Lighting Schedules and Coral Questions

[mpitzer]

Good Morning,

 

I have had my tank up and running now for 1.5 months.  Had a little diatom algae bloom at the beginning which has been taken care of by the snails.  Was wondering about lighting duration though....I have my radion xr30s currently programmed on the radiant color setting at 50% max turning on at 2pm and shutting off at 9pm at which point it slowly runs from 3% to 0% until midnight.  Is there a rule of thumb on the # of hours lighting should be on?

 

Regarding coral, I am looking to start some zoas or other soft corals in the near future.  Do I need to start dosing calcium/alk or are zoas pretty hardy and can survive/thrive without it.  I wouldn't go into any LPS/SPS until I have a full dosing setup in the future but trying to get my green thumb going and get some experience in the meantime.  If zoas would be okay, how would it affect my lighting schedule.  What intensity should I be running after they are acclimated?

 

Thanks for any advice.

 

Matt

[ReefAddict]

I don't think there is a rule of thumb for lighting, every tank will have its own needs.  Most soft corals should be fine with your current intensity and duration.  You will have to test your levels after adding corals to see if dosing is necessary.  Most likely doing water changes will provide enough trace elements for zoas and soft corals.  Dosing probably won't be necessary until you really get growing.  But again, make sure you are testing for anything you are adding.

[GraffitiSpotCorals]

Zoanthids and soft corals do not have skeletons so they do not use calcium or alk. You won't need to be dosing but you should still watch levels as other things that are in the tank naturally will take up small amounts of it over time. Also it's a good habit when you have a reef tank.

[Origami]

You might enjoy this thread from the past....

[WheresTheReef]

While on the subject of lighting, I found this talk to be very interesting.

https://youtu.be/fBktpJ3umAs