a daily basis. On occasion the tanks get down to 76.2 or up to 82.1.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

My SPS's are probably going through a pretty wide range (78 to 83) as well and still thriving.

 

[Dasani]

I do have a small superman monti in there that is doing good. But my Monti cap and birdsnest where bleaching in my old tank and the temp was around 81. They were about 2.5 ft from a 175w metal halide and 2 24w t5's. They are in my dad's tank at the moment.

I guess I'll adjust my heater and the fan and see how that does.

Thanks!

 

[pickupman66]

Wow. Interesting to learn of the temp swings. I would allow mine to be cooler overnight but with the garage sump that is just not possible today. Once the evenings cool it will drop a bit. When I start to have a heater ill let it cool to 77 but heat up as much as it wants to 82.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

 

[pickupman66]

@pickupman I don't think the LED's are that hot. I can feel the fan blowing over the tank and I can't feel any heat from the LED's. I can touch the heatsink without being burned. The tank is in my bedroom, so it stays around 74* all the time.

Then the question is something heats that water during the day.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I would not adjust a heater unless the tank temp drops very low at night. You light will drive the temp up if the temp is already higher before the light turns on. Is your hood vented? A wooden canopy/hood can hold heat from the heat sink well if not vented well.

I doubt that the bleaching of your birdsnest or monti cap is heat related, though. 81 degrees F is not high enough to cause bleaching unless your water condition is less than desirable. Most SPS's need a well-established tank with stable parameters. I got a feeling that it's more of a tank maturity issue. Even when you use old rocks, sand, and water, your SPS's will sulk for awhile when you move them into a new tank. Their colors will dull for sure.
A number of my A. millipora and other light loving SPS's including pink birds nest were colored up beautifully at only 8 inches from my 250W MH bulbs in my 120 where temp fluctuated more than 78 to 83 range that my 180 is holding. I am afraid that you have to take it a bit more slowly. Be patient.

I remember having a heck of a time keeping a pink birds nest in my 29 gallon tank which was only six months old while Bali green slimer and other tougher SPS's such as monti cap and digi were all fine. It became possible to keep more delicate SPS's as my tank matured.

 

[markie mark]

I've had my sps reef go as high as 86° during the day,didn't hurt anything,as a matter of fact,on the other forum there's a thread about wild Marshall island corals and the guy tested the temp at like 60' and it was 86°...don't worry about 81° being high...temp is the last thing to worry about in a 10 gallon sps tank...

 

[Dasani]

I would not adjust a heater unless the tank temp drops very low at night. You light will drive the temp up if the temp is already higher before the light turns on. Is your hood vented? A wooden canopy/hood can hold heat from the heat sink well if not vented well.

I doubt that the bleaching of your birdsnest or monti cap is heat related, though. 81 degrees F is not high enough to cause bleaching unless your water condition is less than desirable. Most SPS's need a well-established tank with stable parameters. I got a feeling that it's more of a tank maturity issue. Even when you use old rocks, sand, and water, your SPS's will sulk for awhile when you move them into a new tank. Their colors will dull for sure.
A number of my A. millipora and other light loving SPS's including pink birds nest were colored up beautifully at only 8 inches from my 250W MH bulbs in my 120 where temp fluctuated more than 78 to 83 range that my 180 is holding. I am afraid that you have to take it a bit more slowly. Be patient.

I remember having a heck of a time keeping a pink birds nest in my 29 gallon tank which was only six months old while Bali green slimer and other tougher SPS's such as monti cap and digi were all fine. It became possible to keep more delicate SPS's as my tank matured.

Actually, this happened in my old 20g High tank. That tank was about 9 months old, then I took it down. and transferred the water and some of the rocks to the new tank. I used all new sand.

Does this tank sound mature or not? I am thinking I probably need to wait. I am trading my metal halide to Dave in the next week or so for 6 nice ORA frags. I really don't want to lose them. Should I put them in my dads tank for a little while? His tank is a 75g with 175w halides. It's a lil over 3 years old.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I'd put all the fussy ones in your dad's tank for now if his tank has been stable. Although your rocks are not new, I got the feeling that your new tank needs to stabilize some more, judging from what you described so far. Stability is the main thing for SPS's. I figure that some of the ORA frags may be pretty tough and can handle a relatively young tank, but I hate to lose any. Keep an eye on your superman monti. When it does well over the next few weeks, you can try another SPS in your tank. Just be patient. A nano tank is not an easy environment for keeping SPS's, but you can do it if you monitor the tank condition closely and don't let it get out of hand.

Also watch out for the strong blast of water from your powerheads. Hydor Koralia pumps tend to have uneven flow as you might have noticed. All of my Koralia 4's have two or three concentrated jetstream radiating from their propellers. I check carefully after cleaning and reinstalling my Koralia's, but I occasionally see a branch or two of my acro near my Koralia losing its tissue with a strong jet coming from Koralia.

 

[jiffy]

looks great, following along.