Blue Moon LED lights ?

[Got Reefer]

Hello,

Im just wondering what opinions are on leaving on the Blue moon LED lights on at night?

I have a 14G Bio Cube Reef tank that is about 1 month old and has cycled.
Does the LED's play any role for the tank other then looks?

I dont mind to keep them on, but i have stocked my tank with Hammer coral, an Open Brain, Flower Pot Coral, a Leather Mushroom, and two more that i can not spell / remember and want to know if they have to total darkness for any reasons..

so anyway.
Here is a couple of pictures of my tank the last one is with the Blue LED Lights only.

Any advise would be greatly appricated. :updown:

 

[BigAl07]

....
Any advise would be greatly appricated. :updown:

Advice #1:

SLOW DOWN!

A) Tank is WAY over loaded from a CORAL standpoint
B) 1 month & cycled is REALLY pushing it. Granted you "may" have seen the spike and fall of your parameters (that's iffy at just 1 month) your tank is still NEW and unstable.

Flower Pot Coral,

Not to be harsh but are you researching ANY of your coral at all?
Flower Pot Coral
(Goniopora sp.)

Care Level: Difficult
Temperament: Aggressive
Lighting: High
Waterflow: Medium to Strong
Placement: Bottom to Middle
Water Conditions: 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, sg 1.023-1.025
Color Form: Red
Supplements: Calcium, Strontium, Trace Elements
Origin: Indonesia
Family: Poritidae
Polyp Size: LPS - Large Polyp Stony

And here are some more details about this coral

It is aggressive, and ample space should be provided between itself and other neighboring corals. Its polyps can extend far past its base into the reef aquarium, where they can sting other species of corals.

and some more

Goniopora sp. require PERFECT water conditions, the proper trace elements and the habitat must match its requirements.

and

....any damage to the meaty section of the True Red Flower Pot Coral almost always means a lost specimen.

and

One can only do this Goniopora Coral justice by leaving its care to the experienced hobbyist with the expertise and time to keep the coral properly.

I'm sorry if this seems "harsh" but you and your coral need you to know ALL the details ahead of time.

 

[BigAl07]

Also your HAMMER is VERY aggressive and will extend "Sweeper" tentacles WAY out into the tank and odds are the brain will "expire" from it's sting.

 

[Varga]

My moon lights come on for 2 hours before and after the actinics. mainly because I think LED's have a life span.

 

[Got Reefer]

Thank you very much.
I purchashed half of my rock as Premium Live rock that was fully cured.
and then i got 1 large base rock.

as far as my water conditions go.
i tested my tank yesterday.
here are the specs.

High Range PH - 8.2
Nitrite - .25
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm
Calcium - 560ppm
Carbonate Hardness - .5ppm
Phosphate - 250.6
Test kit ive been using is API Saltwater and Reef Master Test Kits

with the advise of my LFS Sandys Pet shop in Louisville KY. I did the best i can do.

I dont take any advise as harsh. I feel a little suckered into hammer coral because the frog spone did not look healthy vs the Hammer coral. (which was advised to me by the LFS) so i went with that. My Clark Clownfish have taken a liking to it.

as far as the flowerpot goes. I have been watching this and it seems to be doing fine. I enjoy watching my tank.

Big Al you never advised me on the LED lights for night time.

Advice #1:

SLOW DOWN!

A) Tank is WAY over loaded from a CORAL standpoint
B) 1 month & cycled is REALLY pushing it. Granted you "may" have seen the spike and fall of your parameters (that's iffy at just 1 month) your tank is still NEW and unstable.


Not to be harsh but are you researching ANY of your coral at all?
Flower Pot Coral
(Goniopora sp.)



And here are some more details about this coral


and some more



and


and




I'm sorry if this seems "harsh" but you and your coral need you to know ALL the details ahead of time.

 

[BigAl07]

I run my moonlights 24/7 on all of my tanks. I don't even have any of them on timers at all.


I do have some questions for you:

Did you SEE a cycle take place? It's VERY hard to get nitrates to 0 especially in a new tank.

Your phosphates are HIGH! What are you feeding, how much and how are you feeding?

Keep in mind that our (not just yours) LFS may or may NOT have your tanks best outcome in mind when they suggest what you buy. They make $$$ when you spend $$. If something just "Expires" and you replace it then they make $$$ again. Some do this intentionally and some do it because they honestly don't KNOW any better. Remember that their husbandry for the tanks is a LOT different than yours. They only want to have live-stock for a very short period of time (the longer it sits in their store the less money they make) where-as you want long term success.

The Flower Pot Coral has a VERY dismal long term success rate because they need a high level of nutrients in the water column. This is MUCH more than what we are normally able to provide and NOT have some major algae blooms and/or poor water quality. They tend to do well short-term in our tanks and then almost over night tissue recession starts and in just a few days the whole animal is a loss.


The Hammer Coral Euphyllia is a soft tissue coral and unfortunately it's easily cut/damaged on it's own skeleton. I to have had my clown host in Euphyllia and it happens all the time in many tanks. The down-side is that this coral is VERY prone to BJD (Brown Jelly Disease) with is caused from tissue damage. The Clown will unknowingly hurt the coral because an anemone is much tougher and thicker skinned than the hammer. Just keep an eye out for BJD.

 

[Seahorse1]

I agree with BigAl on the LFS issue. Years ago our LFS (now closed), would do and say anything to sell their stuff. For example, they sold me a pair of Sweetlips clowns with the excuse that they were very easy to take care of (my tank was 1 mo. old like yours), of course the fish eventually died. Then they sold me a Mandarin - same thing, then a moray eel (not even bother to tell me they were escape houdinis) and the thing jumped out at night and died. There are many many more stories. I was very naive and was going by whatever they were saying instead of coming to places like this and reading, or picking up a book. The people at the LFS were very very nice, I really thought they cared about me and my tank - well, now I see I was just a 'walking wallet' to them. I spent over $2,000 in a space of about a year! all for nothing. So please please don't follow their advice to the "T", you'll end up broke and frustated. Follow the advice here or get yourself a reputable reef book.

 

[Got Reefer]

what a wealth of information that you can provide. First off thank you very much. Every thought about publishing your own book?

ok. your questions are

Did you SEE a cycle take place? It's VERY hard to get nitrates to 0 especially in a new tank.

From what I observed while watching the tank daily was after about 1 week of strickly running the tank without anything but rocks and 1 damsel fish i got a nice green alge boom.
Week 2 i bought a CUC alge boom dissappered.
In between week 1 and 2 i preformed 1 water change of 2.5g which if im correct would have been an 18 % water change.
after taking test samples to the LFS they "claimed" everything was all good.
I purchased some star polyops on a rock and a small amemonie both of which are doing well still.
so im guessing that my tank cycled. Ive had a hard time looking through the forum since im still new to this. since the First water change at week 2 i have completed 3 water changes at 18% about every two weeks or so it seems.
so
Tested the tank just now and specs are as follows.
PH - 8.0
Nitrite 0ppm
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrate 0ppm
Calcium 440ppm (Note i think last nights test might have been off due to some counting issues) I ran out of fingers and toes. :smack:
Carbonate Hardness 250.6ppm
Posphate .5ppm

Your phosphates are HIGH! What are you feeding, how much and how are you feeding?
New Life Spectrum small pellets twice daily, (only enough for the fish to feed Basically in moderation and once at night i feed them 2 to 3 mysis shrimp each. from Piscine energetics Ive been feeding them with a medicane dropper and they eat it from the dropper now

Keep in mind that our (not just yours) LFS may or may NOT have your tanks best outcome in mind when they suggest what you buy. They make $$$ when you spend $$. If something just "Expires" and you replace it then they make $$$ again. Some do this intentionally and some do it because they honestly don't KNOW any better. Remember that their husbandry for the tanks is a LOT different than yours. They only want to have live-stock for a very short period of time (the longer it sits in their store the less money they make) where-as you want long term success.
I can totally see what your saying. I called two seperate stores and asked them about each coral they both said the same thing you did about the flower pot but no metion of it before i purchased.

I run my moonlights 24/7 on all of my tanks. I don't even have any of them on timers at all.


I do have some questions for you:

Did you SEE a cycle take place? It's VERY hard to get nitrates to 0 especially in a new tank.

Your phosphates are HIGH! What are you feeding, how much and how are you feeding?

Keep in mind that our (not just yours) LFS may or may NOT have your tanks best outcome in mind when they suggest what you buy. They make $$$ when you spend $$. If something just "Expires" and you replace it then they make $$$ again. Some do this intentionally and some do it because they honestly don't KNOW any better. Remember that their husbandry for the tanks is a LOT different than yours. They only want to have live-stock for a very short period of time (the longer it sits in their store the less money they make) where-as you want long term success.

The Flower Pot Coral has a VERY dismal long term success rate because they need a high level of nutrients in the water column. This is MUCH more than what we are normally able to provide and NOT have some major algae blooms and/or poor water quality. They tend to do well short-term in our tanks and then almost over night tissue recession starts and in just a few days the whole animal is a loss.


The Hammer Coral Euphyllia is a soft tissue coral and unfortunately it's easily cut/damaged on it's own skeleton. I to have had my clown host in Euphyllia and it happens all the time in many tanks. The down-side is that this coral is VERY prone to BJD (Brown Jelly Disease) with is caused from tissue damage. The Clown will unknowingly hurt the coral because an anemone is much tougher and thicker skinned than the hammer. Just keep an eye out for BJD.

 

[Got Reefer]

im sorry to hear that.. im getting the feeling if stuff starts dying it might be the same deal with me. but "fingers crossed" i dont run into that problem.
as far as a stocking point goes i am completely done with buy anything live for this tank.

I agree with BigAl on the LFS issue. Years ago our LFS (now closed), would do and say anything to sell their stuff. For example, they sold me a pair of Sweetlips clowns with the excuse that they were very easy to take care of (my tank was 1 mo. old like yours), of course the fish eventually died. Then they sold me a Mandarin - same thing, then a moray eel (not even bother to tell me they were escape houdinis) and the thing jumped out at night and died. There are many many more stories. I was very naive and was going by whatever they were saying instead of coming to places like this and reading, or picking up a book. The people at the LFS were very very nice, I really thought they cared about me and my tank - well, now I see I was just a 'walking wallet' to them. I spent over $2,000 in a space of about a year! all for nothing. So please please don't follow their advice to the "T", you'll end up broke and frustated. Follow the advice here or get yourself a reputable reef book.

 

[BigAl07]

Ok sounds like you have a got the basics covered so far. I'd like to offer some advice/info on food.


Most "packaged" food is loaded with preservatives to extend shelf life. This goes for frozen and or dried foods. The drawback is preservatives = Rocket Fuel for algae. Many times the preservatives are phosphates. Phosphates really REALLY feed algae. The only food I don't rinse is "Rods Food" and that's because he doesn't use any preservatives at all. I don't use "pellets" as you can't rinse them. My frozen foods are thawed in RO/DI water then ran through a tea strainer and then emptied into a feeding container.

That's how I do it and it's worked fairly well thus far. Always remember YMMV

 

[Got Reefer]

Explain Rod Food?
what would you recommend that i use?

I have been told to use dried up photoplankton for my corals works good and lasts for a couple months.

my fish
are 2 clark clownfish
1 lawnmower benny
1 yellow headed jaw fish.
I have no future plans on adding any futher tank mates. coral or fish

Ok sounds like you have a got the basics covered so far. I'd like to offer some advice/info on food.


Most "packaged" food is loaded with preservatives to extend shelf life. This goes for frozen and or dried foods. The drawback is preservatives = Rocket Fuel for algae. Many times the preservatives are phosphates. Phosphates really REALLY feed algae. The only food I don't rinse is "Rods Food" and that's because he doesn't use any preservatives at all. I don't use "pellets" as you can't rinse them. My frozen foods are thawed in RO/DI water then ran through a tea strainer and then emptied into a feeding container.

That's how I do it and it's worked fairly well thus far. Always remember YMMV

 

[BigAl07]

Rods Food (google it he's got a decent website) is a mixture of everything you need to add to your tank. It feeds my coral, my inverts, my fish all at once.

 

[sheren]

Thank you very much.
I purchashed half of my rock as Premium Live rock that was fully cured.
and then i got 1 large base rock.

as far as my water conditions go.
i tested my tank yesterday.
here are the specs.

High Range PH - 8.2
Nitrite - .25
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm
Calcium - 560ppm
Carbonate Hardness - .5ppm
Phosphate - 250.6
Test kit ive been using is API Saltwater and Reef Master Test Kits

with the advise of my LFS Sandys Pet shop in Louisville KY. I did the best i can do.

I dont take any advise as harsh. I feel a little suckered into hammer coral because the frog spone did not look healthy vs the Hammer coral. (which was advised to me by the LFS) so i went with that. My Clark Clownfish have taken a liking to it.

as far as the flowerpot goes. I have been watching this and it seems to be doing fine. I enjoy watching my tank.

Big Al you never advised me on the LED lights for night time.

I know that fish store and it is a good pet store do you belong to the local fish club

 

[Got Reefer]

I know that fish store and it is a good pet store do you belong to the local fish club

No i dont know anything about a local fish club.
any info?

I live near fort knox

 

[sheren]

Louisville Marine Aquarium Society
Louisville Marine Aquarium Society