check newbie set up please

[thegr8tdane]

I was wondering if any experienced nano keepers could give me their insight on my nano set up cause I did a few things different. First I have a 5 gallon acrylic that I got from Walmart, it even came with a bio-pad. I took that out and put in a duetto dj 100 without the carbon. (its like a small sumbersible canister, even has a pre filter) It was rated for 20 gallons, I figured that would be plenty of flow and bio filtration. Also placed a 25 watt pc in the hood. I have no actinic. I also placed 1/2 crushed coral and a small algae pad into the 8lbs Ls (for safe haven for little critters) and 5 lbs tonga branch. Have a Royal Grandma, would like to add a Catina Goby and a Citron Clown Goby. Think a skunk shrimp would be to big, will peppermint shrimp clean fish? Would like to add colt, polyps, and shrooms. (I live in Ventura, Ca.) Do I need to add Iodine, Strontium, and Calcium? Was thinking 1 drop of each per day. Only testing for ammonium, nitrates.

[pulpsmack]

Skip the biofiltration (the live rock covers it).

 

See if you can get the light in a smartbulb (1/2 daylight, 1/2 actinic)

 

That is WAY too many fish in a five gallon. I would chose ONE of these (citron or gramma)

 

Forget about Catalinas they are a cold water species and don't do well in warm reef tanks.

 

If you use a good salt & do weelky water changes (as reccommended you can (& probably should) skip the dosing.

[thegr8tdane]

1st of all thank you very much for the fast response. I'm new and excited.

was hopeing that the extra filtration could allow a little extra of the fish.

is crushed coral and a algae pad a good refugium?

skunk vrs. peppermint shrimp?

My pc 25 watt light puts out 1200 lumens and 4100k do I need more blue light? Will using blue Reynolds plastic wrap on the glass lid tint the light sufficiently?

I thought I read the Catalina could be acclimented to warm?

Finally, the new salt in each water change adds all the elements I need?

Thank you for answering my newbie questions, I know there alot, but are they at least interesting to see from a different newbie angle?

[pulpsmack]

There is not enough real estate (IMO) in that tank to house that many fish. Imagine that you have a ten gallon tank connected to a 90 gallon sump. Even though you have 100 gallons of water in the system you only have the swimming space of a ten gallon.

 

Crushed coral is perfectly acceptable. I don't know that this algae pad business is though.

 

If you are running pure daylight bulbs then you will need more blue. One option would be to replace your bulb with a smart bulb (as mentioned earlier). If you can't do this you will need to install another light that has a blue actinic bulb in it (say a 13 watt). The saran wrap is not a good idea for many reasons.

 

I would not take the gamble on trying to acclimate the catalina. Either forsake the corals and make a "cold" tank, or chose another inhabitant. I was upset too when I first found this out because they are very pretty fish.

 

Though some people question the superiority of a "reef" salt I suggest you use one like Kent's and that will be sufficient as long as you do a 10-15% weekly water change.

[thegr8tdane]

yes the cataina is really cool.

o.k. one royal grandma. you make too much sense.

the algae pad is burried in the Ls. Good refugium?

what about colored blue glass for a lid? It'll make blue light with decent lumens from the pc.

Lastly skunk cleaners look big in small real estate, don't they? That's why I was thinking peppermint. Does he clean fish?

[fish04]

4100K bulbs are vey "low" in the spectrum, it tends to go to the red side of the spectrum, which makes for nice brown algae growth, yuck. Blue lights are higher in the spectrum. The "color" of the bulb is not how it is tinted, so PLEASE stay away from the saran wrap or you better have good fire insurance! The "color" of the spectrum is based on the phosphors that are illuminated inside the bulb. All chemicals burn differently, and you can identify them by their spectrum (old chemistry lesson). To change the color of the light you use different elements inside the bulb to change the spectrum of light. "Normal" housing lights are in the 5000K range. Usually it's a good idea to have a balance between white daylight (around 6400K) and blue "actinic" light (10000K+), on a reef tank. I know this all sounds like way too much information but if you go through it slowly, you'll see how it makes sense.

 

On last lesson....  The reasons why we use actinic lights in an aquarium is it gives the blue end of the spectrum, which is NEEDED for coral growth. Corals can survive for a short time at lower spectrum (or wavelength) but will eventually crash....why?

Water bounces back alot of light, just think of the glare on the water on a summer day . The light it does allow to pass into it is more in the high spectrum (blues), because it has a higher wavelength and contains more "energy" allowing it to pass.  The farther you go down the less light, and guess what spectrum the light is that goes the furthest...you got it blue! So the reason corals need actinic lights is because it contains the best substitute for natural daylight blue spectrum, which in turn gives the coral the needed light energy for growth.

**whew**

[Strife]

thegr8dane!!!

WELCOME TO NANO-REEF.COM

we all know your excited on the nano..and we all wish you luck

but please go the the  information link here at nano-reef.com and read more......

buy a book and come visit us at the aquarium chat ..many people will be glad to help and get you started......

 

just for the record...lets try to get the royal graMMa straight

[Chunnie]

Definately stear clear of the catalina.  I have found them to be very temp. sensative.   I would suggest a cardinal.  Great and happy in a small space

[thegr8tdane]

So I lost credibility with the whole trying to grow a blue hair in my tank huh? Fair enough. I've actually done as much home work as I could off the web, but some questions are hard to answer from peices of info gathered from the web. And I still have 3 questions for you pro's.

Do peppermint shrimp clean like skunks do?

Think a burried algae pad in Ls be a good refuguim?

And the big odd question, If I use stained blue glass to tint my pc will it help grow coral? I've been checking it out all day (some photo sites, some scientific sites, and some reef sites) and I did read that (just like fish04 said) red light causes undesirible algae. So if I take that wave length out by filtering it would'nt that work? And won't these blue wave lengths that are allowed to pass the same wave lengths that travel farther to the bottom? And my nano is only 12 inches tall (minus 2 inches of sand) do I really need penetrating light? Is anyone not using actinic with results? I'm not trying to be disrespectful to Fish04's reply, it just simply didn't satisfy the question. (Thank you very much though)

[PunkRawker]

Hey thegr8dane, did you get your rock from a local store?  I live just up the road in Santa Barbara and theres no where to get live rock/sand here.  I just started a 5 gallon also

[thegr8tdane]

Yes. I got the live tonga branch rock from Petworld in Oxnard for $6.00 a lb. They have Marshall rock for $4.00 got the sand in a sealed 10 lb bag from Petco. Tats tropical illusion in Ventura is the only place I could find snails and hermits though. I try not to go there, they are pricey, snobby, and have a Nurse Shark for sale there. I don't think anyone's private aquarium could take care of this animal. Once I get my blue glass maybe we could trade frags soon

[MKramer]

Okay, to continue the physics lesson:

 

Let's say your 4100K bulb is a typical 4100K bulb.  It therefor is pretty weak in  most of the spectrum, with its real intesity peaks at 550nm and 650nm.  Only about 5% of its energy is in the blue range (400-500nm).  The Actinic range is around 410-450nm, so even less energy is there.

 

You now put a blue filter on the bulb.  Let's say it's a good filter and blocks out all red light (625nm and higher), and 50% of yellow and green light (say, 500nm-625nm).  For wavelengths shorter than 500nm, pretend it passes 100% through.

 

So now what you've done is totally eliminated your 650nm spike, and cut your 550nm spike in half.  For sake of example, that'd be about 70% of the light's total energy.  Sure, it let 100% of the blue light pass, but that was a piddly amount of light to begin with.  

 

You've effectively made your 25W 4100K light into a 5W blue light that speds an incredible amount of heat (created by the filter media's absortion of the other wavelengths).

 

Get a real light.  You just can't substitute it.

 

(Edited by MKramer at 2:09 pm on April 18, 2002)

[thegr8tdane]

o.k. Now I am convinced. Thank you. Can't blame me for trying to keep costs low. So... any cheap actinic screw in 6 inch (or less) pc's you know of?

[minigeek]

Just a little more info on why you need the actinic (blue spectrum) light. Corals specifically use that light range for photosynthesis to generate energy the same way as plants and trees. This is the primary function of the blue spectrum with corals (plus the fact this high end color of the spectrum penetrates further into the water).

 

Some corals do not use as much photosynthesis as others but all corals benefit from this spectrum tremendously.

[MrBigglesworth]

haha tats, I used to go in there a lot when i lived in ventura, they used to be across the street from chucky cheese but i think they moved since i've been in SB.  I just got the 13w true actinic from hellolights.com, it was only 18 bucks and they are in socal i believe, only took a day to get here.

                            punkrawker

[Delph]

(Edited by Delph at 9:53 am on June 3, 2002)

[fish04]

Unfortunately you won't find a screw in actinic, since screw ins are usually made for homes. Most people don't like reading the paper on their sofa with the eye piercing blue actinic, thats why most companies stay to the 4000K-6500K bulbs, because thats the "human" comfort zone. In order to get actinic you will have to invest some cash.  A five gallon should fit 2 13W lights, you can get two fixtures and two smartlamps (actinic and daylight combined) for a total of around $60 or so from www.ahsupply.com.

I would really recommend doing it the "right" way rather than using screw in bulbs. The screw ins aren't built for coral growth but AH's are.

 

As MKramer said Get a real light. You can't substitute for it. Light is the key to your reef, going halfway on your lights....well.....you will pay for it in the long run by killing your corals and buying them over again. Have you priced corals? Figure two pieces at $30 pays for your lights, you'll kill more than ten times that if you do it the wrong way, trust me I made the same mistakes 8 years ago when I started  my first reef. I am talking from experience here!

[thegr8tdane]

All of you have been really great about my tiresome questions, thank you all for helping me. I will put the info to good use and I'll submit pics soon.

 

Thanks

[thegr8tdane]

I found a light I think. I posted the details in the general section under pc srew in