discusking86 Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 hey its been a while, so Ill just start out by saying hi to all you people out there. Well my tank has been comming along nicely, I added a crocea and maxima clam, ancor coral and some red mushrooms. The question I have for all you reefers out there is can I keep some sps corals in my tank? Its a five gallon open top tank with 7.8 watts per gallon of pc lighting. I have a small lemon goby and catalina goby in the tank along with a 2 inch crocea clam, a 1 inch maxima clam, green frogspawn, green ancor coral, feather duster, green and red open brain coral and some red musrooms. I have a hang on filter on the back of the tank and thats all I have as far as creatures and filteration. What sps corals would be sustable for my set up? Link to comment
jasontatro Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 Well..... if you feel confident enough to keep a maxima and crocea, then I am surprised that you are even asking if you can keep SPS. So, if my math is correct, you have less than 40 watts of PC light on your tank? In my honest opinion, this is not enough for clams or SPS. Anyone, feel free to disagree with me if you like. Link to comment
ReefinReefer Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 its not the overall wattage thats important (up to a certain minimum of course) , its the distance of the lights to the tank. a 5 gallon tank is 6-8 inches height? And if clams are placed on the rockwork they might be 3-4 inches away from the light. I just did a search in this site for some successful sps/clam tanks with PC lighting. Took me 5 minutes and on the first search page I came up with this: damamo's tank is a 10 gallon tank and has maximas on the sandbed and that's 12 inches away with 2* 55 watts (later he retroed another 55 watts) damamo has various sps's too. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...&threadid=12312 Even more surprising is this dude Brooklyn Johnny, also a 10 gallon tank and has maximas on the sandbed (that's 12 inches away) and he's getting away with 2 *36 watts of PC lighting. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...brooklyn+johnny I'm not saying anyone could do it, neither am I saying it can't be done, but with hard work and diligence maybe it could work ???(especially if clams are small and depend much from the phyto feedings than the light)...i'd be really worried of evaporation issues though and hard work keeping the tank stable in water chemistry as well as the lighting. but now near the end of my post, i am thinking about it...i just can't really be as positive as i'd like to be... 40 watts of pc lighting IS a bit on the low side, regardless of distance... I only posted those links to make people think and use their noodle... I'll be a believer of discusking86 if he shows me his pics of the tank after a year of stability and survivability of his clams... until then, lets try to give him the benefit of the doubt? dunno, maybe i'm just an optimistic kind of guy? Link to comment
ReefinReefer Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 any current pics of your tank now? how long have those clams been in there? do you do routine phyto feedings? (1 inch and 2 inch clams you have, although a bit delicate depend alot more on phyto feedings than the light...so i'm still giving you the benefit of the doubt) what is the exact wattage of the lights, anyway (instead of posting up wpg, which IMO is a bit useless...) Link to comment
ReefMad1967 Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 IMHO i only keep clams and corals under Metal Halides and does DT"s and products like marine snow. They may have enough light to live for a while, but do u want them to grow and thrive? Its all about how you feel. Personally I would uprgrade your lighting then wait for your tank to mature and try some SPS and clams. Sincerley, Mike Link to comment
ninhsavestheday Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 its not the number of watts, its the intensity. so throw away the PCs and join the MH club. Link to comment
discusking86 Posted May 25, 2004 Author Share Posted May 25, 2004 ok.. well thats not exactly what i wanted to hear, but i was too a bit skiptical on adding clams to my tank but a $20 a peice i couldnt resist. THey have been in my tank about three months, and I have seen significant growth in both of them. My crocea clam was about 1.5 inches and has grown about .5 inches and my maxima was really tiny, less than an inch, and ive noticed some growth in him too. They open large and exhibit brillant colouration. However the catch is thye are only about 2 inches from the light. The tank also is somewhat nutrient rich so there is filter food floating around the tank... I would take a pic of my tank, but sadly i do not have a digital camera. Link to comment
discusking86 Posted May 25, 2004 Author Share Posted May 25, 2004 there are three 13 watt pc lights on the tank Link to comment
maverick Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 It is possible to keep sps and clams with PC's, but i don't think i would try my luck with them under 3-13ws. I would suggust a lighting upgrade. It is as simple as adding a couple of 19ws from HD. but if you want sps, then i would go with some type of Monti, due to the fact that they don't require a lot of light. Link to comment
discusking86 Posted May 25, 2004 Author Share Posted May 25, 2004 just a quick question: does it help that the tank gets about 2 hrs of morning sunlight b4 the lights go on? Link to comment
ReefinReefer Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 no. i wouldn't rely on it. Link to comment
just dave Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Originally posted by discusking86 just a quick question: does it help that the tank gets about 2 hrs of morning sunlight b4 the lights go on? As long as it doesn't heat up the tank,you can't beat the real thing. Link to comment
maverick Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 The sunlight could cause a huge alge problem if your not careful. Link to comment
just dave Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Light doesn't cause the problem ,a high nutrient load does.. Link to comment
discusking86 Posted May 26, 2004 Author Share Posted May 26, 2004 suprisingly I have not had a heat problem with this tank, I think b/c this is an open top tank I dont have a problem with overheating, but I think evaporation is the hardest thing to deal with reguarding the aquarium, I have to add water everyday. Oh and although I do not have a protein skimmer on this tank I have no nutrient problems b/c I have a mini refugium in the back of my tank where there is a thick matt of calpernia algae. Link to comment
discusking86 Posted May 26, 2004 Author Share Posted May 26, 2004 If you guys dont mind maybe you can help me figureout a problem my friend has with his tank. He has a 42 gallon hexagonb tank with a 96 watt pc light. There is a remora skimmer on the back of the tank as well as a canister filter. Livestock in the tank consists of one false percula clown and one yellow assessor. Corals include: meshrooms, torch and hammer corals. The problem with the tank is there is a thin sheet of algae that grows on the glass in a matter of hours after cleaning the glass. There is obviously some sort of nutrient probelm, but from two fish, I dont know what elso could be causing it. I think it might be the canister filter but i am not sure... any thoughts? Link to comment
Samc Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Whats he feed? That amount of livestock doesn't eat much and it would be very easy to overfeed the tank-although the filtration should take cre of it, you never no. Also, what is his source of water (ro, bottled-if its tap, thats prbly the main problem)? Their needs to be a significant source of nutrients for that kind of algae growth (mainly phosphates and nitrogen). Sam Link to comment
discusking86 Posted May 26, 2004 Author Share Posted May 26, 2004 its weird he only feed a bit of tetra marine flakes and uses distilled water as top off Link to comment
birdman204 Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 water could be the source.... also try these, I run them on all my tanks, from 7 to 90 gallons. www.californiareefs.com Link to comment
ReefinReefer Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 Originally posted by birdman204 try these, I run them on all my tanks, from 7 to 90 gallons. www.californiareefs.com Its a really good idea, but i don't understand why you would buy this contraption from him. He practically shows you how to make it in his website and you could make it yourself with all those descriptions and pictures he has posted up. Its so simple. Thanks for the website birdman, I'm gonna start this DIY whenever i have free time... Link to comment
discusking86 Posted May 27, 2004 Author Share Posted May 27, 2004 looks good ill try it Link to comment
birdman204 Posted May 30, 2004 Share Posted May 30, 2004 because, at 24$ for the switch, I've seen people make them for between 14 - and 20 $, I'll save my time and spend the 4 bucks. all the other stuff gets done according to tank size, I mean all I purchase is the switch. Link to comment
CjBurden Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 yeah good luck diy'ing a better quality switch for cheaper. His switches are very nice. I own 2 myself ^_^ Link to comment
birdman204 Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 I say it every time, " Why try to save a penny and do it DIY? When you can save a headache and just buy" Link to comment
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