Killing my tank slowly?

coralwish

coralwish

Member
Guys, please help me out here. I have a 90 gal reef tank and only 2x65 50/50 PCs. It seems dark sometimes in my tank, but every LFS I've been to and asked they said that was enough to keep what I have in there right now. I've been reading the posts here and it sounds that I'm killing my coral slowly. Let me tell you what I have, Star pollyps are dying out on me, Colt coral not open as much any more, All types of mushrooms are fine, bubble and pearl are as good as gone, frogspawn seems normal, Just got some pulsing xenia from a friend and the smaller pollyp completely closed up after 5 days. PLEASE TELL ME WHAT I REALLY NEED FOR THIS TANK, I WOULD LIKE TO ADD MORE TYPES OF CORAL AND CLAMS. DO YOU KNOW ANY GOOD PLACES FOR LIGHTING? IF I NEED TO UPGRADE TO MH, WOULD I NEED A CHILLER OR CAN JUST RUN FANS? PLEASE REPLY OR DROP ME AN EMAIL TOMUS6@YAHOO.COM
 
sammystingray

sammystingray

Active Member
90s are tall normally, honestly and no offense, your lights are indeed much too weak to have a decent reef with a 90 gallon tank...
 
broncofish

broncofish

Active Member
That not enough for lights in a 90 IMO, and I have a 90. I was running 440w VHO but I was also using a 6" DSB that still was not enough light for me so I am rebuilding my canopy and adding MY with VHO supplemental
 
coralwish

coralwish

Member
so what do you guys recommend? where should i look for an upgrade on the lights? would i need a chiller? My tank temp. is always around 78-80 degrees and never change b/c it's in the living right under the AC.
 
poiboy

poiboy

Member
OK! so your lights arent that strong but how is your water quality? how long has it been set up.
 
bdhough

bdhough

Active Member
You need more light if you want to place the corals anywhere in the tank. I suggest stacking your rock so you can get the corals several inches (6 inches) from the light. That will ensure they get enough light while you work on getting more light. Your PC's are enough but NOT UNLESS you get the corals close to the light. You do have the proper spectrum of light with the 50/50's though....
What kind of additives are you using? Just doing light is not enough. Unless you do water changes weekly you need to be adding something to your tank.
BTW star polyps seem flaky in my experience. It took months for my star polpys to stop disintegrating and start encrusting. The ones i've seen come into my store seem to do it to an extent as well.
One other thing. If you are moving the corals around alot that will cause them to close up for a time untill they like their spot. You also need some kind of current in your tank. With most the corals youve listed you need some gentle swaying going on.
 
krux

krux

Member
if you wish to keep clams, on a 90, i would go with a dual 400 watt halide setup along with 2 4 foot vho actinic tubes.
you can do 250 watters, but i would keep the clams up in the rocks, not on the sand bed. for a few dollars more at 400 you can do whatever you want wherever.
normally this would be a heat issue, but if you have fans to move the hot air out of the canopy, and your air conditioner keeps the room at a cooler level, the water volume should be great enough that the lights will not significantly warm the tank. they will however warm the heck out of the room, causing your ac to run more...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top