General coral needs

Matt Bravo · Sep 30, 2022

So I've had my 10 gallon for about a month now and my pair of clowns look okay so I want to add corals to encourage them to hopefully explore more of the tank since they still like the right side of the tank a lot more. I've heard mixed opinions on torches and hammer which I'm interested in but I don't have a wave maker. Would a hygger mini wave maker be okay for a 10 gallon it's not a cube it's a rectangle one about 20" long and I have a fluval sea marine 3.0 light is that okay or should I get a different one?

thatmanMIKEson · Sep 30, 2022

Luckydinamite said:
So I've had my 10 gallon for about a month now and my pair of clowns look okay so I want to add corals to encourage them to hopefully explore more of the tank since they still like the right side of the tank a lot more. I've heard mixed opinions on torches and hammer which I'm interested in but I don't have a wave maker. Would a hygger mini wave maker be okay for a 10 gallon it's not a cube it's a rectangle one about 20" long and I have a fluval sea marine 3.0 light is that okay or should I get a different one?

Mine is the same way but it hides behind the overflow it's been a few years, they dont utilize allot of the tank..

I'm not familiar with the lighting

Matt Bravo · Sep 30, 2022

thatmanMIKEson said:
Mine is the same way but it hides behind the overflow it's been a few years, they dont utilize allot of the tank..

I'm not familiar with the lighting

It's on Amazon a few people have said it's not appropriate lighting so I'm just wondering what other people thoughts were

dcsorrell · Oct 1, 2022

Re: the Fluval nano light - how tall is your tank? If no more than a foot tall, it will likely be fine unless you're planning to add corals that need high intensity lighting. Softies and LPS should be okay.

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal · Oct 1, 2022

Luckydinamite said:
So I've had my 10 gallon for about a month now and my pair of clowns look okay so I want to add corals to encourage them to hopefully explore more of the tank since they still like the right side of the tank a lot more. I've heard mixed opinions on torches and hammer which I'm interested in but I don't have a wave maker. Would a hygger mini wave maker be okay for a 10 gallon it's not a cube it's a rectangle one about 20" long and I have a fluval sea marine 3.0 light is that okay or should I get a different one?

Do your research on any coral you're considering and find out what it needs, before you put it in your tank.

thatmanMIKEson · Oct 1, 2022

Luckydinamite said:
It's on Amazon a few people have said it's not appropriate lighting so I'm just wondering what other people thoughts were

I can't say for that particular light and tank, but my systems I put more lights than needed and then adjust the intensity down, I can say for that set up because I've never had it.

If your worried about light why not make plans to upgrade the light to a controllable led, and you could adjust the brightness down, I like the A.I prime 16hd it has beautiful colors and would make you colors POP, but it would be very intense for a 10g and need to be turned down.

Matt Bravo · Oct 1, 2022

thatmanMIKEson said:
I can't say for that particular light and tank, but my systems I put more lights than needed and then adjust the intensity down, I can say for that set up because I've never had it.

If your worried about light why not make plans to upgrade the light to a controllable led, and you could adjust the brightness down, I like the A.I prime 16hd it has beautiful colors and would make you colors POP, but it would be very intense for a 10g and need to be turned down.

Thanks for the recommendation and my current light is controllable I just get a few comments saying long run they might not be strong enough for corals that need stronger intensity light is there any other light you can recommend? Or a certain brand budget friendly if possible hat would be great thanks

Matt Bravo · Oct 1, 2022

dcsorrell said:
Re: the Fluval nano light - how tall is your tank? If no more than a foot tall, it will likely be fine unless you're planning to add corals that need high intensity lighting. Softies and LPS should be okay.

Yeah it's less than a foot but I'm planning on taking advantage of this Black Friday and buy a better light. Is there a light you can recommend? (budget friendly haha) for some sps as i get more experience I want to get a good light right now so I don't have to upgrade later for corals that need stronger light if you know what I mean thanks

dcsorrell · Oct 1, 2022

Luckydinamite said:
Yeah it's less than a foot but I'm planning on taking advantage of this Black Friday and buy a better light. Is there a light you can recommend? (budget friendly haha) for some sps as i get more experience I want to get a good light right now so I don't have to upgrade later for corals that need stronger light if you know what I mean thanks

How long is your tank? If it's at least 18" you could look at other choices by Fluval. Any of the other choices I would trust would cost about twice as much. For instnace, an AI Prime.

Matt Bravo · Oct 1, 2022

dcsorrell said:
How long is your tank? If it's at least 18" you could look at other choices by Fluval. Any of the other choices I would trust would cost about twice as much. For instnace, an AI Prime.

I could go with an ai I just didn't really want to do more than 350 ish on it since there's still a wave maker I'm struggling to find. Would placing a rock in front of a wave maker kind of drown it out a bit? And also is it better to get the ai prime on Amazon or brs?

thatmanMIKEson · Oct 1, 2022

Luckydinamite said:
I could go with an ai I just didn't really want to do more than 350 ish on it since there's still a wave maker I'm struggling to find. Would placing a rock in front of a wave maker kind of drown it out a bit? And also is it better to get the ai prime on Amazon or brs?

It sounds like your not in desperate need of a light right now, black Friday cyber Monday is coming up and they do huge sales every year, im going to buy a large sump I suggest if you don't need it now and it can wait plan for the big purchases then and save up now.

But I do recommend to buy a better light than budget friendly and save the cost on other things, if growing coral they require a quality light for cell production and it is one main component in a reef aquarium, and should be at the top of the list IMO

dcsorrell · Oct 1, 2022

Luckydinamite said:
I could go with an ai I just didn't really want to do more than 350 ish on it since there's still a wave maker I'm struggling to find. Would placing a rock in front of a wave maker kind of drown it out a bit? And also is it better to get the ai prime on Amazon or brs?

Placing a rock in front of your wave maker would redirect flow, but idk about reducing it.

Where to get the light: if you have access to an lfs that carries it, that would be first choice. If not, support a shop such as BRS, sure.

Matt Bravo · Oct 1, 2022

thatmanMIKEson said:
It sounds like your not in desperate need of a light right now, black Friday cyber Monday is coming up and they do huge sales every year, im going to buy a large sump I suggest if you don't need it now and it can wait plan for the big purchases then and save up now.

But I do recommend to buy a better light than budget friendly and save the cost on other things, if growing coral they require a quality light for cell production and it is one main component in a reef aquarium, and should be at the top of the list IMO

That's exactly what I was thinking haha thanks for the recommendation I'll be sure to wait and get a good deal thanks

adittam · Oct 1, 2022

Get corals because you want to add coral, not because you want to coax the clowns out of the corner or end of the tank. I have a 4'x2' tank filled with corals and a huge bubble tip anemone, and my clowns only hang out in the corner by the return nozzle.

Clowns are weird.