Can I add corals to a 36g Bow front with Orbit Marine IC?

[Kdsd731]

I have a 36 gallon bow front FOWLR currently with the stock LED light and got a good deal on a used Orbit Marine IC 24-36" with the blue tooth loop controller.  Will this get me by to add any sort of corals for the time being until I upgrade my tank? I see so many mixed reviews.  

[Tired]

You should at the very least be able to grow mushroom corals. Those will practically grow under stock lighting. I'd try mushroom corals and maybe some cheap zoas, and see how they do. 

 

Sidenote, your scape looks amazing! I hope you can get some cool stuff to grow on it, but even if not, it looks really cool. The shape is great, and you've got some good algae coverage, it looks like. 

[Kdsd731]

20 minutes ago, Tired said:

You should at the very least be able to grow mushroom corals. Those will practically grow under stock lighting. I'd try mushroom corals and maybe some cheap zoas, and see how they do. 

 

Sidenote, your scape looks amazing! I hope you can get some cool stuff to grow on it, but even if not, it looks really cool. The shape is great, and you've got some good algae coverage, it looks like. 

Thanks! I appreciate the kind words on the rock work. It's hard to try and come up with something creative, that allows decent flow throughout and can still clean the glass in such a small tank.  Lol. 

[mcarroll]

On 10/16/2019 at 4:33 PM, Kdsd731 said:

I have a 36 gallon bow front FOWLR currently with the stock LED light and got a good deal on a used Orbit Marine IC 24-36" with the blue tooth loop controller.  Will this get me by to add any sort of corals for the time being until I upgrade my tank?

It's a fine light, but same as with any other light this one needs to be used properly.  👍

 

That's a pretty tall tank, I think 21" deep, right?

 

A set of two IC strips performs like this according to Current:

https://current-usa.com/orbit-marine-ic-pro-dual-led/

Using double strips doesn't quite double the light, but it's close....so at the bottom of your tank with one strip, you'd be seeing quite low, but still adequate light at around 50 PAR and around 100 PAR at 9"....or a range of around 2500-5000 lux. 

 

That meets the minimums for most corals (light compensation point), so as long as you don't starve them (no extra filtration or worrying about "excess nutrients") and do a good job generally with taking things slow, you should be OK with most corals.

 

Adding a second IC strip or even just a couple of Truelumen Pro strips to run only during peak-light hours would be a very decent idea though -- that would bring levels up to what you see in the chart!  😎

[Kdsd731]

On 11/30/2019 at 8:18 PM, mcarroll said:

It's a fine light, but same as with any other light this one needs to be used properly.  👍

 

That's a pretty tall tank, I think 21" deep, right?

 

A set of two IC strips performs like this according to Current:

https://current-usa.com/orbit-marine-ic-pro-dual-led/

Using double strips doesn't quite double the light, but it's close....so at the bottom of your tank with one strip, you'd be seeing quite low, but still adequate light at around 50 PAR and around 100 PAR at 9"....or a range of around 2500-5000 lux. 

 

That meets the minimums for most corals (light compensation point), so as long as you don't starve them (no extra filtration or worrying about "excess nutrients") and do a good job generally with taking things slow, you should be OK with most corals.

 

Adding a second IC strip or even just a couple of Truelumen Pro strips to run only during peak-light hours would be a very decent idea though -- that would bring levels up to what you see in the chart!  😎

I appreciate the input.  I recently installed an Orbit marine IC 24" and on 11/19 added a GBTA at 7" below the surface. My maximum depth is 18" at the sand bed. The GBTA moved just a tiny bit the first night and hasn't moved since and seems happy.  On the 28th I added a hammer coral,  green toadstool leather and some rasta zoas. The all look great.  I just got my plexiglass today and will make a clear cover for the tank and add the second 24" Orbit marine IC that was also delivered today.  Now  currently,  I've been running  blue and white at 100%. When I connect the second light,  what should I do with the levels to not cause trouble to the corals and acclimating. The corals I purchased were in well lit shallow tanks at the LFS. So my lighting is definitely a step lower. 

[mcarroll]

Using a handheld or app based light meter to measure would eliminate the mystery....otherwise I'd prolly drop intensity by half or three-quarters on the existing unit, and set the new unit to the same.....then slowly ramp both up to 100% over a few weeks.

[Kdsd731]

I made the new lid today and added the second light.  I brought the lights down from 100% blue/white running a single,  to 50% blue/ white.  The anenome looks good all day until this evening. It's all deflated.  Typically it does this after the lights start dimming to moon lighting.  But today it was about an hour before the lights started dimming.  He did eat a small piece of shrimp earlier today if that has any sort of bearing.  For the time being, I turned everything down to 30%. Any advise?  Coincidence or caused by lighting?

[Kdsd731]

Maybe he just had to poop a little earlier than schedule. Lol. The lights have started dimming and he's almost back to normal. 

[Kdsd731]

Think this could be the cause?  Didn't notice him until the anenome returned to normal shape. 

[Tired]

Oh, hey, what is that? Emerald crab? 

 

It's very possible that the crab bothered the anemone a little, by walking on or bumping into it. The consequences of having mobile inverts.

[Kdsd731]

1 minute ago, Tired said:

Oh, hey, what is that? Emerald crab? 

 

It's very possible that the crab bothered the anemone a little, by walking on or bumping into it. The consequences of having mobile inverts.

Yeah,  it's an emerald crab.  To be honest though,  he may be getting evicted soon.  I've seen him pick at my hammer coral twice in the evenings. 

[Tired]

They're not reef-safe. They're reef-acceptable sometimes, they don't always go past picking, but they will taste corals and may decide those are food. I'd evict it if I were you, even though they're neat. 

 

Try a porcelain crab instead. They're not true crabs, they're squat lobsters, but they look like crabs and are completely reef-safe. They're filter-feeders. Anemone porcelains/anemone crabs, which are IMO the prettiest of the available ones, will host anemones.

[Kdsd731]

Do I need to be worried that the mouth looks slightly inside out? Parameters are all good. I added a second orbit marine IC yesterday but they aren't crazy strong lights and I set them then at 50% compared to 100% with the single LED bar. Fed a small piece if shrimp every few days.  Just fed right now and it took it quickly.  

[Kdsd731]

It looks normal again.  Any way feeding the fish mysis could cause it to open up? 

[Tired]

My rock flower anemones do that now and then. I'm not sure what it means, but they go back quickly. Might be they're interested in the food, I'm not sure.