Best Par and photo period for LPS and Softies

[Johnic]

I'd be very surprised if PAR was the cause -- those are fairly modest levels and lots of folks have LPS that are thriving under much higher.

In the photos your LPS corals all look pretty healthy to me, but overall your tank looks pretty sterile for a year+.

What kind of rock do you have in there? I started with CaribSea Life Rock but added some live rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater and it *massively* increased the biodiversity in my tank; I'm certain it's had a significant impact on the coral.

As a step 1 I'd suggest increasing the diversity of your food sources -- add a bunch of live pods, planktonic and smaller stuff along with some other types of meaty foods and see if that makes a difference. There are *hundreds* of food sources circulating in the ocean 24x7, so the closer you can get to that state the more robust your corals will be.

My salt is 1.0273. Can this be the problem ?

 

[exnisstech]

Looks like you have a derasa clam on your sandbed. You'll want way more than 100 PAR for clams. Derasas are more forgiving, but I personally would be aiming for at least 250 PAR and probably shooting for higher.

Agreed. I couldn't keep a clam alive long term untill I invested in a par meter. I've had my derasa now for a year and it has more than doubled in size sitting on the sand but getting 300 par

 

[DiabloJP]

Ok so I won’t adjust par and feed more. I need to make sure I don’t over feed and watch my nitrates and phosphate.
I had dead rock in there but I’ve added a ton of different bacteria’s and I think I have it biodiverse.
Should I add a piece of rock from Tampa bay saltwater ?

Adding bottle bacteria doesn't get you biodiversity -- it impacts a select few bacterial populations both short and long-term, but bacterial populations are just a sliver of the biodiversity tapestry and manufactured bacteria is always a shadow of an approximation for what's actually happening with sea water.

Think about holistic comparisons between where your critters live in nature vs. the ecosystem you're creating; there's no way we're going to duplicate the biological and chemical diversity of ocean environments, but there are a few things we can always be pushing further to get a closer approximation. Live rock and live sand from the ocean (I'm talking about ocean sand from TBS, not the retail bagged stuff) is about the biggest bang for the buck.

There are hundreds of different things happening on live rock and ocean sand beds that are hard to duplicate in other ways; everything from the structure of the rock itself (which has a direct impact on supporting bacterial populations and microfauna) to all the living stuff that comes on the rock (different species of coralline algae, brittle stars, sponges, and other small critters, macro algaes, planktons, etc).

The amount of rock and corals you have relative to total system volume is very light and It's possible that you're doing such a thorough job keeping your tank pristine that the pendulum swung way too far toward the sterile end of the spectrum. Here's one random example: I have two urchins in my tank that spawn regularly and release a cloud of sperm/eggs into the water column. It's messy and makes the water cloudy for a bit, but it's also another food source for a lot of critters. There are a million and one stories like this in the ocean that contribute to biodiversity.

One rock from TBS isn't going to do much for your system -- from the pictures I'd suggest trying 20-30 pounds in the display. If you have a sump with room you can add some in there as well.

On your salinity: 1.0273 is very high, suggest bringing it down to 1.026 (average natural sea water).

Overall I think you're not looking at a single culprit for why stuff isn't thriving, it's likely a few different systemic contributors. Increasing diversity (real diversity, not bottled diversity) is a good strategy.

 

[Johnic]

Adding bottle bacteria doesn't get you biodiversity -- it impacts a select few bacterial populations both short and long-term, but bacterial populations are just a sliver of the biodiversity tapestry and manufactured bacteria is always a shadow of an approximation for what's actually happening with sea water.

Think about holistic comparisons between where your critters live in nature vs. the ecosystem you're creating; there's no way we're going to duplicate the biological and chemical diversity of ocean environments, but there are a few things we can always be pushing further to get a closer approximation. Live rock and live sand from the ocean (I'm talking about ocean sand from TBS, not the retail bagged stuff) is about the biggest bang for the buck.

There are hundreds of different things happening on live rock and ocean sand beds that are hard to duplicate in other ways; everything from the structure of the rock itself (which has a direct impact on supporting bacterial populations and microfauna) to all the living stuff that comes on the rock (different species of coralline algae, brittle stars, sponges, and other small critters, macro algaes, planktons, etc).

The amount of rock and corals you have relative to total system volume is very light and It's possible that you're doing such a thorough job keeping your tank pristine that the pendulum swung way too far toward the sterile end of the spectrum. Here's one random example: I have two urchins in my tank that spawn regularly and release a cloud of sperm/eggs into the water column. It's messy and makes the water cloudy for a bit, but it's also another food source for a lot of critters. There are a million and one stories like this in the ocean that contribute to biodiversity.

One rock from TBS isn't going to do much for your system -- from the pictures I'd suggest trying 20-30 pounds in the display. If you have a sump with room you can add some in there as well.

On your salinity: 1.0273 is very high, suggest bringing it down to 1.026 (average natural sea water).

Overall I think you're not looking at a single culprit for why stuff isn't thriving, it's likely a few different systemic contributors. Increasing diversity (real diversity, not bottled diversity) is a good strategy.

All def valid points. I appreciate the info!

I’ll need to figure out how to squeeze the rock in the tank. I might be only able to fit about 3-5 pounds. Isn’t there high risk of adding bad stuff to tank as well?
Will the live sand be enough?

I’ll work on bringing down the salt level over the next couple weeks.

 

[DiabloJP]

All def valid points. I appreciate the info!

I’ll need to figure out how to squeeze the rock in the tank. I might be only able to fit about 3-5 pounds. Isn’t there high risk of adding bad stuff to tank as well?
Will the live sand be enough?

I’ll work on bringing down the salt level over the next couple weeks.

I should caveat that this is all just my POV and you shouldn't take any of it as gospel.

Your aquascape is pretty minimal and you can def get 20+ more pounds in there, but I get that you don't want to mess with your aesthetics. Keep in mind that 3-5 pounds in a system your size isn't going to have much of an impact, although it certainly wouldn't hurt.

TBS has an 8-pound nano pack and that's what I got for my 45 -- has worked out well. Maybe start with something like that. In my 8 pound pack I got about a dozen macro algae species, a bunch of good snails, a red mithrax crab, two porcelain crabs, and a purple spine urchin along with a few dozen brittle stars and all kinds of other little critters and some actual coral species that are now growing and thriving. I put the rocks in my quarantine tank for 2 weeks for observation. Everyone is still alive and doing well.

There's always a risk of introducing some bad stuff... but if you take a look around the forum most folks feel like the good dramatically outweighs the bad. Generally with TBS rock you're looking at something like the occasional gorilla crab or pest anemone, but usually not too much of a hassle to deal with. I had a rogue limpet (one out of about 8) in my 8 pound pack that munched on one of my SPS corals, but it was easy enough to banish to my quarantine tank.

You might want to try starting with the least disruptive stuff before even getting more rock -- bring down your salinity and try increasing diversity of foods, particularly around adding some planktonic foods and live pods. Do that for a month and see if it gets you the results you're looking for, then maybe consider adding some live rock.