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Coral Vue Hydros

6g cube with 36 watts


weak

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Its been 10 years since I was in the hobby and the all in one systems have got me debating getting back into the hobby. My past experience with corals was a star polp and and a colt so my knowledge is very limited and I would appreciat a little input. I was considering getting the upgraded cube from nano tuners that has the 2 18 watt bulbs. I really like the look of a few of the tanks that have ricordia and zoo's. My question is can i do it with the lighting I am looking at? I was thinking of getting a 50/50 and actinic bulb for the tank. Do they need to be fed or doses of supplements of any kind? Are they sutable for someone just starting out? Any advice or tips would be appreciated.

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since you have little experience, i would stick to the softies for now - zoos, shrooms, GSP, leathers, colt, and rics. those will do fine with your setup and regular water changes of high quality salt water.

 

DONT mess with supplements and additives unless you TEST for things and discover deficits.

 

i would stay away from LPS and SPS until you are more experienced. both require calcium, and it may be difficult to keep up with thier demands in a small volume aquarium. in fact, i would not recommend SPS in a tank that size unless you could get much much more light, as well as an extremely stable environment with high flow.

 

lots of people like to say that "SPS will do fine under 5WPG and more" but it is simply not true, because it depends on the overall OUTPUT of the light, not just a measure of wattage per gallon. also, keep in mind, SPS need high flow, low nutrient water which many softies dont like or need and in a small 6 gallon tank, it would be impossible to please both species.

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non-photosynt

Here it was is in my ugly 6g NC with 18W:

 

LPS: candycane coral - better looking and less agressive than branching hammer and frogspawn. Link below - LPS blastomussa. Soft corals: white xenia, chili (needs flow and is liked by isopods), white tree (wrong ID - lemnalia, scleronephtya or nephtya), hairy Fiji mushroom, red mushrooms, green star polyps. Large red-black things are bryozoans, they need less flow and less light, and are too big for NC6. Sun coral, if you can handle it in 6g reef (I can't). Orange tree sponge - don't clean it by toothbrush ;) and isopods love it.

Take a look on stocking of another NC6 with 18W also.

I would go for 2 50-50 rather than 50-50 + actinic.

If you will be using Instant Ocean salt mix, I would add calcium on regular basis, at least calculated amount, assuming that IO has 380 mg/l Ca.

In case ot troubles - water testing, Salifert or Aquarium Pharmaceuticals kits.

If you can - add another outflow, in different place, because in my tank with standard outflow I have tornado effect - high flow at the perimeter and very low flow in the center. All-in-One tanks forum has few posts with photos how they had done it.

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Very nice tank. When I see pictures like yours and others I know it's possible. The question now is can I do it as well. A few quick questions if you dont mind. Have you had any heat issues with the tank? Did you set up a refugium? What other upgrades did you do? Thanks

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non-photosynt
Have you had any heat issues with the tank? Did you set up a refugium? What other upgrades did you do?

Yes, in the summer even in air-conditioned room (medium cooling) I'm keeping lid 1/3 open (another issues with hardware make me keep it open too). No refugium - cube is too close to the wall - no place for a lamp, but I'm trying to grow xenia for nutrient export. The only upgrade was changing the pump to Mini-Jet 606 (tried Maxi-Jet 600 - too big). All filter media was removed, 1st chamber top to bottom - filter floss (disposable), carbon, purigen, sometimes phosguard, live rock rubble; 2nd chamber - heater, 3rd - pump. Unfortunately, tank was neglected for a some time and had major dark-red slime algae outbreak.

More photos here .

One of the best NC6, with higher light, here . Other NC contest.

Buying frags from frag sellers through frag.org-like sites or classifieds on forums at the 1/5 LFS price allows to have a choice to your liking and experiment, what will grow better in your conditions. I was adviced to do that here only after spending a fortune in LFS on full-grown colonies, that are too big for NC6.

IMHE, corals are easier to keep than predatory fish :)

Best of luck!

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