Nano Reef - First Timer

[Rudee]

What. A. Weekend...

 

Lesson learned: don't listen to other people if you are being conservative, just stay the course. In my effort to remain slow and steady I was starting to get criticized for my lack of progress and my "over-cautious" approach. My ammonia ended up spiking to 2.0! So I've ended up doing 20% water changes daily followed by a dose of API Quick Start. No change after two days. So I just did a 50% water change and double dosed the quick start with 40ml. The results of my latest test are as follows:

 

Ammonia: 0.5

Nitrite: 8.0

Nitrate: 5.0

pH: 8.4

Temp: 78 degrees F

sG: 1.024

 

Next move: wait for the quick start beneficial bacteria to work it's magic, test, conduct another 50% water change. Once my ammonia and nitrites are both between 0.00-0.20 I'll stop the regular water changes and see where my nitrates end up. I'll let my CuC and Goby/Shrimp hang out for a week and create ammonia to see how the tank reacts. I had 8 lbs of rock in my 10 gallon tank so I also added another 2.5 pounds of dry rock so I have a place for more bacteria to grow in the future.

 

And I named my goby/shrimp Goby & Tiger. It's the first of anything I have named in the tank so far.

 

I also broke a piece of my rock into a small piece and glue my zoa down so it has it's own little space in the light to flourish. My snails and crabs were terrorizing it while searching for food in the rocks. I like it so much I've decided not to grow the zoa up my main rock and rather have a few zoa rocks to make a neat little farm near the front.

 

Here's hoping the next 48 hours go my way. Thanks to everyone for the tips and tricks. I am having a blast getting this just right and making a nice home for my little critters.

 

 

 

[Rudee]

All is well. Ammonia down to 0.25, Nitrites at 0.25 and Nitrates are at 10. I'm now able to feed my tank regularly again. Every other day I put a dime sized portion of frozen shrimp into a small glass bowl and mix it around until it's mostly without any chunks. The goby and shrimp are doing great. Everyone else is very happy and my Coral is starting to grow! I did lose both of my trochus snails. I think it was due to starvation but my glass was covered in Algae. They just didn't really move around much at all. They key to my rebound was Stability. I added that stuff every day for 10 days and it fixed the problem. I did do a 20% water change 3 times before I started the Stability. But I wanted to leave the water in to the treatment would work it's way into my water.

 

So now I'll probably get some more snails. Any recommendations for cleaning glass? My snails seem to find their favorite spot and then just stay there. If not, I'm gonna stick with the trochus now that my tank is pretty stable and see how they do. So I ended up scraping the algae a couple times per week. That makes for an awesome buffet for the crabs. So I really don't give them algae tablets anymore. Maybe once a week. 

 

So next phase will will be adding another coral. I haven't yet decided if I'm gonna do another Zoa on my little Zoa rock next to my other one, or do an anemone/clown fish combo. That's the other goal I had. Getting that combo. 

[karisma]

For your glass i would use a razor blade. Im sure you've seen this being done  before. It works.well for me but be sure not to scratch the glass!

 

I use a razor blade still and i have four turbo snails....

[Clown79]

9 hours ago, Rudee said:

All is well. Ammonia down to 0.25, Nitrites at 0.25 and Nitrates are at 10. I'm now able to feed my tank regularly again. Every other day I put a dime sized portion of frozen shrimp into a small glass bowl and mix it around until it's mostly without any chunks. The goby and shrimp are doing great. Everyone else is very happy and my Coral is starting to grow! I did lose both of my trochus snails. I think it was due to starvation but my glass was covered in Algae. They just didn't really move around much at all. They key to my rebound was Stability. I added that stuff every day for 10 days and it fixed the problem. I did do a 20% water change 3 times before I started the Stability. But I wanted to leave the water in to the treatment would work it's way into my water.

 

So now I'll probably get some more snails. Any recommendations for cleaning glass? My snails seem to find their favorite spot and then just stay there. If not, I'm gonna stick with the trochus now that my tank is pretty stable and see how they do. So I ended up scraping the algae a couple times per week. That makes for an awesome buffet for the crabs. So I really don't give them algae tablets anymore. Maybe once a week. 

 

So next phase will will be adding another coral. I haven't yet decided if I'm gonna do another Zoa on my little Zoa rock next to my other one, or do an anemone/clown fish combo. That's the other goal I had. Getting that combo. 

Great glass cleaner is the nano flipper. It's not cheap but worth the price.

 

Trochus, cerith, and nassarius snails are always good cuc to have

[Rudee]

I decided that I cannot rely on the snails to keep my glass clean. Rookie mistake. I did find a Flipper and I LOVE it. My wife and daughter now use them too. SO I went to the LFS today to get some replacement CUC but they were out of Turbos. So, I picked up two Trochus snails and finally got something from my end-game list.... a Sand Sifting Sea Star! I got Trochus boys home, acclimated them to the temp for about 30 minutes, placed them in the tank and they are running around, happy as can be. The Sea Star is a different story. I read that a drip-style acclimation was best and that they CANNOT be in the air. So here's what I'm doing right now:

 

 

1. I floated the Sea Star for about 45 minutes to acclimate him to my water temp.

 

2. I created a drip siphon system using a piece of clear tube. I just tied a knot in it, placed one end in the tank, and the other end in a pitcher (the one I use for watcher changes). I sucked on one end to get it going (gross...) and played with the knot until I was getting about one drip per second. Then I put the know at the rim of my tank and put the lid back on to hold it in place. Once that was done, I emptied my pitcher and put the end in a second cup, just temporarily. 

 

3. I transferred Patrick (my girls already named it and for obvious reasons) to the pitcher with the LFS water. 

 

4. I moved the drip siphon tube to the pitcher. There was almost a quart of water in the pitcher from the LFS so I am aiming to have it drip until there is at least 2.5 quarts of water. I have read so many times that adding the LFS water to my tank it a huge mistake, but there really is no way to transfer this guy without having him in the air. So I have a plan...

 

5. Once I get 2.5 quarts of water, I will start doing teeny tiny water changes in the pitcher to phase the old water out. I'll continue to let the drip siphon run until I get about 3 quarts. In total the acclimation process should take about 3-4 hours. I'm being fairly conservative with this process but this Sea Star is a big deal to me and one of my end goal tank critters. 

 

6. Wish me luck!

 

Edit: I put a very small glass bowl inside my pitcher once I reached 2.5 quarts and transferred the Sea Star with that water into my tank. I figured it was a more efficient way to get less LFS water in my tank and get the little guy into the sand. And he buried himself right in there. Success!

 

Secondly, I decided to start experimenting with flow before I get my corals going. I'm still doing a lot of research but I know I'm going to have an Anenome, more Zoas for my Zoa farm, a Green Star Polyp, and I'd like to have a big Montipora at the top. We will see as I'm sure I'll add more along the way. Those one I know that I like now after doing some more reading. For flow, I ended up getting a Hydor Koralia Circulation and Wave Pump (425 gph). I went with the 425 instead of the 240 because I read far too many posts and reviews of people saying it the 240 wasn't enough for their 10 gallon or that they needed two 425's for their 29 gallon. So I went on the high side and put the 425 in today. I have it pumping water parallel to my filter return so as not to create any crazy turbulence. It's on my Zoa side so I'm watching my Zoa (who is at the bottom of the tank) to see how it responds. I'll move it around based on that. My intent is to have the top of the tank to have quiet fast flow and the bottom to be for the slower guys. So far, no issues whatsoever with my fairly deep sand bed. 

 

There's the update for the week. I'll keep you posted when I get more to share.

 

Thanks NR friends.

 

[ECLS Reefer]

On 4/12/2020 at 12:48 AM, Rudee said:

All is well. Ammonia down to 0.25, Nitrites at 0.25 and Nitrates are at 10. I'm now able to feed my tank regularly again. Every other day I put a dime sized portion of frozen shrimp into a small glass bowl and mix it around until it's mostly without any chunks. The goby and shrimp are doing great. Everyone else is very happy and my Coral is starting to grow! I did lose both of my trochus snails. I think it was due to starvation but my glass was covered in Algae. They just didn't really move around much at all. They key to my rebound was Stability. I added that stuff every day for 10 days and it fixed the problem. I did do a 20% water change 3 times before I started the Stability. But I wanted to leave the water in to the treatment would work it's way into my water.

 

So now I'll probably get some more snails. Any recommendations for cleaning glass? My snails seem to find their favorite spot and then just stay there. If not, I'm gonna stick with the trochus now that my tank is pretty stable and see how they do. So I ended up scraping the algae a couple times per week. That makes for an awesome buffet for the crabs. So I really don't give them algae tablets anymore. Maybe once a week. 

 

So next phase will will be adding another coral. I haven't yet decided if I'm gonna do another Zoa on my little Zoa rock next to my other one, or do an anemone/clown fish combo. That's the other goal I had. Getting that combo. 

I have noticed after starting up three SW tanks of differing sizes, astreas are algae eating power houses but tend to like a more mature tank. I struggled to keep any alive until my 50 and 13.5 g tanks matured a bit. Nerites also do a good job; I have a bunch of really big ones and I feel like they have just as well as trochus snails. 
 

But the others are right- a good glass cleaner with a blade on it is key to keeping the glass clean. 

[Rudee]

I want to check our some Cerith snails for sure. I like the look and feel of the tank with the Trochus even though I've decided they are basically getting a free ride. It's good to know about your experience with the 3 SW tanks. This is my budget-friendly intro to reef tanks. So far, low and slow has been the way of things. I cannot wait to have more corals in here but want to make sure everything is just right before I start getting into more complicated maintenance and schedules. Overall, it's been a great experience since I started two and a half months ago. I'm moving to a new house in 3 months so I'll have to do a in-town move with the tank too. Good experience I think. Once I'm there I'm going to put a much larger tank in my office with a Refugium sump underneath. I can't wait for that day as I am very fascinated with all of that and spend a TON of time on YouTube learning about them.

[Rudee]

Update: I added a branch hammer coral yesterday (a birthday present from my wife). It's doing very well in it's new home and I am happy to report that everything is looking great! Here are my test results as of today:

 

Water Temperature Reading (Farenheit)	79
Salinity Test / Target = 1.024 ppm	1.0235
Ammonia Test / Target = 0 ppm	0.2
Nitrite Test / Target = 0 ppm	0
Nitrate Test / Target = 5 to 10 ppm	10
Salifert KH Test / Target = 8.4 dKH	7.8
Salifert Mg Test / Target = 1300 ppm	1350
pH Test / Target = 8.4	8.2

 

My salinity is a little low (0.005) but that's only because I did a top off about 30 minutes before I did all of my tests. I also suspected that my coral needed more magnesium or the alkalinity was too low. So I took a water sample to the LFS and also did my own tests to confirm. Indeed, my KH and pH were a tad low. So I got some aquavitro eight.four and added 2ml. I will do that daily until I do my tests again next week to see where it's at. If all looks good I will stop dosing and treat Mg and KH on an as-needed basis depending on my weekly test results. I also started keeping those results in Excel as of today so I can try to get everything as stable as possible.

 

Next phase... stay stable for a several weeks. If everyone still looks good I will add some more Zoas to my rock and start a rock wall zoa garden on the left side of my tank. I have a few other ideas but I'm still doing research as I want to keep everything hardy and easy to care for. I always remind myself that I am a beginner and to stay simple and consistent.

 

Happy reefing!

 

Edit: I also learned about the 60 degree salinity calibration. I was actually adding too much salt to my tank based on my temperature and my test medium, a Fluval Sea hydrometer. I was reading 1.024 and it is actually at 1.026 (ish). I was very glad I went to the LFS and did a water test to compare their results with mine!

[Boco]

I am enjoying reading over your posts. I used to have a large saltwater tank and have not for several years and i just ordered my first NANO sized tank. I am not to far out from Denver. 

[DreC80]

From one vet to another, thanks for your service.  Nothing like grabbing a nice cold 🍺 and sitting in front of the tank watching.  It's very relaxing and I hope it helps with the PTSD.  

[Rudee]

Thanks Dre and Boco, thanks back!

 

It's been almost 8 weeks since my last post. I wanted to give everything some time to stabilize a bit more before I made any other tweaks. So here's the update:

 

The sand sifting star is doing great. He keeps my sand white as can be. If I ever actually see any diatom algae it's gone the next day. The sand is getting plenty of movement to keep the tank stable in the way of preventing pockets of nitrites/nitrate build up in my sand. I see people complain of surges or spikes in their nitrogen cycle from this. At first I was afraid he would starve but I added just a touch more mysis shrimp in my regular feeding schedule and it seems he is getting enough food from the left-overs on the sand. I also have three nassarius snails that seem to be very happy. They all surface from the sand like the monster truck in Sid's backyard from Toy Story whenever I feed the tank (which is hilarious) and other than that they kind wander around and do their own thing. 

 

My glass is in this weird limbo. In a perfect world I would have 1.5 trochus snails. I tried two and one starved. I tried one and the tank got too dirty. So I tried two again and one starved. So I stuck with one trochus snail and a weekly glass scraping with my Nano Flipper. So far, great success. So I'm gonna stick to one, very spoiled, trochus for the glass.

 

The rocks and some of the left-over shrimp get eaten up by my scarlet hermit crabs (3 total). I still put in two algae tablets 2-3 times a week and they seem fine. They play around with the extra shells I put in the tank all of the time, but I only saw one of my crabs swap once and he changed right back to his old shell. But I leave them in there for their entertainment. My pistol shrimp also likes to use them to build walls an doors for his little fort under my rocks. So the shells act as community toys.

 

My goby (aptly named "Goby") and my pistol shrimp ("aptly named "Tiger") are very happy; although I don't see them as much as I used too. They built a sweet little home under the biggest rock and they come out a lot at night, when it's time to eat, or when Tiger feels like redecorating with the sand.

 

And then there are the corals...

 

Being a beginner I want to be very respectful of the lives I choose to care for. So I still only have two corals: my eagle eye zoanthid and my little branching hammer frag. The zoa doesn't seem to be growing much at all. I have moved the little guy twice. The first time was to get a little more light and away from the busy raods of snails and crabs. The second time was more recently. I moved him waaaay up the rock closer to the light and to a part of the water column that gets a lot more flow. I didn't want to stress it out too much with light and flow so I've been creeping up little by little, 3-4 weeks at a time. So he's finally in the ideal location and I look forward to seeing how the zoa reacts. My hammer is doing aweesome! The grows is slow and steady and I really enjoy watching it wave in the flow ever since I got that extra Hydor Koralia Circulation and Wave Pump in the tank a while back and the hammer loves it. I was concerned that the 425 gph would be too much for my 10 gallon tank but it seems perfect. I'm glad the LFS sold me on going up a little in flow.

 

Temps have remained very consistent at 79 degrees F. Since I played with my water a bit to get it right where I wanted it I actually left it for 8 weeks without touching it. No watcher changes (just top offs) and no dosing. So I am measuring it right now to see how the stabilization is going. be right back!

 

(checks levels...)

 

[Rudee]

Results:

 

Test/Target                                                            Actual Value

 

Water Temperature Reading (Farenheit)               79 F

Salinity Test / Target = 1.024 ppm                        1.022 ppm

Ammonia Test / Target = 0 ppm                           025 ppm

Nitrite Test / Target = 0 ppm                                0 ppm

Nitrate Test / Target = 5 to 10 ppm                     40 ppm

Salifert KH Test / Target = 8.4 dKH                       8.3 dKH

Salifert Mg Test / Target = 1300 ppm                  1500 ppm

pH Test / Target = 8.4                                           8.0

 

From these results I have one concern and another issue I'll have to play with. First, my nitrates are WAY too high. I did feed the tank 2 days ago so it's possible there is some left-overs that have yet to get eaten that created an ammonia spike. My ammonia level is just slightly elevated so it could be waste as well. However, the timeline for the nitrogen cycle points to the food. Most people would ask me, "But Jake, why haven't you been doing regular water changes?" With a tank this size I don't expect 10% water changes to solve my problem. I'm trying to get things stable in the tank with as little interference as possible. Yes, I will need to do water changes. But this last 8 weeks was a test to see what the levels would be without intervention. My other issue is that my magnesium seems a little high... probably solved with water changes.

 

The plan: Perform a water change today, hold off on feeding today. Measure the nitrates tomorrow. If it gets back down to the 5-10 ppm range I'll go ahead and feed the tank. If not, I'll target feed my Goby and let everyone else pick up the slack and forage for their food and do another water change. I will repeat that pattern every day until it's back to normal. Apparently my tank has enough for them, they just need to be motivated to look (i.e. don't over feed your tank). I'm gonna go to a 3-day feeding rotation vice a two day. I'll measure the nitrates weekly after it comes back down and do a weekly 10% water change. One month from now I'll go to water changes every two weeks and eventually, one per month. 

 

pH looks way better, nitrates are finally down to 0 and KH is awesome at 8.3 dKH so I'm not doing any dosing for the next month.

 

Thanks all!

 

Reef on...

[Rudee]

Update:

 

I started with a 30% water change and have done subsequent 10% water changes daily. I scraped the glass to get all the gunk down to the sand and skipped feeding to allow them to clean up the food and stuff. During that time, my outlet decided to crap out and my heater was off for an entire night. My temps dropped to 72 degrees... I plugged it in to another outlet and my crappy heater (set to 78 degrees) and the temp jumped to 87 degrees!!! So I turned it down to 72 and did another water change to get the temps down before I turn the heater back up little by little. Needless to say, I will be replacing my cheapo heater in the near future. 

 

Water testing is scheduled for this weekend. I think the results will be much better.

[Rudee]

Day 6 of "the heater situation" and I still cannot get a stable temp. It was set to 75 last night to try and get the temp down from 81. It's like it was stuck at 81. I woke up this morning and the temp was at 85. Soooooo new heater it is! I went ahead and turned it off for now to get my poor tank down to a reasonable temp. I have still been doing 10% water changes daily both to treat my nitrate spike and my stupid temp problem. So today will be one 10% water change and some time researching 10 gallon 50 watt heaters. I would really like a digital one because they are so hard to read. This heater I have now is just impossible to read. I don't like putting more electronics in my water than is needed, but the heater is already using electricity to I might as well get something that is easy to read and consistent for my little tank. However, I have done a little research already when building this thing and I've been looking at the Cobalt Neo Therm Heater.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Cobalt-Aquatics-31000-Neo-Therm-Heater/dp/B008AGWZCC?th=1

 

So that's a step up for me without going totally crazy $$$.

 

I'll be back tomorrow with water test results.

 

[Clown79]

33 minutes ago, Rudee said:

Day 6 of "the heater situation" and I still cannot get a stable temp. It was set to 75 last night to try and get the temp down from 81. It's like it was stuck at 81. I woke up this morning and the temp was at 85. Soooooo new heater it is! I went ahead and turned it off for now to get my poor tank down to a reasonable temp. I have still been doing 10% water changes daily both to treat my nitrate spike and my stupid temp problem. So today will be one 10% water change and some time researching 10 gallon 50 watt heaters. I would really like a digital one because they are so hard to read. This heater I have now is just impossible to read. I don't like putting more electronics in my water than is needed, but the heater is already using electricity to I might as well get something that is easy to read and consistent for my little tank. However, I have done a little research already when building this thing and I've been looking at the Cobalt Neo Therm Heater.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Cobalt-Aquatics-31000-Neo-Therm-Heater/dp/B008AGWZCC?th=1

 

So that's a step up for me without going totally crazy $$$.

 

I'll be back tomorrow with water test results.

 

Cobalt is ok but I found aqueon pro and jagger are more reliable.

 

The only heater I have had go on me was my cobalt. 

[Boco]

I have a Fluval 13.5 and i have been doing 1 Gallon water changes weekly, (with Nitrates testing at 10, 2 gallons if testing higher) i am using RODI water and feeding every other day, when i was feeding more often my Clowns were not eating it all and almost didnt care half the time, now they eat with enthusiasm and im also not getting any algae blooms or nitrate spikes as i used to. I have also added a few extra items in my 13.5 but i have not had any issues keeping the nitrates down, I used 2 oz of turbostart 900 to boost the bacteria, since you have some ammonia, maybe consider adding some of that to the tank to give your bacteria a boost. 

[Rudee]

Thanks to Boco and Clown79 for the feedback!

 

Sand Sifting Star: I figured this might happen... poor guy was showing signs of distress and hunger. So I immediately called up my LFS (the good one) and asked if they would take him in and get him in a proper environment to be happy. They agreed and I re-homed the little guy. So kinda bummed he had to leave but wanted to do the right thing by him. So now my sand has one less critter in it ( and a very large critter at that). So I backed off on the food, switched to doing mysis shrimp once a week and started feeding Cobalt Aquatics Marine Omni Premium Flakes. Goby and Cloon love them! I still put in an algae tablet from time to time as a treat for my Pistol Shrimp, Tiger. That seemed to really help with my Ammonia issue (which is gone now). 

 

I'm pretty sure my Tiger Pistol Shrimp took out of of my scarlet leg hermit crabs. Cause it's dead and now gone and it's shell has been made into a lovely door in front of the Goby/Tiger lair. So my shrimp is a stone cold killer and I actually thought it was kind of funny. I was worried about an Ammonia spike but for real that crab was gone the same night.

 

I stuck to a 10% water change per week. I also decided I'm going to start keeping RODI and Saltwater because I hate the trial and error of getting the salinity just right when I'm doing water changes. It's just easier to introduce salt water and top off with RODI imo. Just a simplification of maintenance for me. 

 

Updated Results:

 

Test/Target                                                            Actual Value

 

Water Temperature Reading (Farenheit)               82 F

Salinity Test / Target = 1.024 ppm                        1.024 ppm

Ammonia Test / Target = 0 ppm                           0 ppm

Nitrite Test / Target = 0 ppm                                0 ppm

Nitrate Test / Target =10 to 20 ppm                     10 - 20 ppm

Salifert KH Test / Target = 8.4 dKH                       8.6 dKH

Salifert Mg Test / Target = 1300 ppm                  1500 ppm

pH Test / Target = 8.4                                           8.2

 

I added half a cap of eight.four to get the pH up just a tad. I'll probably check that one again next week just to see if I need to dose or if it just needed a little pick-me-up. I'm assuming this will become regular with more regular water changes. But the routine is definitely getting easier and more predictable. Still too much magnesium. I think that's just because of my infrequent water changes. I'm switching to weekly water changes so I'll do another Mg reading and a pH reading next weekend to see where we are. 

 

All in all, things are going okay but could be a little better. My corals were going nuts until a couple days ago. Didn't change anything so I'm hoping it gets better soon. 

[mcarroll]

4 hours ago, Rudee said:

pH Test / Target = 8.4                                           8.2

 

I added half a cap of eight.four to get the pH up just a tad.

I would stop worrying about pH.  

 

Your Mg levels will self-correct eventually, there's no "too high" to worry about.  The rest looks fine to me.  You might check phosphates.

[Rudee]

14 hours ago, mcarroll said:

I would stop worrying about pH.  

 

Your Mg levels will self-correct eventually, there's no "too high" to worry about.  The rest looks fine to me.  You might check phosphates.

Thanks! I'll check that out then. 

[Guest]

Wonderful tank! And was that a sand sifting star? If so what kind and how has it been?

[Rabb.D]

hello i havn't been in the forum for some time too, but from my experience lighting is most crucial, can't have a system with good salt, nutrients, without lighting, i tend to think of lighting as food or sustenance for coral and fish can thrive in a big spectrum of water changes or quality, water is not as crucial as lighting for fishes when it boils down to it and are very hardy except for corals which are more sensitive to water changes, but good volume of lighting with a healthy spectrum of par, i use to term healthy because its not just about par ranges but revolves between light volume and par quality and not just brightness.

 

its is as simple as saying more light volume more food for corals.

 

have a good day. rab

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Rabb.D said:

hello i havn't been in the forum for some time too, but from my experience lighting is most crucial, can't have a system with good salt, nutrients, without lighting, i tend to think of lighting as food or sustenance for coral and fish can thrive in a big spectrum of water changes or quality, water is not as crucial as lighting for fishes when it boils down to it and are very hardy except for corals which are more sensitive to water changes, but good volume of lighting with a healthy spectrum of par, i use to term healthy because its not just about par ranges but revolves between light volume and par quality and not just brightness.

 

its is as simple as saying more light volume more food for corals.

 

have a good day. rab

Water is way more crucial than lighting for fish, there are types of fish that live at the bottom of the ocean with no light, they have adapted, there are types of fish that live in cave systems with no light again they have adapted.

 

your fish can survive a day withought light, they cannot survive a day withougt water, think about it that way 🧐

[mipster]

I have been wondering about the strength of your light. If that tank is what I think it is (looks like a basic marineland or petco/petsmart type starter kit), I don't know if those LEDs will be able to adequately support your corals.  You need to be sure you have the right lighting spectrum and strong enough par readings to support the corals you choose. Especially since this is a tall tank, the light will have to penetrate further into the water to reach the corals than in a standard 10G and those LEDs in the hood are probably not very strong. 

 

Are you in the states? If you are, you might want to consider renting a par meter from Bulk Reef Supply so you can know what kind of readings you are looking at. If you aren't in the states, you can ask your local reef club if they rent out a par meter or maybe a local LSF rents one out. It's not worth buying one for most people!

 

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/7-day-rental-mq-510-full-spectrum-underwater-led-par-meter-apogee.html

 

You can also check out their lighting play list to get some information on lighting. It's a great starting point on your research as it is clear and easy to digest. There is also a huge wealth of information on lighting here on nano-reef. There is a lot out there, so don't get overwhelmed!

 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBaMLrfToJyw4xP9HrobsAunp2bcq4m7L

 

For sure lighting is not as important for your fish but light is crucial for your corals as it feeds the zooxanthellae that live in the corals and through their symbiotic relationship, help feed coral growth (super interesting relationship and an interesting aspect of corals to research)

4 hours ago, Rabb.D said:

its is as simple as saying more light volume more food for corals.

Be a little careful with this statement as there is such this as TOO much light! If the light is too strong, you can bleach your corals.

 

 

I would also be curious to know what you are running in the hang on filter you are running.

[Rabb.D]

On 8/6/2020 at 10:43 AM, FreshwaterFishMan said:

Water is way more crucial than lighting for fish, there are types of fish that live at the bottom of the ocean with no light, they have adapted, there are types of fish that live in cave systems with no light again they have adapted.

 

your fish can survive a day withought light, they cannot survive a day withougt water, think about it that way 🧐

fishes can definitely live without light, its corals that need light,

[Tamberav]

I cant see that light supporting corals long term. It would be best to remove the hood and add reef lgihting. Can build a DIY canopy around it if you don't like light spill.

 

Corals can survive a long time under poor lighting but will not thrive and some will wither away eventually. An AI prime turned down or hipagero or par bulb if money is a concern.

 

I am also not sure if you have a wavemaker yet but flow is also important. Being that it is a tall tank with a stock return pump...it will need a powerhead imo. KPS...Tunze..Jaebo...are some brands off the top of my head.