New To Coral Keeping-need Some Help

[mmedley]

HEY GUYS
I' VE BEEN INTO SALTWATER FOR ABOUT A YEAR NOW MAINLY FOWLR, BUT HAVE BEEN WANTING TO KEEP SOME SOFT CORALS AND SHROOMS. I STUMBLED ONTO A GOOD DEAL AND JUST GOT A 75G SET UP COMPLETE WITH LIVE STOCK, LIVE ROCK, LIVE SAND....Nova Extreme T5 48 inch light fixture 4x 54 watt. 2 ACTNICTS AND 2 DAYLIGHT
I HAVE THREE QUESTIONS:
1. I HAVE A PAGODA CUP AND SOME STAR POLYPS, WHAT KIND OF LIGHT SCHEDULE SHOULD I SET FOR MY TANK?
2. WHAT WOULD BE SOME OTHER HARDY CORALS TO TAKE A LOOK INTO BUYING?
3. ARE THERE ANY OTHER WATER CONDITIONS I SHOULD BE LOOKING AT BESIDES THE NORMAL? ANY SPECIAL ADDITIVES I NEED TO ADD INTO THE WATER?

 

[earlybird]

1. At least 8hrs. Actinics on first and last hour by themselves. Nice lights should be plenty for most corals.
2. Hardy corals are mostly soft corals and some LPS.
3. Should be monitoring ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, pH, calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium. As far as additives, it really depends on your coral usage of calcium which affects alkalinity. You have to monitor them to determine if they need boosting. Don't add anything that you don't test for.

 

[emm0909]

Don't hold this against me if it backfires but usually if you keep your calcium in check your alk and mag should stay stable.

 

[mmedley]

in a 8hr schedule.....should i run my Actinics for three hours, daylights for 4 and then the actinics for another hour?
or should i run both for 7hrs and then the actinics alone for another hour?

 

[earlybird]

Example, this is my photo period but I'm adding 15 minutes each week to get my photoperiod up to 10 hours total.
Actinics on at 1:00pm, daylights on at 2:00pm, daylights off at 8:00pm, actinics off at 9:00pm, moon lights on whenever you want. Total photoperiod of 8 hours.

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by mmedley
in a 8hr schedule.....should i run my Actinics for three hours, daylights for 4 and then the actinics for another hour?
or should i run both for 7hrs and then the actinics alone for another hour?
four hours of daylight just isnt enough for any but the lowest light corals, you want a minimum of 6 hours full light. 8 is better. I run a 12 hour day on my tanks (all three)
on my 75 it goes: 6am full light (440watt 10K vho 96w pc actinic) 5pm vhos off, 6 pm actinics off.
my 12 g shroom tank 9 am full light, 36w PC 7pm 10k off 9pm actinic off
my 10g frag grow out full light 12 hours solid, 130w PC, 10k65w 420nm actinic 65w

 

[estein02]

Originally Posted by earlybird
Example, this is my photo period but I'm adding 15 minutes each week to get my photoperiod up to 10 hours total.
Actinics on at 1:00pm, daylights on at 2:00pm, daylights off at 8:00pm, actinics off at 9:00pm, moon lights on whenever you want. Total photoperiod of 8 hours.
When increasing the photoperiod is it really necessary to increase it gradually like earlybird is doing?

 

[golgi aparatus]

What kits do you guys use to test for Magnesium?