How long after a water change is best for checking levels?

[ReefKeeper666]

I usually change about 10 gallons of water every 2 weeks on my 55 gallon tank. Today I had some extra water made up and changed about 15 gallons. How long after is a good time to check my levels?

also i turn my light off during water changes. Is it a good idea to leave it off for a lil while after water changes?

 

[hllb]

I don’t know if it makes a difference, but I like to let everything settle first, which usually takes a couple of hours.

 

[ZoWhat]

also i turn my light off during water changes.

 

[Reef.]

18

 

[ReefKeeper666]

Just figured that with me moving a thing or too sucking up things from sand bed my hand bumping against rocks etc it prob stress the fish and coral and the light being off might help with the stress

 

[Rjukan]

lol, nah don't worry about the stress, they are fine with the light on.

 

[Billldg]

I leave my lights on during water changes, the fish couldn't care less as they hide. As far as testing after a water change, your water will likely be fully mixed in a few hours. I wait a day to make sure, plus I try to test at the same time daily, so depending on the time I did the water change, which is usually around the same time I test, I wait a day.

 

[ReefKeeper666]

lol, nah don't worry about the stress, they are fine with the light on.

So here’s my next question. I have my lights set to be off between 9pm and 9am every night. Is that a bad idea for corals? Should I have some sort of light on at night?

 

[Rjukan]

Nope, no light needed at night. Some use a moonlight but I would guess most don't. If you're really into it you can set a moonlight to simulate the full moons and try to induce coral spawing events...

12hrs of light is a pretty long light cycle, do you have a long ramp up and down with a light controller?

 

[ReefKeeper666]

ok thnx

 

[Billldg]

Should I have some sort of lighting on for my corals 24/7? Or is it ok for there to be no light at night time?

Nah, I run my light schedule from 8 am to 8 pm, with a 2 ramp up and 2 hour ramp down.

 

[ReefKeeper666]

Nope, no light needed at night. Some use a moonlight but I would guess most don't. If you're really into it you can set a moonlight to simulate the full moons and try to induce coral spawing events...

12hrs of light is a pretty long light cycle, do you have a long ramp up and down with a light controller?

Yes. Lights come on at 9am starting at 2%blue only. From 9-1 they ramp up until at 1 they hit 95% blue 5% white 1% red 2%purple 1% Green. Those are the colors I can set 1-100 pct on my light. From 1-5 they are at those settings. From 5-8 they dim down to 2% blue and from 8-9 stay there and off completely at 9pm. Does that sound good? Any suggestions?

 

[WVNed]

I usually did testing the next morning after a water change. Now that I do small ones daily I really dont pay any attention to them. 1-2 % isnt going to affect testing much.

My lights are on from 8am-9pm then the timers shut them off and it's dark. No ramping except the difference between the T-5s and MH.

 

[ReefKeeper666]

Nah, I run my light schedule from 8 am to 8 pm, with a 2 ramp up and 2 hour ramp down.

See my reply above about my schedule. Let me know if I’m ok or should make any adjustments?

 

[Billldg]

See my reply above about my schedule. Let me know if I’m ok or should make any adjustments?

It really depends on what corals you are keeping. I have a mixed reef tank, so my max par is from 10 am. to 5 pm. My max par is 300 to 380. I don't worry about in between, fish need to sleep and corals are in the dark in nature at night. I have found that at night the SPS really come out and play.

A 4 hour ramp up does seem a little long though, I ramp up for 2 hours and down to 2 hours, which for some is long also.

 

[ReefKeeper666]

It really depends on what corals you are keeping. I have a mixed reef tank, so my max par is from 10 am. to 5 pm. My max par is 300 to 380. I don't worry about in between, fish need to sleep and corals are in the dark in nature at night. I have found that at night the SPS really come out and play.

A 4 hour ramp up does seem a little long though, I ramp up for 2 hours and down to 2 hours, which for some is long also.

I too have a mixed reef. Mostly softies handful of lps just got my first 2 pcs of sps 2 weeks ago. Based on that can you make any suggestions for me? Appreciate it.

 

[WVNed]

On my softie tank I ramp up and down 2 hours and hold the levels flat through the day. I do not try to simulate a sun overhead event.

 

[Billldg]

Like @WVNed, I hold mine steady for the majority of the day.

What lights are you using? I hate to give advice not knowing what type of light is being used. You will have to bump up the other channels as Blue/UV doesn't have as high of par. You will only want to do roughly, 2 percent every couple of days. If you can borrow a par meter then it will be well worth it, it not then you can bump them up a few percent every couple of days and see how you softies and lps react.

I have a hybrid with Radions, thus my recommendations will be somewhat based on that.

 

[ReefKeeper666]

Like @WVNed, I hold mine steady for the majority of the day.

What lights are you using? I hate to give advice not knowing what type of light is being used. You will have to bump up the other channels as Blue/UV doesn't have as high of par. You will only want to do roughly, 2 percent every couple of days. If you can borrow a par meter then it will be well worth it, it not then you can bump them up a few percent every couple of days and see how you softies and lps react.

I have a hybrid with Radions, thus my recommendations will be somewhat based on that.

I attached some pics it’s a Fluval LED. So I will bump the other channels up gradually every 2-3 days. What’s the max percentage I should hit on each channel so that I don’t cook my corals?

 

[Billldg]

I personally have no experience with that light, so I would rather someone with experience of this light give advice. I wouldn't go above 20 percent on the red and green channel. You can crank up the purple channel to match the blue channel. Again though, I am only going from what I know about my setup, which is radions.