How well will my hammer and frogpawn corals grow under stock Biocube lights?

[Tony Jacot]

Just curious if anyone has had any luck with hammer,frogspawn, or duncans in their biocubes. Im currently using the stock lighting that came with biocube and the tank is about 15 months old. Corals seem happy but im just not seeing any rapid growth from any of the "rapidly" growing corals. I run the lights about 10 hours a day.I Also spot feed the duncans and im using a product called fuel at half the recommended dose.I posted a youtube link of my current setup.

 

[novahobbies]

I'll be honest, I've never owned a biocube. But the "stock" lighting you have is a couple power compact tubes, is it not? If that's the case, then yes it CAN grow coral...but it just doesn't deliver as much PAR as LEDs or T5s. So what you're seeing is probably PAR for the course (please forgive such a horrible pun)! I would expect slower growth under PCs than any of the other lighting options.

One other thing. You mentioned the tank is 15 months old. WELL past time to get new bulbs, if you haven't already. PC bulbs should be changed at least once a year. They tend to lose their intensity and will eventually red-shift, causing algae issues. It won't be noticable to the naked eye, but trust me...the algae will know when the spectrum is more favorable to them.

Finally, are you testing and dosing for Ca and Alk? Your corals can't grow well if they don't have the necessary ingredients needed for their skeleton! You didn't mention it, so I wasn't sure.

I watched the video. Nice tank you have there! Makes me want to re-start a nano!

 

[Tony Jacot]

Thank you for the reply Nova!!Yeah i did leave out quite a bit of my info. I went ahead and changed the bulbs out a few weeks ago cause i knew it was over do and i probably should have changed then between 8-12 months im guessing. I also ordered the reefmaster test kit for calcium but im not sure if includes an alk test...it should be in the mail this week...The LFS has been doing the test for me and the cal is 390 at the end of my weekly water change so it has been running on the low side. Thanks a bunch for helping me out and checking out the vid!! Loving the hobby so far but ive noticed its a bit tense when first starting out lol. Its my Very first reef tank so im learning alot a i go. Thanks again!!

 

[pegasus]

Nice tank, Tony. If I may, I'd like to add one thing... it's also a good idea to check your magnesium level. If your calcium tends to run low, you may have a magnesium deficiency. Magnesium prevents calcium and carbonate molecules from binding together (precipitation). Precipitation results in lower levels of calcium and alkalinity (carbonates/bicarbonates). Testing for calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium are important, as it takes a proper level of each for good coral growth. Magnesium keeps calcium and carbonates separated. Corals absorb the calcium and carbonate, and combine the two to form calcium carbonate. Hard corals use calcium carbonate to build their skeletons. Coralline algae is made of calcium carbonate. Care to guess what snail shells are made of?

 

[novahobbies]

Good point about the Mag. With a smaller tank, chemistry shifts happen fast. Dosing should be done carefully, and having a test kit of your own at home will REALLY help you in the long run.

I'm a big fan of the KISS method of aquarium keeping. Despite my above comment about smaller tanks, they also have a big up-side: it's easier to maintain ALL these levels with simple weekly water changes. If you have a good quality salt (or you have access to natural seawater) and you are strict with a 10%-ish weekly water change schedule, it is very possible you might not ever have to dose your tank (though you should still be testing). 10% for your size tank is a breeze....just 3 gallons and you're done. I know a few people in my local club who keep small scale tanks with minimal fuss. They are just extremely diligent about those water changes.

 

[pegasus]

Good point about the Mag. With a smaller tank, chemistry shifts happen fast. Dosing should be done carefully, and having a test kit of your own at home will REALLY help you in the long run.

I'm a big fan of the KISS method of aquarium keeping. Despite my above comment about smaller tanks, they also have a big up-side: it's easier to maintain ALL these levels with simple weekly water changes. If you have a good quality salt (or you have access to natural seawater) and you are strict with a 10%-ish weekly water change schedule, it is very possible you might not ever have to dose your tank (though you should still be testing). 10% for your size tank is a breeze....just 3 gallons and you're done. I know a few people in my local club who keep small scale tanks with minimal fuss. They are just extremely diligent about those water changes.

If you're diligent with water changes, there should be no problem keeping adequate levels of each... as long as your salt mix has adequate levels of each. Even though it's a small tank, as the amount of things utilizing these elements goes up (ie: new corals), so will the need for replacement. The 10%-ish weekly water change can suddenly become 15, 20, 25%, but the only way to know how much water needs to be changed to maintain proper levels is through testing.

 

[Tony Jacot]

Thanks for the imput guys. I do 5 gallon weekly water changes at the moment and the salt is mixed at the LFS. The salt mix i use is called "Salinity" and i always prefer the same guy at the LFS mixing the salt as ive grown to trust him.

 

[Tony Jacot]

i just got the reefmaster test kit in today and thought i would post my readings.. my phosphate got a color chart reading of very light green or faint green wich reads .25 My cal reading was 460 and alk reads 7dkh. This is day 4 of a weekly water change.

 

[reefkeeperZ]

If you keep your water great and feed them you shouldn't have any problems.