Help - Placement of corals and lights

[rvamarcel]

I'm trying to move a few corals to a more suitable place according to their theoretical requirement. I'm also trying to find a good starting point to start increasing the intensity of my lights.

Please check out the picture and give me your opinions/suggestions. These are my main concerns, but all feedback and ideas are welcome!

- Galaxea. Currently in the sand bed. Should probably go to a higher spot, right?

- Torch. It does not like it is right now. I have no idea on where to place it. His polyps are thin and shriveled right now

- I moved from the stock Power Compact (24w actinic and 24w 10k daylight) to a AI Prime HD that I retrofitted on the hood (4" from the water surface). The current schedule is set to go at 30% during peak time and I'm trying to increase it slowly so I don't fry any corals. What's a good increment per day? I was also tempted to ask about the light schedule and color mix for my current inhabitants, but I know this is not the appropriate forum (but comments and ideas for those familiar with this specific setup are highly appreciated)

- One more bonus concern: my Banggai Cardinal is bidding most of the time (back left, near the bottom in pic). Is this normal?


Maybe they are ok where they are, but I'm not sure. If you spot anything else that should be corrected, please let me know!

(Please see the pics attached)

 

[Va_Reef]

Personally i don't think the AI has good spread at all at 4".

Willing to bet the torch isn't getting enough light out there.

The galaxea looks like it needs more light, but keep in mind they have NASTY sweeper tentacles, piece that size can easily put out 3-4" sweepers.

As for the bangaii, what other fish do you have? They can be shy and are more of a nighttime predator imo.

 

[rvamarcel]

Personally i don't think the AI has good spread at all at 4".

Willing to bet the torch isn't getting enough light out there.

The galaxea looks like it needs more light, but keep in mind they have NASTY sweeper tentacles, piece that size can easily put out 3-4" sweepers.

As for the bangaii, what other fish do you have? They can be shy and are more of a nighttime predator imo.

Thanks for the reply!!!

I agree with the spread. In shadow areas I can see the different colors of the LEDs, which probably means that they are not mixing well being so close. Again, I don't know much about lighting, but I'm assuming that's the reason. That fixture is not designed to be that close to the water, but I have no other option right now. I have a toddler in the house and taking the lid off is a risky move at this moment.

Setting the intensity a bit higher wouldn't help, would it? Right now it is at 30% max.

I thought about swapping places between the Galaxea and the Torch, but that would make it even worse for the torch. Torches are more demanding, when it comes to light, than frogspawns, right? Those are doing better even though they are on the sand bed (or closer to it). See the pic attached.

I only have two fish right now, a clown and that bangaii.

 

[cody2cannon]

I'm trying to move a few corals to a more suitable place according to their theoretical requirement. I'm also trying to find a good starting point to start increasing the intensity of my lights.

Please check out the picture and give me your opinions/suggestions. These are my main concerns, but all feedback and ideas are welcome!

- Galaxea. Currently in the sand bed. Should probably go to a higher spot, right?

- Torch. It does not like it is right now. I have no idea on where to place it. His polyps are thin and shriveled right now

- I moved from the stock Power Compact (24w actinic and 24w 10k daylight) to a AI Prime HD that I retrofitted on the hood (4" from the water surface). The current schedule is set to go at 30% during peak time and I'm trying to increase it slowly so I don't fry any corals. What's a good increment per day? I was also tempted to ask about the light schedule and color mix for my current inhabitants, but I know this is not the appropriate forum (but comments and ideas for those familiar with this specific setup are highly appreciated)

- One more bonus concern: my Banggai Cardinal is bidding most of the time (back left, near the bottom in pic). Is this normal?


Maybe they are ok where they are, but I'm not sure. If you spot anything else that should be corrected, please let me know!

(Please see the pics attached)

What's on top of the tiki guy?

 

[rvamarcel]

What's on top of the tiki guy?

Green star polyp [emoji41]

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Thanks for the reply!!!

I agree with the spread. In shadow areas I can see the different colors of the LEDs, which probably means that they are not mixing well being so close. Again, I don't know much about lighting, but I'm assuming that's the reason. That fixture is not designed to be that close to the water, but I have no other option right now. I have a toddler in the house and taking the lid off is a risky move at this moment.

Setting the intensity a bit higher wouldn't help, would it? Right now it is at 30% max.

I thought about swapping places between the Galaxea and the Torch, but that would make it even worse for the torch. Torches are more demanding, when it comes to light, than frogspawns, right? Those are doing better even though they are on the sand bed (or closer to it). See the pic attached.

I only have two fish right now, a clown and that bangaii.

tank looks great. I think its all fine where it is, but yea something's up with the one coral. different flow? a little iodine or coral rx?

 

[rvamarcel]

tank looks great. I think its all fine where it is, but yea something's up with the one coral. different flow? a little iodine or coral rx?

I'll probably get some coral rx tomorrow and see if it helps

 

[jsker]

Can you raise the light to at least 12" above the water? You will get spread and one can also turn up the intensity and really use the light to is full intentent. Here is the AI page and the information is at the bottom of the page link

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I'll probably get some coral rx tomorrow and see if it helps

yea its weird all the rest are so happy.
btw thats a pretty powerful light. use caution and/or meter. par or lux.

 

[rvamarcel]

Can you raise the light to at least 12" above the water? You will get spread and one can also turn up the intensity and really use the light to is full intentent. Here is the AI page and the information is at the bottom of the page link

I wish I could mount it higher, but I can't right now. I'll get rid of the hood in a couple of months, in the meantime I have to play with the intensity at 4" to find the sweet spot for everyone in my tank.

Thanks for the link. I've been looking for the right setting at that height, but I will need a PAR meter

 

[rvamarcel]

yea its weird all the rest are so happy.
btw thats a pretty powerful light. use caution and/or meter. par or lux.

How do I know what par is safe for each coral?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

How do I know what par is safe for each coral?

Ugh, long story, in short, research. but most all of those will like the same light IMO, theres an acro in there it usually likes a little more than the rest. BUT, I have no Idea how much ligt you have. BUT(again) all the corals look great.
It could be poor spread to give you one prob, but it could be flow too if were talking about the one in the back.

How old is the tank?

 

[rvamarcel]

Ugh, long story, in short, research. but most all of those will like the same light IMO, theres an acro in there it usually likes a little more than the rest. BUT, I have no Idea how much ligt you have. BUT(again) all the corals look great.
It could be poor spread to give you one prob, but it could be flow too if were talking about the one in the back.

How old is the tank?

2 to 3 months. Had power compacts until last week and everyone seem to be enjoying the new lights (which again, are only running at a max of 30% because I'm scared of frying my corals). Oh! The UV led wasn't working, so I had the fixture replaced last Friday. I haven't gotten the UV channel any higher than 10% since then.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Yup. Look up lux meter here on r2r and Amazon it's cheap or you can borrow by a par meter. Even in a hood you can just point the light at the meter to get an estimate.
But generally if one corals not happy I move it.
Looks good for a young tank. Keep an eye on the corals and test your no3 and Po4. Having good nutrients will help not scorch the corals. Food and light go hand in hand.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Oh and poke around or ask other users what kind of par you get on your light at what intensity.

 

[rvamarcel]

Yup. Look up lux meter here on r2r and Amazon it's cheap or you can borrow by a par meter. Even in a hood you can just point the light at the meter to get an estimate.
But generally if one corals not happy I move it.
Looks good for a young tank. Keep an eye on the corals and test your no3 and Po4. Having good nutrients will help not scorch the corals. Food and light go hand in hand.

I'm doing a 2.5 gallon wc every week. Feeding reef frenzy nano every other day. That's it. Should that be enough?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I'm doing a 2.5 gallon wc every week. Feeding reef frenzy nano every other day. That's it. Should that be enough?

the tank looks so good, Id have to say yes. I might feed the bish a bit more, but thats it.

 

[rvamarcel]

the tank looks so good, Id have to say yes. I might feed the bish a bit more, but thats it.

2 questions, if you don't mind:

1) In theory, ricordeas are to be placed in moderate light areas, should I move mine a bit lower? It is not growing at all (picture attached)

2) should I move the Pipe Organ (currently in the bottom) to a mid height area?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

2 questions, if you don't mind:

1) In theory, ricordeas are to be placed in moderate light areas, should I move mine a bit lower? It is not growing at all (picture attached)

2) should I move the Pipe Organ (currently in the bottom) to a mid height area?

Im def not a ricordia expert, but yes it may be getting too much light based on the nutrients available. Shrooms IME also are weird about flow. I can say that a shroom nect to an acro may not be the best placement.
for gig filter feeders like pipes Id loof for a good firm and hopefully turbulent flo to allow feeding

 

[TikiBird]

I know nothing about your actual questions, but I just had to pop in to say your tank is gorgeous and I love the playfulness of the GSP on the tiki! [emoji7]