Lighting for SPS

[Anonymous]

I'm thinking about setting up my first SPS tank in one of thjose new Oceanic Half-circles. The tank is about 30in deep. ANy reccomendations on lighting systems? (ie wattage for a tank that tall.)

 

[Anonymous]

a 10,000K 400 watt HQI every 2' supplemented by VHO Actinic for color.

 

[Anonymous]

Well is it only going to be sps? might get away with 250watt HQIs then actinic for color + dawn/dusk effects. Just make sure you don't have egg crate on the bottom only

 

[Anonymous]

Personally, I think 30" is just two deep for a reef, but maybe that's just me.

I'd go with 400's for sure though.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

That's what I was afraid of. I really don't want to go over 250's if I can help it.

 

[Anonymous]

Well.... 250 HQI will certailny work if you're creative about placement and keep the water crystal clear. I have a friend with an AWESOME reef using 175's.

 

[Anonymous]

Guys is right. 250's could work if your careful with placement.

I'm not sure about SPS growing at the bottom of a 30" tank though.
They survive at the bottom of my 75, but that is only with 175's. The same coral placed at the top of my 75 has terrific growth.

Louey

 

[Ben1]

I have seen nice SPS setups using 150 DE HQI's, like Jay4Robin on RC. I have even seen nice VHO SPS tanks.

On my 40 breeder I use a single 250 watt DE HQI run by icecap electronic ballast, and thats it. SPS need high lighting but that is only a piece of the puzzle to get a nice SPS tank. I like 250's DE and think you would be fine with them.

 

[Anonymous]

Well.... 250 HQI will certailny work if you're creative about placement and keep the water crystal clear. I have a friend with an AWESOME reef using 175's.

Yah, and as ben mentioned lighting is just one piece of the puzzle, I think striving to have crystal clear water should be a requirement regardless, one that i have yet to figure out

While I agree 30" is a bit on the deepside, its hardly undoable, depending on how big those half circles are, I would say just one 250hqi right over the center use a "yellower" bulb to get more lighting intensity per your kWh buck(6500k or 10000k if its too yellow), then get creative with actinic bulbs around the outside. That way you can have your nice rocky structure right in the center, have your most demanding of demanding corals right under it, and then have lower lighting requirement ones tape off around the edge OOOOOOR, you can have the center piece to be the valley but that's ok because that's the brightest "direct route" then have two "boobie hills" to either side that can house other sps that are off center.

Many ways of going about it, although in my experience lighting is the easy thing, keeping that water the clearest possible is what I find the most daunting task

 

[Anonymous]

The problem with stony corals in smaller tanks, like my 75, is that the corals up top become massive, not really a bad thing BUT, they then shade all of the lower part of your tank. Still not horrible, but a problem for trying to grow things on the bottoms. Most people think my 75 is beautiful and I think it sucks. I guess it's just a matter of what you envisioned and want.

Here's a picture of my 75, in case you haven't seen it before.

Louey

 

[Ben1]

Louey I think you could re-aquascape that thing to make it killer. Smash the Montis if you have to. Acros on the other hand would take longer to have such an overwhelming take over effect. I would cut the montis way back and place them near the bottom corners. Bring all the extras to the LFS to trade for some new acros. And keep them fragged more managable next time. Even if you dont have anyone to give to and dont feel like ebaying them just frag and chuck. I do think your tank is cool looking, but if your not happy smash away and re-aquascape it!

 

[Anonymous]

Ben wrote:

if your not happy smash away and re-aquascape it!

Hell yes I will re-aquascape it. I going to completely trash it when my 300 gets here on July 9th. The 300 will be stocked much more carefully. The upper part of my 75 may then be used to grow frags of monti's (and others) into little colonies that will bring a nice trade value at the LFS.

I hear what you're saying about just throwing them out if needed. But they do grow damn fast. It's like weeds in your yard after a while.

Louey