Sps color

[lazibonez]

I see.. very nice tank. 400w on a 27 deep tank should be great.. try raising the lights or change to higher k ratings bulbs or even shortening the time should help. gl.

 

[jimidalock]

I see.. very nice tank. 400w on a 27 deep tank should be great.. try raising the lights or change to higher k ratings bulbs or even shortening the time should help. gl.

The bottom of the reflectors are about 12" from the water now. How high should they be?

 

[lazibonez]

The bottom of the reflectors are about 12" from the water now. How high should they be?

Most people usually have their MH bulbs 8" or more above water surface. You just have to raise it more to see if it helps. I d would try raising another 2 inch. Just my opinion. Others can chime in.

 

[flipit13]

i am so a noob it isn't funny but what i have noticed was flow.... wow my tank has colored up BIG TIME since i added the MP20.... as long parms are in order flow i have seen changed my tank 1000% just my experience

 

[jimidalock]

i am so a noob it isn't funny but what i have noticed was flow.... wow my tank has colored up BIG TIME since i added the MP20.... as long parms are in order flow i have seen changed my tank 1000% just my experience

I have 2 seaswirl 1" outlets driven by a reeflo dart rated for 3600 gph on a closed loop, the sump return pump is 1200 gph and I have an eco-tech mp40 set on random mode to keep ditritis off the bottom. That's why the tank looks so clean nothing has a chance to settle anywhere in the tank.

 

[cali_reef]

imho too much light will dull and brown out sps as well as stunt growth

I thought coral produce the pretty colors to protect them selfs from the sun?

Here is a picture of one of my tanks. 400W 65K Iwasaki's were the best bulbs you can get at the time and all the "cool" tanks had them, two of them are on for about 7 hours a day with two 110W super actinics for 12 hours. I also had the deep sand bed at the time.

I would say the corals in this tank grew okay:tongue:

 

[jimidalock]

I ordered some T5 lighting that i will add too the tank next week. I'll post some new pics after that.

 

[henrystyle]

where is Stroudsburg, PA?

The poconos. Pennsylvania...

 

[Adamc1303]

I know this was said earlier but the photo period it too long. I would say 6 hours is the longest especially with 10K's. when I ran my mh for longer than 5 to 5 1/2 hours I always had lighter colors. With a shorter MH photo period I would get deeper colors. That's why the t5's are a great idea. You can run them for 10 hours a day. You could also go for 250W bulbs and then go for a longer photo period if you want.

 

[jimidalock]

I know this was said earlier but the photo period it too long. I would say 6 hours is the longest especially with 10K's. when I ran my mh for longer than 5 to 5 1/2 hours I always had lighter colors. With a shorter MH photo period I would get deeper colors. That's why the t5's are a great idea. You can run them for 10 hours a day. You could also go for 250W bulbs and then go for a longer photo period if you want.

I shortened the photo period to 6 hrs. about 2 wks ago. I think I can see an improvement. Definatly better polyp extension. I also ordered a T5 setup that hasn't come yet. Here are some new pics I took today.

 

[lindsay]

Our 400w 10k are also high at 12inches ,same reflectors as the above.The reason for this is because our top rack in the tank is quite high.I find most sps small frags can struggle with the 400s because of their small size esp if they were cut from a shaded area on the original coral.That said we have larger acro colonies on the same rack that are more than happy and have been for the last 3 to 4 months.The lights are on for about 8 hours.If the flow is off for any length of time with the lights on this can cause a bit of stress because of the loss of surface movement which we have a fair amount of.Could be that this tank could do with another 7 months to age and grow out a little bit .

 

[jimidalock]

Our 400w 10k are also high at 12inches ,same reflectors as the above.The reason for this is because our top rack in the tank is quite high.I find most sps small frags can struggle with the 400s because of their small size esp if they were cut from a shaded area on the original coral.That said we have larger acro colonies on the same rack that are more than happy and have been for the last 3 to 4 months.The lights are on for about 8 hours.If the flow is off for any length of time with the lights on this can cause a bit of stress because of the loss of surface movement which we have a fair amount of.Could be that this tank could do with another 7 months to age and grow out a little bit .

Lindsay, thanks, I believe you are right. Sps tanks take time. Especially small frags. I probably should have put the smaller frags down deeper in the tank. Beginners mistake and another learning experiance.

 

[jimidalock]

Well it has been about a month since I started following some of the suggestions I've gotten from this thread. I set my MH timers for only six hrs a day, added actinics and I have been feeding a bit more without an algae bloom I might add.The results are beginning to show, the color is coming back to some of the SPS and it intensifying in others. I am also noticing greater polyp extension. I willl post new pics next week. Thanks again everyone for your help and input.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

good to hear
is water PAR more or less same since then?

Well it has been about a month since I started following some of the suggestions I've gotten from this thread. I set my MH timers for only six hrs a day, added actinics and I have been feeding a bit more without an algae bloom I might add.The results are beginning to show, the color is coming back to some of the SPS and it intensifying in others. I am also noticing greater polyp extension. I willl post new pics next week. Thanks again everyone for your help and input.

 

[jimidalock]

good to hear
is water PAR more or less same since then?

Exactly the same par and water quality. The tank has been stable since it cycled. I test every week and have pinpoint monitors for PH and temp, continue to do 20% water change with RO water weekly. Change carbon once a month and GFO about every 6 weeks. Phosphates are so low that I only have to clean the glass every other week. I'm a happy reefer!!!!