fowlr question

if i keep a fowlr marine tank ..do i need any special care for the live rocks ... will normal fluorescent bulbs suffice for live rocks.. how often to change the water . do i need to maintain calcium levels ?

I'm not a pro but I think that liverocks (LR) do not have specific lighting requirements. Some algae and macroalgae may grow on the LRs but I don't think they are that picky on your lighting provision.

Likewise, I don't think you need to worry about calcium levels for your LRs.

The pros please correct me if I'm wrong, thanks.

[KaLiB]

Originally Posted by ™kok™

if i keep a fowlr marine tank ..do i need any special care for the live rocks ... will normal fluorescent bulbs suffice for live rocks..

If you intend to grow coralline algae, FLs are sufficient otherwise there is absolutely no need for light to keep them alive. There isn't any special care for LR.

how often to change the water . do i need to maintain calcium levels ?

How often water change is to be done depends on the reefer. Some do 15%, some 20%, some 25% and the frequence can be weekly, bi-weekly, monthly etc..

There isn't a need to maintain calcium levels unless you intend to grow coralline algae.

can i add a few corals all of a sudden .. will they stay alive if i feed them live phytoplankton ....for soft corals

Originally Posted by ™kok™

can i add a few corals all of a sudden .. will they stay alive if i feed them live phytoplankton ....for soft corals

of course you can add some corals in your tank provided:

1) your tank parameters are stable and ok , ie ammonia,no2=0 , no3 at very low level, preferrably below 15-10 ppm.

2) you have proper lighting (T5 and above)

you not only have to feed them live plankton, but also u need to maintain the calcium/iodine level and much much more things to go.

i'm not pro in corals, but this is what i have gathered from the bros here.

[KaLiB]

You can add a few corals together like what we do to fishes if there is no choice. If there's a choice and you can wait, my recommendation is to go it slow. The longer the marine tank runs with a low bioload, the better it is as it takes around 1year for the system to mature.

If i'm not wrong, most/all corals do not feed on phytoplankton but rather they feed on zooplankton. However, alot of corals available in our market can be sustained with just light only so no extra feeding is required.

Its hard to answer if the corals will survive or not as each coral has its own unique requirements. What are the tank perimeters, lighting? What corals your considering?

im a newbie so not sure wad corals to keep .. gonan use a 4 by 2 by 2 ft tank with normal fluorescent tubes .. but 2 lights

[KaLiB]

If you want corals, my recommendation is to get minimum 2x54W T5s to light up the tank. This configuration at least allows you to keep the low light demanding corals like mushrooms, zoos, star polyps. More tubes of T5s will give you a wider choice in coral selection.

Fluorescent tubes are too weak to sustain photosynthetic corals unless your going to increase the number to 4 or more tubes. Even with 4 tubes, the corals are likely to be limited to those that need low light. 2 tubes is only good enough for FOWLR. My recommendation is to change the FL bulbs to actinic blue bulbs(Or 1 white bulb and 1 actinic blue bulb) and then add an additional set of 2x54W T5s(or more).

Another consideration would be tank depth. Apart from MH, T5s, PLs, FLs cannot penetrate the 2' depth effectively. MH is good at penetrating depth but poor at covering a wide surface area. T5s, PLs and FLs are good at coverign wide surface area but poor at penetrating depth. So, careful planning has to be done and the corals that need more light to be stacked higher up(within 1'-1.5' from the light).

Keeping corals can make things a little tougher and raise the overall cost as more equipment has to be purchased to ensure their survival. Do research into coral species your interested in before purchase so that you can ensure that your system suits them. For beginners, you can consider easier corals like mushrooms, buttons, star polyps.

do i need any addictives .. like the part A and B ... minerals and trace elements ... calcium ... for a fowlr

[KaLiB]

Usually, there isn't a need to dose any additives for a FOWLR system. However, dosing of kH and calcium is IMO useful if you intend to get good coralline algae growth.

Do note that before you attempt to dose additives to alter water chemistry, its important to do some reading up first so you won't commit mistakes. The instructions on the additives are usually just how much to add and there isn't much information on things to avoid,things to lookout for etc..