Getting new light... which one?

BRS
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Chewy.com
The stock light could be the contributing factor. I see it has lots of whites. I run mostly blues and UV with low white lights . Your going to need to upgrade your lights anyway if you want to keep corals
 
WWC
NotFishyFishGuy said:
Ok so here are some pictures.

These are som pictures before I cleaned up the tank this morning. The bottle is my DIY bristle worm trap that failed. I took it out after cleaning.

76103AB2-9868-4D10-9072-B50F284FD951.jpeg


17F45BD7-2571-4F01-A07F-9516752EF078.jpeg

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And here are the pictures after.
7B22FF6A-D94D-487E-9760-9A42BFDCCE02.jpeg
F3B7F8BF-E910-4EF0-AEE3-0A72657D5559.jpeg
63E55CC7-3B3D-4FAC-A505-AD70A7C41025.jpeg
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A8122760-9BAC-4F10-8914-877AA9A18921.jpeg

I took out some algae on the sand by hand, same with the rocks. The water is still a little bit murky because the sand came up. I will test the water later.

BC6DCA28-FBE3-44DD-8A3B-BF4DF16AFFDB.jpeg
Click to expand...
Ok, first off, do not take this the wrong way.

Is that food floating around in the first few pics? It looks like mysis is why I am asking. If it is that is a ton of food just floating around. If that goes uneaten, it decomposes, raises nutrients and fuels algae growth. If it is not, ignore the previous question lol.

From looking at your tank though, it has not matured and will have some uglies. If any way possible, do some tests and report back as to what you find. At this point sg, ph, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, phosphate are the real big ones. If you have calcium, magnesium, etc. OK, but they really are not needed at this point. We need to look at what fuels algae and the cyano you have in there. With everything I can see from the pics, you tank is way out of balance. Get us those test results and we can work to find a way to get everything in balance.
 
I am not sure you would need a new light as your tank will have ugly stages along the way. I would start with an ATO. That will stabilize your parameters from evaporation. The refugium adds volume and a natural nutrient export. autotopoff.com(Double Nano Upper) has inexpensive good top off kits(I use them) for nano tanks. Get a better small pump than what they offer for reliability.(i.e. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/sicce-syncra-silent-1-0-pump-251-gph.html) Using a 2.5 or 5 gallon tank underneath somewhere with a lid is an inexpensive container.
 
Tidal Gardens
I use an Aqualifter pump for my ATO. I think the ATO, an add on refugium, daily or every other 2 gallon water changes, less feeding will all help. It almost looks like your tank never cycled. Was the rock and sand "live" when u set up the tank 3 months ago? By the way 3 months is still a newer tank and will have some "ugly " times. U have to be patient. Again this is especially true for a small tank. We await your test results.
 
acer said:
I use an Aqualifter pump for my ATO. I think the ATO, an add on refugium, daily or every other 2 gallon water changes, less feeding will all help. It almost looks like your tank never cycled. Was the rock and sand "live" when u set up the tank 3 months ago? By the way 3 months is still a newer tank and will have some "ugly " times. U have to be patient. Again this is especially true for a small tank. We await your test results.
Click to expand...
The rock and sand we both live. I’m not home right now so sry but you will have to wait a little longer for test results. So do you think I wil need a new light?
 
Tuan’s Reef said:
The stock light could be the contributing factor. I see it has lots of whites. I run mostly blues and UV with low white lights . Your going to need to upgrade your lights anyway if you want to keep corals
Click to expand...
Yeah I have some corals right now. I could run the blue lights
 
Tidal Gardens
Eagle_Steve said:
Ok, first off, do not take this the wrong way.

Is that food floating around in the first few pics? It looks like mysis is why I am asking. If it is that is a ton of food just floating around. If that goes uneaten, it decomposes, raises nutrients and fuels algae growth. If it is not, ignore the previous question lol.

From looking at your tank though, it has not matured and will have some uglies. If any way possible, do some tests and report back as to what you find. At this point sg, ph, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, phosphate are the real big ones. If you have calcium, magnesium, etc. OK, but they really are not needed at this point. We need to look at what fuels algae and the cyano you have in there. With everything I can see from the pics, you tank is way out of balance. Get us those test results and we can work to find a way to get everything in balance.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately yes today I fed too much before I cleaned the tank. The food is brine shrimp or mysis I forget which.
 
MaiReef said:
I am not sure you would need a new light as your tank will have ugly stages along the way. I would start with an ATO. That will stabilize your parameters from evaporation. The refugium adds volume and a natural nutrient export. autotopoff.com(Double Nano Upper) has inexpensive good top off kits(I use them) for nano tanks. Get a better small pump than what they offer for reliability.(i.e. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/sicce-syncra-silent-1-0-pump-251-gph.html) Using a 2.5 or 5 gallon tank underneath somewhere with a lid is an inexpensive container.
Click to expand...

I will check out the ATO S THKS ,
 
WWC
Green hair algea and dino from what I understand are both "growing pains" on a new tank which isn't matured yet. It's normal but you seem to have a large amount lol. My tank is roughly the same age as yours because I'm also new to the Hobbie but I still only have 1 clown fish. I notice simple water changes of 20% and me using the vacuum makes a huuuuuge difference I also feed my clown very little....hope that helps you out a little. If your worried about lighting I doubt it's that I use a very strong black box for about 10 hrs a day and my tank seems ok.
 
WWC
Very true on the last post by ACTIK, however you already have 3 fish which is much more of a bioload(creating more nutrients for the algae) even if you feed them less. Reducing the photo period will help as well as the ATO to stabilize your tank. The refugium will add further long term stability.
 
I would get a fighting or tiger conch and maybe a half dozen hermits to help. For a new tank it's really not all that bad.
 
Prime HD all the way. I have 3 and they grow Everything and with a nice shimmer
 
Deltec
MaiReef said:
Very true on the last post by ACTIK, however you already have 3 fish which is much more of a bioload(creating more nutrients for the algae) even if you feed them less. Reducing the photo period will help as well as the ATO to stabilize your tank. The refugium will add further long term stability.
Click to expand...

That’s a good point. I would ask “How much are you feeding and please provide an example”. Back when I professionally maintained tanks I heard some pretty funny stories about “how little” customers fed their fish. We’re talking 2-3 frozen mysis cubes PER clownfish PER day. “Ma’am, your fish are fat...”
 
NotFishyFishGuy said:
About 10 hours a day.
Click to expand...
Definitely not the light. I agree with the other responses that it's most likely a nutrient issue. Don't go crazy chasing numbers and change parameters slowly, especially with that small of a tank. I use the second chamber as a refugium with a cheap Amazon grow light on the back and it works great.
 
BRS

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