Good/hardy beginner acro and sps's???

[cyberpanther]

OK I have 2 250 watt 10,000k MH and 2 110 watt VHO Actinics on my 75 gallon reef. As I have stated before I have many soft corals. Since then I have purchased a filter with carbon in it to filter out some of the chemical warfare that is taking place between the corals in my tank. I was wondering what some good beginner acro's are and some good beginner sps corals. Of course I am looking for the most hardy and colorful for that area. Anyone? Thanks again.

 

[cyberpanther]

bump

 

[Anonymous]

I'd go ahead and get any acro frag except the wild caught ones. They are not a hardy as the captive propagated ones.

Tubinaria would be another good hardy choice.

Later

Louey

 

[Bodine]

Montipora and hydnophora are good choices.

 

[cyberpanther]

Thanks. I recently did get a Yellow Tubinara (not sure of the spelling)from FFExpress thinking that it wouldn't be a died coral, but it was. It is doing great except for the fact it is losing its color. I figure that since it is dyed it has a higher rate for mortality, but it is still my baby none the less.

 

[Anonymous]

Here's a macro of my Turbinaria. It wasn't dyed and looks terrific just the way it is. Why do people die these corals?

. There is no need to improve on what mother nature has provided us.

Damn importers!

[ April 27, 2002: Message edited by: Louey ]</p>

 

[cyberpanther]

Louey I have got to say that is a nice looking coral!!!!

 

[mrgoont]

I'm also interested in getting my 1st SPS or acro but Im concerened about my lighting. I have 3 strips of 110w PC lighting in my 90gal tank. The layout is as follows:

front strip: 110w Actinic PC
middle: 110w 10k PC
back: 110w 50/50 PC

Is this sufficient lighting to keep acro's...any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[cyberpanther]

mrgoont
Unfortunately the lighting you have could not support the needs of most SPS and probably all acro's. I would suggest getting a couple MH. You can get pendants for about $199 each and would give enough light. Anyone else?

 

[Moose22]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by cyberpanther:
<strong>mrgoont
Anyone else?</strong><hr></blockquote>

I've got to agree. There's some LPS you can grow in that, but 3.5W/gal of flourescent isn't enough for most SPS.

A pair of MHs would do well over that tank, though. That'll bring it to between 8 and 10W/Gal. That's enough light to grow most corals normally fragged and traded. And, IMHO, a tank looks really cool with MH overhead.

 

[2poor2reef]

I would second the seggestion of theringnebula about pavona sp. It is the toughest sps that I have ever grown. I got mine from drmac and it grows like crazy under a single 250w mh in my smaller systems.

 

[theringnebula]

I read recently in Eric Borneman's book that pavona is an excellent beginners SPS

 

[mrgoont]

I figured I would need to incorporate MH lights to be able to hold SPS. So now I will raise another question. Currently I have 3 strip lights of PC. If I get 2 MH pendants how do I also use the 3 strip lights? Would I need to build a custom hood? Are there products out there that allow u to use the strip lights and convert them to MH? And of course with MH lights you would need no glass hood on your tank is that correct?

Im just trying to picture how many of you have your lighting set up. I cant imagine having pendants hanging from the ceiling and it looking nice. I would like to keep it all concealed like my current setup. Any suggestions?

 

[mrgoont]

And of course ease of access to the tank is also a concern of mine. Ideas, personal designs, places to buy hoods...all suggestions are welcome.

Thanks

 

[cyberpanther]

mrgoont I just bought a hood from Marine Depot 2 250w MH 10000K and 2 110 watt vho actinics in a 48in hood with free shipp from www.marinedepot.com .It's really nice.

 

[mrgoont]

I'm checking out Marine Depot and noticed some of the new Retrofit MH kits. Anyone have experience using them? Im thinking a 2 MH w/2 PC combo retro fit kit would do the trick. What do you think?

And I assume they will work in my current strip light fixture.

 

[mrgoont]

Cyberpanther,

thats a real nice hood...do you have it sitting on a glass top over your tank or is it suspended over open water?

 

[phillips]

I purchased several frags from Coral Dynamics. All are growing like weeds. Good place for a newby (like me) to get some starter sps.

 

[xKEIGOx]

hemm... i don't think that MH are really a must in SPS. acro and clam might but SPS... I don't think so. I have seen and try several success in having SPS under FL or PC with the depth of the aquarium no more the 18". Because of my country temperature, there is no way that I can use MH bulb without using a chiller. So many of us that are in budget will use FL or PC insteat. but we do feed them with plankton subtance once or twice a week.