16 Gallon BowFront reeftank

[BlackwaterMerk]

post 2

[BlackwaterMerk]

post 3

[OneDummHikk]

Edit them and put one pic per post and put them on seperate lines. I have to scroll a 23" monitor to see both pics

[BlackwaterMerk]

K I split them up

[OneDummHikk]

Coming along nicely.

[BlackwaterMerk]

Thanx its about 14.7 pounds right now, Im probley gonna get one more big piece, plus some really small pieces for when I frag coral in the future.
I tested the amonia level and it was at like 5... hella die off I guess. Im gonna let my liverock cure for atleast a month. Also can somone identiify the white rock in the back? the guy at the aqurium place told me what it is but I forgot. I know the rest is figi liverock.

[BlackwaterMerk]

Hello again!!!! Ive had my liverock for more than a month now and recently added sand and a couple frags. I got 2 kenya tree frags and a zoa rock with about 30 heads on it. "Ill have some pics up soon". I have one random question... how can my tank salinity keep increasing w/o me adding additional salt, other than water changes, which I test before I put in? Like my water will be perfect one day, then the salinity will gradually keep going up and up.

[OneDummHikk]

As water evaporates, the salt stays. So when it evaporates, you have less water but the same amount of salt. That means the salinity goes up. Are you topping off with saltwater or with RO/DI water? You should be using RO/DI or Distilled to keep from driving the salinity up with evaporation. If you are using saltwater, don't. Adding more salt to get the water back in is also making the salinity go up. Sorta like a double whammy of salt.

[BlackwaterMerk]

ro/di water mixed with salt... should i not be adding salt for top offs? if so then that would explain it.

[BlackwaterMerk]

also today i got a new 15 watt bulb and its a dark blue, almost like a blacklight. is this one better for coral growth or my lighter colored one?

[OneDummHikk]

That is why. You don't top off with Salt Water. When it evaporates out of the tank, the salt doesn't go, it stays. The only thing leaving is the H2O itself. So when you add water back, you only want to add back what left - water, no salt.

As for the light, do either of the bulbs have a K number on it? Or, nm? It will say something like 10,000K, 10K, 6500K, something like that on it. Whether its better or not depends on the K rating of the bulb. The higher the K, the more "blue" it tends to be. But, it can get too blue to where its not doing anygood. But, too low a K and it promotes algae growth.

Can you post about the light bulb? Or post a picture of the bulb and any writing on it? Or the package? Something to help identify what kind of bulb it is?

[BlackwaterMerk]

The lighter one is a 10,000k coralife. "high intensity purified super daylight lamp" 15W

The dark one is a Coralife "Actinic" 100% true actinic 03 blue. Also it says it peaks at 420 nanometers. it is also a 15W and it says 1"dia" (T8) on both

[OneDummHikk]

I would use the 10,000K bulb since its the only bulb you have. You could always try adding a second bulb to the tank through a "rRetro style" fit where you DIY a second fixture to go on it.

[BlackwaterMerk]

would using the lighter one during the day and the darker one during night be good?

[OneDummHikk]

No. That would put them on a 24 hour light cycle. If you wanted to run both, run the actinic for about an hour before and after the 10K bulb comes on and goes off and leave the tank dark at night. Corals/fish have to "sleep" just like you do