Role of tank depth concerning Power Compacts?

[Anonymous]

OK Got a 46 gal Bow, with 2 65 watt PC's (one 7100k and one actinic). The tank is roughly two feet tall. I swore when I set it up that it was to be fish only, but I wanted the PC's strictly for effect. But now I'm hankering to put some corals in there. I don't really like the look of the PC's compared to the Halides but I'm wondering how to determime what types of corals you could keep under this lighting regimen. Since PC's are non-point source, I would imagine that depth of the tank would play a much greater role?

Glenn

 

[sparkyee]

Hi,
I have 54 corner which is also very deep. I have 2 55 pc's & 2 28 pc's, 2 blues
and 2 whites. I keep a frogspond and xenias
at the very top. Lots of mushrooms, green stars and a large mushroom leather at the bottom. The green stars are covering the bottom. Hope this info helps, good luck with
your corals.

 

[Anonymous]

^

 

[loonz]

Sparkyee:I'm also an advocate of PC's(since MH are out of the budget).Do you have pics of your tank?Do post them if you have since i would really like to see those corals under PC's.Cheers.

 

[esmithiii]

I have successfully kept soft corals with 2x55W PC (I now have 1x65W smartlamp and 1x55W daylight) and have kept the following for close to a year:

Euphylia paradivisa (frogspawn)
Various xenia
various zooanthid colonies
Heliopora coreulea (blue ridge coral)
various gorgonians
mushrooms galore
Capnella (tree coral)

All these thrive under my lighting. The frogspawn is dividing now (4 heads where there were two) I lost three different colonies of green star polyps, but that may have been due to predation.

I know that more light would be better, and that my corals would probably grow faster with better lighting, but they do well under the 120W I have.

My 180G tank will have 3x400W metal halides w/ 4x96w PC actinics, so I believe in light, man!

E

 

[esmithiii]

Also,

MEASURE YOUR TANK. I don't think it is 2' tall. tank height is an important factor. Also distance from bulbs to the water. Will you have a DSB?

E

 

[Anonymous]

The distance between the lights and the sand bed is approximately 2 feet.

Glenn

 

[pathos]

My tank is +/- 24" from top of sand to bot of bulbs. I started out with VHO's (2x 48" and 2x 24"). Ended up swapping the 2x 24" bulbs for a JBJ 2 x 48" PC retrofit kit. I noticed an increase in lighting levels, but not a huge one. I was growing mostly LPS and softies. Recently I decided to add a 250w 10K Ushio MH, mounted in-between the PC's on their reflector. Wow, now that was a noticeable difference. Now all of the LPS and softies have been moved down lower in the water column, and SPS have been added at the top. MH's are reccomended for a tank that is 24" deep. You may think your tank looks bright currently, but if you add a MH to your PC's, you will have a 3D reef in technicolor.

 

[Anonymous]

I know that MH's would be better. The point I was trying to get to was: How does one tell the effectiveness of PC bulbs when copmared to tank depth? In other words how is PC light affected by distance since it is a non point source light?

Glenn

 

[BradB]

I have a 120 (also 2' tall) and PC lights. While I keep SPS towards the top, I have Euphyllia and leathers doing well on the bottom. Unless you are going only SPS I'd say your fine for just about everything. I don't think the MH vs. PC debate is nearly as relevant as total wattage.

 

[Anonymous]

I would agree. But I'm also wondering, "Does 130 watt PC = 130 watt MH?"

Glenn

 

[esmithiii]

Rover:

I do not have intensity data on PC vs MH but I suspect that it is less. My 400W halides are like the sun. It is amazing to see. I think that the PCs won't be enough for anything but softies, unless you stack your LR to get others close to the top.

E

 

[esmithiii]

Oh yeah, and GO DAWGS! (I am an alumn)

E

 

[Anonymous]

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