Hollington37
New Member
Hey everyone! I’m new to forums in general but I’ve been reading and learning from this site for months since starting in the reef building hobby.
I was looking for some clarification on a few topics that I’m quite unclear on and would appreciate any advice given. I’ve been in the freshwater hobby for years and am just now a year into the reef hobby.
1. Lighting. I’m using programmable leds for my 13 gallon mixed reef tank, A fluval marine 3.0 to be exact. Most of my coral are small frags and have been introduced into the aquarium for about a month now and seem to be doing well with all polyps extended as they should be. I’ve noticed over time the color of the coral are still there but seem to be getting darker and less vibrant. Which leads me to asking about lighting. I know that coral can get darker when the coral is producing to much of the photosynthetic algae in them (forgot the word) but i can not figure out which spectrum would cause it to produce too much. I can also not get an “understandable” answer as to what the red cyan and white spectrums do for the coral or how much the coral need. As far as the blue spectrum goes i understand it, and think I may have it dialed in but still I’m not sure if it’s too much blue that’s causing the darkening of the coral. I don’t have access to any kind of device to read PAR, but I used the manufacturers PAR chart for this specific light at 3 inch intervals and used the information to make a curved line on a linegraph and give me a round about idea what the par would be at inch intervals up to 12 inches (how deep my tank is to the sand bed) 1 inch under the light im getting about 407 PAR, 6 inches 171 PAR, and on the sand bed 72 par. I made a little 12in slip of paper and put inch increments to make a paper ruler essentially and put my data for my PAR chart I made at each increment, and taped it to the side of my tank while placing my coral.
so basically what I’m asking for lighting
1. What do the red, white and cyan do for coral photosynthesis
2. How do I know if there’s too much blue
3. About how much of the red white and cyan spectrum should i be giving the coral
2. Flow, When I obtained each piece of coral I did research to figure out what PAR levels, flow rate and whether or not they are aggressive or docile. My aquariums “return pump” (its sump is on the side) has two adjustable nozzles that I feel put out a good amount of flow, i also have a power head rated for a 25 gallon aquarium in the tank as well that pushes a good amount of water itself, when I look at other peoples builds and displays at my LFS, the polyps in their tanks swirl and move back and forth in the current, mine seem to just barely sway unless i are one of the three sources relatively close to being pointed directly at them, so do I not have enough flow and water movement or is that the way it’s supposed to be? Most of my LPS have shorter tentacles but a fan worm and an Xenia I have just slowly sway back and forth and dont flail about like those I see in most reef tanks and they’re in what I would figure is the most moderate position of flow. I do have a gorgonian that I bought on a whim (hence why I research now) that gets a good current to it because the power head is pointed at it, but everything else in the tank doesn’t seem to get much,
so on flow my main question is
1. Do my corals need to be moving more or does my movement sound about right
2. what is the Definition of moderate flow and how to determine if the flow for a coral is moderate if there’s nothing really to compare it too,
3. how much does the flow rate affect the coral over time and what to look for if it’s too much or not enough
and my last topic is aggression
I’ve read about torches and acans and how they have sweeper tentacles that reach out and sting other coral, and heard how ricordea and Zoas have to be placed X amount of inches from other coral, yet I’ve seen display tanks with ricordea and zoas bunched up together forming a beautiful scape, ive also read where green star polyp is agressive but I’ve seen it looking like grass on the bottom of a tank with mushrooms and other coral all in it, so does aggressive refer to a number of things such as it will try to cover up more space for itself while other coral will actually sting other coral. Or is it fully a territory thing?
My questions on aggression,
1. What does aggression mean exactly
2. What happens when things like torches and acans grow larger over the years and get super close to other coral
3. Will aggressive coral coexist with others if all needs are met or will they just attack anything that gets too close.
These are questions that I’ve been wanting clarification on and I know they are kind of loaded questions when it comes to specific species and all but im trying to understand them as a whole. Thanks in advance for your help!
I was looking for some clarification on a few topics that I’m quite unclear on and would appreciate any advice given. I’ve been in the freshwater hobby for years and am just now a year into the reef hobby.
1. Lighting. I’m using programmable leds for my 13 gallon mixed reef tank, A fluval marine 3.0 to be exact. Most of my coral are small frags and have been introduced into the aquarium for about a month now and seem to be doing well with all polyps extended as they should be. I’ve noticed over time the color of the coral are still there but seem to be getting darker and less vibrant. Which leads me to asking about lighting. I know that coral can get darker when the coral is producing to much of the photosynthetic algae in them (forgot the word) but i can not figure out which spectrum would cause it to produce too much. I can also not get an “understandable” answer as to what the red cyan and white spectrums do for the coral or how much the coral need. As far as the blue spectrum goes i understand it, and think I may have it dialed in but still I’m not sure if it’s too much blue that’s causing the darkening of the coral. I don’t have access to any kind of device to read PAR, but I used the manufacturers PAR chart for this specific light at 3 inch intervals and used the information to make a curved line on a linegraph and give me a round about idea what the par would be at inch intervals up to 12 inches (how deep my tank is to the sand bed) 1 inch under the light im getting about 407 PAR, 6 inches 171 PAR, and on the sand bed 72 par. I made a little 12in slip of paper and put inch increments to make a paper ruler essentially and put my data for my PAR chart I made at each increment, and taped it to the side of my tank while placing my coral.
so basically what I’m asking for lighting
1. What do the red, white and cyan do for coral photosynthesis
2. How do I know if there’s too much blue
3. About how much of the red white and cyan spectrum should i be giving the coral
2. Flow, When I obtained each piece of coral I did research to figure out what PAR levels, flow rate and whether or not they are aggressive or docile. My aquariums “return pump” (its sump is on the side) has two adjustable nozzles that I feel put out a good amount of flow, i also have a power head rated for a 25 gallon aquarium in the tank as well that pushes a good amount of water itself, when I look at other peoples builds and displays at my LFS, the polyps in their tanks swirl and move back and forth in the current, mine seem to just barely sway unless i are one of the three sources relatively close to being pointed directly at them, so do I not have enough flow and water movement or is that the way it’s supposed to be? Most of my LPS have shorter tentacles but a fan worm and an Xenia I have just slowly sway back and forth and dont flail about like those I see in most reef tanks and they’re in what I would figure is the most moderate position of flow. I do have a gorgonian that I bought on a whim (hence why I research now) that gets a good current to it because the power head is pointed at it, but everything else in the tank doesn’t seem to get much,
so on flow my main question is
1. Do my corals need to be moving more or does my movement sound about right
2. what is the Definition of moderate flow and how to determine if the flow for a coral is moderate if there’s nothing really to compare it too,
3. how much does the flow rate affect the coral over time and what to look for if it’s too much or not enough
and my last topic is aggression
I’ve read about torches and acans and how they have sweeper tentacles that reach out and sting other coral, and heard how ricordea and Zoas have to be placed X amount of inches from other coral, yet I’ve seen display tanks with ricordea and zoas bunched up together forming a beautiful scape, ive also read where green star polyp is agressive but I’ve seen it looking like grass on the bottom of a tank with mushrooms and other coral all in it, so does aggressive refer to a number of things such as it will try to cover up more space for itself while other coral will actually sting other coral. Or is it fully a territory thing?
My questions on aggression,
1. What does aggression mean exactly
2. What happens when things like torches and acans grow larger over the years and get super close to other coral
3. Will aggressive coral coexist with others if all needs are met or will they just attack anything that gets too close.
These are questions that I’ve been wanting clarification on and I know they are kind of loaded questions when it comes to specific species and all but im trying to understand them as a whole. Thanks in advance for your help!
