Growing buttons / polyps

[yhtan74]

I'm having a FOWLR 2x1x1 tank for almost a year. For the past months, I have been battling with BGA and finally is all gone and my tank looks clean now.

I guess my tank has finally matured and I would like to start my journey to move it into a reef tank. I know 2x1x1 is small but is easy to maintain for me, running cost is low also. I have no intention at the moment to go bigger yet.

Therefore I like to seek some expert advice so that I can avoid mistake that newbie does.

1. From my research, button and mushroom seem good for starter. I would like to know how true is this.

2. Someone has also told me that anemone can be easy as well, as I have seen it in a basic nano tank without cold water. now how true is this ?

3. Water parameter, I know KH got to be high at lease 9, and NO3 should be low, <20ppm. I do not have this reading yet and will get some test kit soon. PH and salanity should not b a problem as I'm using Redsea salt.

4. Lighting... most confuse part, some ppl told me PL is no good as it does not encourage coral growth and recommended T5. What is the comment ? what about LED lighting ? I'm using PL-S 55W 6.5K at the moment.

Attached is the layout of my tank.

Regards

[fatbike]

hi bro, got some zoas 4 u to try, ur lighting 4 my zoas should be ok for 1 ft hight,

started mine using those lighting last time oso,

sms me at 81839245 to get some, but me at woodlands.

cheers

[jackywongto]

Not expert... but here's my input.

1. From my research, button and mushroom seem good for starter. I would like to know how true is this.

yeah mushroom are easy corals. most of them do not require intense lighting and they like low flow.

most zoas are very hardy too.

2. Someone has also told me that anemone can be easy as well, as I have seen it in a basic nano tank without cold water. now how true is this ?

probably better to skip this 1st.

3. Water parameter, I know KH got to be high at lease 9, and NO3 should be low, <20ppm. I do not have this reading yet and will get some test kit soon. PH and salanity should not b a problem as I'm using Redsea salt.

PH and salinity is not dependent on what salt you are using bro. PH is a measure of acidic/ alkalinity of the water. Evaporation will affect salinity...

KH, PH, Mg, Salinity, NO3, PO4 are all important parameters to take note of.

4. Lighting... most confuse part, some ppl told me PL is no good as it does not encourage coral growth and recommended T5. What is the comment ? what about LED lighting ? I'm using PL-S 55W 6.5K at the moment.

If possible, go for T5. PL might suffice too though.

[yhtan74]

Dear All,

Thanks for the reply....Helped me to understand better on reefing. Back to water parameter, what is the interval of taking measurement ? every week ?

Fatbike

Thanks for the offer, unfortunately I'm living far away from Woodland... in KL in fact.

[Goondoo]

Just another beginner... but here's my summary from some read up and experience.

2. Someone has also told me that anemone can be easy as well, as I have seen it in a basic nano tank without cold water. now how true is this ?

From experience, anemone is easy,IF, you do not have the intention of trying other corals. Anemone moves a lot, especially in a smaller tanks, and you might find your shrimps and little fish missing too. My latest casualty been my lovely firedart fish before I decided to pull the plug and gave it away.

4. Lighting... most confuse part, some ppl told me PL is no good as it does not encourage coral growth and recommended T5. What is the comment ? what about LED lighting ? I'm using PL-S 55W 6.5K at the moment.

It is not about what kind of likes is good, but what kind of lights is effective. Many believe T5HO (high output) give the best coverage in par and spectrum in smaller tank while I do heard of people running Metal Halides on one footer. If you are good with hands, you might want to try DIYing a LED set (stevenkoh is doing a MO for it currently). Kelvins or K is an unit for color temperature. Lower K is yellowish and higher K move towards blue. It is also believe that lower K is in fact better for coral growth, but it will look horrible to viewers..... lol... Personally I believe PL is sufficient for 1' height but they give off a lot more heat as most PL uses magnetic ballast. It is also not easy to find effective tubes that are aesthetically pleasing to your eyes too.

Just my 2 cts worth