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This is how we can learn -> hahahha... This just occurred to me, if the major use of good lighting for coral reefs in tank is to help micro algae within the its skin/body or planktons(microorganism floating in the water) to survive with photosynthesis and then these serve as food for the corals, then could it be using algae killer, too efficient physical filters and too frequent water change can also be as harmful as having a poor light source in a reef tank?

Just a correction, I should have said Phytoplankton(plant/algae planktons) not Zooplankton (animal planktons).

Greetings reefers! I'm doing some research on what type of lighting I should be using for my FIRST ever reef tank. (obviously I'm a newb in this topic so feel free to blow the whistle and intervine in my errors) I came across this research paper that seems to be unrelated to reef keeping at first. Its about having the right μmol m-2 s-1 or PPF for efficient plant growth. FYI: μmol m-2 s-1 or PPF (Photosynthetic Photon Flux) that can be converted to lux (luminance and illuminance emitance) which is easier/more common unit/space for light intensity. Here's the research paper Based from this paper, plants placed on a in vitro environment differs growth and foliage amount with the different intensity of lights. The paper tested each vitros in 28, 37, 56, 74 and 93 μmol m-2 s-1 (about 1,500, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 and 5,000 lux). What caught my attention is that result was not linear, rather a paraboloid spectrum as the PPF increases. It seems that 28 and 93 has the lowest growth and foliage development. 74 has the highest leaf coverage but 37 has the better height and foliage amount growth. The conclusion is that what matters to plant growth is how vast and strong the light intensity is but rather HAVING THE RIGHT amount of light intensity. Now you may ask whats the connection of this to reef keeping? Here comes my hypothesis, if corals is dependent on sunlight because of the vital symbiotic relationship to specific type of sun-loving algae living some within the tissue of corals (some free floats such as zooplanktons), and if algae works/feeds/thrives on the same photosynthesis process as plants do, can we also consider that these algae would have the same reaction and limitation when exposed to a spectrum of light that can also have a reversing effect because of over lighting or too much light intensity? Any comments or drastic reactions? (hides under a rock )

Hi ducados, I'm not sure if they're just good in adaptability. After some googling, I found the scientific name of my pet eel... 'Myrichthys tigrinus' One thing is certain though, I caught it from the exact beach where I got my saltwater and sand from. Also the crabs and fishes. I remember catching it I thought it was a sea-snake! I fed it with guppy on a chopsticks (semi-KO). Sometimes when the guppy is still alive, the eel rotates while most of its body is still buried in sand! It was awesome to see! ( I miss my pet eel...) My pet grouper was also awesome. I barely see it out from the rocks. When I drop a guppy, the grouper is so fast and precise snatching it and goind back to the rocks that I only see the sand-dust moving. Unfortunately, this grouper only lasted a few months. My mum told me she saw our pet cat gnawing on something juicy earlier that day. At least, it happened during its prime, ha! I caught this from a different beach in Subic (somewhere north from Manila) which I would say has the a very similar water temperature if I remember it correctly. You could be right that they had more potential to survive. But I think the trickier part there is the ammonia-nitrite-nitrate levels. Any of these going out of control its gonna be fatal to any creatures even to the most adaptive ones. It's no joke my friend! I just wish I had taken some pictures back then.

Btw, Ocean Acidification is a bad thing but the ocean still need proper acidity level in order for dissolved calcium supply. (How come I can't edit my own post? )

Hi djvin, In my first experiment, I'll probably won't be using a sump or a chiller (teeth grinding). Thanks for that good offer btw. Well the weather here ain't so bad I guess. In fact, I think its just the humidity. but the temperature is cooler than one of my favorite snorkling sites in Calatagan, Batangas(Philippines). Of course, Calatagan is no longer as good as other sites in the Philippines but I have a lots of fond memories in that place. Back in the days, I was like in the beach every weekend. As I recall, waters on Calatagan can be so warm in some part of the coral reefs there. In fact, when its low tide the waters can be so warm as a shower on medium setting heater. And yet the corals there survive. My theory its because of these corals have adopted on that environment. I think(for all my newb-nesses) the key thing is to choose the right species of corals. I'll probably buy corals based from which species I can recall to be in that reef. I'm surprised that your corals survive without any water change. This means there is hope in upcoming experiment. Thanks for giving some. I'm doing some research on Ocean Accidification which is majorly caused by too much CO2 absorbed by the surface of the ocean. Acidification is important for CaCO3 which is key for calcium supply for reefs and some other invertebraes. Here's an interesting link. Back in old tank, I know is some way the calcium acidification was balance, because my crabs did not complain when they molted(this is a sign that the pH is well enough for them to shed their exoskeleton). Also my clams and oysters shows growth on the their shell, which means they're happy with the calcium supply. It's surprising, considering how shallow my tank were (deep is important). Of course, being a reef-newb, I could be wrong.

Hi there, I'm new to this forum. I just want to share my experience (in some way weird) with saltwater tanks and maybe get some feed back from you guys regarding my plan to recreate this. A few years ago back in the Philippines I started my very first saltwater tank. I was still in school so I had limited access to funds so almost everything I used were improvised, even the tank. Instead of a glass aquarium I used an old Coleman cooler (about 0.75m x 0.5m x 0.5m). For the protein skimmer I fashioned from a mineral bottle. Of course, I bought an hydrometer, airstone, hose and an air pump. The saltwater, live rocks and sand I got them from the beach. I bought some green algae from a near by wet market in my area. My tank occupants (which I personally caught) were some crabs, a half a meter, cream colored with big black spots, eel(which I chopstick-fed btw), some small fishes and some snails. Also clams which I got also from the wet market. The light source was direct sun light. As to little knowledge I have back then, I don't check for pH, phosphates, ammonia, nitrites or nitrates, I added no supplements, no buffers, no water conditioners, etc. No refugiums and no sump tank. Whats interesting is this tank survived for 2+ years without any of these plus NOT A SINGLE WATER CHANGE. All I check is the salinity and just replenish the tank with distilled water. Until that fateful morning when I accidentally poured a fruit-punch from a previous night house party instead of distilled water. Very sad indeed... The lesson there is never touch your tank when you're half asleep. Even now I often scratch my head(aside from the head flakes) how did my tank survive that long now knowing that it broke so many marine-aquatic rules. Though it wasn't a reef tank, but still, imagine no other filtration other than a homemade protein-skimmer and clams. Oh I did include a banded shrimp when the movie Nemo came out. It unfortunately became food for my muscled-crab after a few months. Now that I'm working here in Singapore, I'm planning to recreate this feat(beginner's luck). Maybe in a nano/pico tank. I want to know what was the winning formula, if there's one. I don't know if I'll be successful especially I'll be throwing corals into the equation. Any thoughts about this, guys/gals? Thanks!