basic questions to gather some information Thanks

I have a 29 bio cube with a 150w MH so to answer your questions

I have my day lights on for 8 hours a day
I do get alot of heat from my light, but i have a fan that blows between the light and water that helps keep the temp a consistent temp
I keep my tank between 77.5 and 78.5. Not much of a swing but I do run a controller that helps me keep it like that.
alot of people do have temp increase during the day it is normal. I just would try to keep it under 81-82
Feeding is once a day normally but sometimes I do it twice, just cause I like to watch them feed. I feed a combination of food. Rods mostly, but I also use pellets, flakes, brine, mysis, cyclopeese. I like changing it up alot.
For the coral I target feed some of the LPS that require target feeding, but other then that I don't really make a special effort to feed anything else
For the water I do a weekly water test for Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, Cal, Alk, Mag, and Phosphate. Then if needed I add cal, alk, or mag. if the ammonia, trate or trites are high I do a water change.
I do a 5-10g water change every two weeks, depending on the weekly water test.

as far as posting pics here is a link that will help you
http://www.greateriowareefsociety.org/Community/DiscussionForums/tabid/78/aft/16023/Default.aspx

hope this info helps
Troy

 

6 to 8 h is good
78 degrees
yes a swing of 2 or 3 degrees is fine
2 or 3 times a day
I personaly don't feed my corals directly the fish poo feeds my corals but I have mostly SPS
As far as additives all you neet to worry about is maintaining stable calcium, Alk, Mag
http://www.greateriowareefsociety.org/Community/DiscussionForums/tabid/78/aft/16023/Default.aspx

 

The light cycle all depends on what style of light you are using, I think with a Metal Halide I would go with a 8 or so, with my LEDs I go with a 10 or so hour light cycle, but I see no temperature swing at all. I keep my tank at 77.5, and that's pretty much constant because I also run a controller. Sometimes I will raise it to 78.5 but never more than that. I noticed if my temp got up to 81-82 I got some hair algea that decided to sprout up. I feed my fish everyday cyclopeese, and then my Duncans I feed every couple days with Mysis shrimp, and my Open Brain I feed the LPS food from Cherry Coral. I also do about a 5 gallon water change every week, but I run a skimmer, in my 29 Biocube like Troy. I think I can over feed alitte more due to the fact I run a skimmer. I also have ran GFO, but am in the process of going to Bio Pellets which helps alot I feel. I honestly have never test my tank since I switched, which was 5 months ago, so I know im bad, but I also dose the recommended amount of Bionic 2-Part

 

Troy for some reason I couldn't see your post when I posted mine. Or I wouldn't have even posted sence we basicly posted the same thing lol.

 

Posted By bbbthebest on 11/16/2010 12:54 AM
I got a 55 gallon tank
I am going to ask some basic questions to gather some information for myself.
lights how long do people leave them on 6, 8, 10, 12, or more hours a day?  
my lighting is 2-96watt pc set no more than 1/2 to 1" above the water
I think that depends on what you are keeping.  If it is fish only tank, light it for 8 hours around when you are going to be home (2pm -10pm)  If it is a coral tank, bump it up to 14 hours.
at what temperature do people keep there tank at ?  anywhere from 75-81, again depending on the tank.
do they get warmer during the time when the lights are on if so how much ?  Not by much,  If it is fish only, then no worry about a temp swing, if it is coral you will have to try & keep the swings lower.
feeding how often do you feed the fish ?   Sometimes daily, sometimes every 2-3 days
ideas on food.   Variety, depending on your fish. Frozen mixes are usually the healthiest, moist pellets are good too.
feeding how often do you feed the corals in a tank?  LPS weekly,  I let the fish poop feed the SPS
ideas on supplements   Water changes, water changes, and the change your water.
do you add anythings to help the water?  I dose calc, alk, mag, and kalkwasser when the corals are taking out too much.
Thanks for any input I will get !
I was looking for the way to put up a photo ?

 

Posted By xroads on 11/16/2010 08:45 AM

Posted By bbbthebest on 11/16/2010 12:54 AM
I got a 55 gallon tank
lights how long do people leave them on 6, 8, 10, 12, or more hours a day?  
my lighting is 2-96watt pc set no more than 1/2 to 1" above the water
I think that depends on what you are keeping.  If it is fish only tank, light it for 8 hours around when you are going to be home (2pm -10pm)  If it is a coral tank, bump it up to 14 hours.
14 h? Man that is way to much! There are studys that show that a coral can only use about 4h of intense light a day. And everything after that is actualy doing more harm than good. I don't know how true this is but based on this me and quite a few others on RC cut our lights way back. I cut mine down to 6h and have had it that way for the entire time this tank has been  up so 8 months. Growth and color have been excelent the whole time. So IMO anything over 6-8 h is overkill and a big waist of energy.

 

I didnt say anything about intense light for 14 hours a day.

Last time I knew the sun doesnt rise & set on the reef in 6 hours.

I start out with antinics & kinda wake everything up, ramp up to mid day light, and then slowly ramp down & end in antinics followed by moonlights.

 

I do my lights a little weird. I have 2 150watt MH with 2 36watt T5 actinics. The MH are on for a total of 8 hours a day but that is divided. I have them on a timer so that they are on for four hours in the morning.. about 7-11am so I can see everything before I go to work/school, and then they go off until 3 when they are on for another 4 hours so I can see them at night when I get home. Helps cut down on the algae with the broken photoperiod but doesn't hurt my corals any.

Hope this helps!

 

Interesting ^ I'm going to try cutting back a bit and see how things fare........

 

Posted By xroads on 11/16/2010 01:57 PM
I didnt say anything about intense light for 14 hours a day.
Last time I knew the sun doesnt rise & set on the reef in 6 hours.
I start out with antinics & kinda wake everything up, ramp up to mid day light, and then slowly ramp down & end in antinics followed by moonlights.
No but the sun is moveing so it isn't focused on one spot long. But Yea I  misunderstood you  I do run my actanics quite a while before and after as well.

 

is this the tank from kerry teats? if so your coral are pretty hardy being they are leathers and polyps. I wouldnt worry to much about feeding them just feed your fish once a day. lights i put on a timer and set it for when iam home the most so i can enjoy my tank, your tank with pc fixtures id say 8 hrs is plenty. As far as adding supplements, you do that when you do your water changes, the one thing you will want to watch is your PH when you do top offs, btw remember to use freshwater for top offs and try to use RO/DI water, this will help keep down algae blooms. Also Be sure to check out the QC area regional forums.