Can I keep acros and other SPS under T5s?
- Thread starter danelam
- Start date
- Location
- poughquag, ny
yes pending location in tank of corals. i have and still keep sps acro's tenius birdsnest ect under 6 39w t5's
- Location
- Brooklyn / CNY
From my personal experience. You can keep SPS under T5s w/ individual reflectors and non-overdrive, 3-4" from water. I tried that for about a year.
But your growth and color will be much better when the T5s are overdriven by Icecap. And I do mean alot better.
But your growth and color will be much better when the T5s are overdriven by Icecap. And I do mean alot better.
- Location
- poughquag, ny
with a icecap ballast
- Location
- NY
What spectrum bulbs are you running? If you've got four daylight (6500K - 11000K) then you'll be ok. If you're running two daylight bulbs and two actinic bulbs, then it might not be adequate.
swimmer
- Location
- NY
Regardless of the success everyone has with sps and T5's (I have T5's on my display tank for over four years 
), you are only running your system with four bulbs. If you are using two of them for actinic, then your lighting with only two T5's in the 'daylight' spectrum is inadequate......no matter what anyone else is using.
swimmer
), you are only running your system with four bulbs. If you are using two of them for actinic, then your lighting with only two T5's in the 'daylight' spectrum is inadequate......no matter what anyone else is using.swimmer
- Location
- NY
SPS coral are photosynthetic (for the most part). The light produced by actinic bulbs are not in the spectrum the coral needs for growth and 'food'. The aquablue+ bulbs by Giesemann are 11K bulbs. They are a crisp white bulb and would be ideal for your sps. However, using only two of them is not enough. If you used four in your four bulb fixture then I would agree that it would be fine.
SPS require intense lighting. Fluorescent tubes are a linear source of light, not nearly as intense as MH lighting which is a point source of light. By this I mean that two fixtures, side by side, one being MH and one being fluorescent, and both being 250w will look completely different. The fluorescent lights will have a few bulbs with the light spread across the entire bulb. You'd be able to look directly at the 250w of fluorescent light. On the other hand, when you power up the 250w of MH lighting, you won't be able to look directly at the bulb. The point source of the 250w on the MH bulb will be much too intense for your eyes.
Once again, I stand by my initial assertion that you won't have long term success with only two T5 'daylight' bulbs and two actinic bulbs.
swimmer
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- Location
- NY
- Location
- NY
How long have you been keeping sps under this configuration of bulbs? Any pix?
swimmer
Hi Russ,
I've been running t5's for a little over two years now and I'm getting some nice color and decent growth.
Here's a couple of pics
Vic
YEs six bulbs phil and mine are over driven also.You have 6 bulbs though....right Vic?
But I still think it could be done . It's just my opinion. Garf used to get great growth using just for VHO's and the t5's with the right reflectors push a lot more par then the vho's.
Not trying to shoot down what Russ is saying is just that running just the 11k bulbs has a washed out color and the tank looks blaa.
Vic
- Location
- Far Rockaway 11691
overdrive bulbs
i have a 8 bulb tek fixture over my 90 gallon. is it easy to change ballast to icecaps? im guessing i would need two types of ice cap ballasts. the ballasts are advanced ballasts
i have a 8 bulb tek fixture over my 90 gallon. is it easy to change ballast to icecaps? im guessing i would need two types of ice cap ballasts. the ballasts are advanced ballasts
the ATI bulbs have a little bit better par readding on the blue pluses.
here's a good thread.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=918935
I put the wrong link.
Fixed
Vic
here's a good thread.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=918935
I put the wrong link.
Fixed
Vic
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IMO/IME
I am going to go out on a limb here. You can keep SPS under just about any lighting even Normal output bulbs(I've done it). I'm not necessarily saying this is better for intense colors. The point is healthy, somewhat colorful SPS can be kept under less lighting. This is one of the biggest misconceptions in the SPS reefing. The key is to keep your nutrient levels down.
Lighting is not the only factor to consider
Ask yourself this. Why don't my corals look like another guys corals with the same lighting? Because there are other more important variables such as coral selection, acclimation, nutrient level, water clarity, and coral placement. Don't accept the answer "every tank is different". The truth is they're all the same....well, not literally. They're the same in a sense that our animals will react the same given specific situations and environments.
Keeping SPS is easy. Keeping SPS with a nice stock of fish isn't. IME of keeping SPS over the last 8 years, they can handle huge swings in temp, alk, calcium, and PH and still be healthy + alive (maybe a little stressed) If you put them in a "dirty" tank they RTN overnight. A dirty tank for SPS would be considered many of the successful mixed reefs we have on the boards here. If you choose to keep SPS + some fish you will need a really good skimmer, large frequent water changes, a good phosphate remover, or you can resort to one of the uber reefing systems like zeo or prodibo etc...You'll likely kill quite a few corals learning how to correctly dose the last option.
That stupid saying "have your cake and eat to" applies here. You're not having a tank full of fish and colorful acros unless you are really prepared to work for it, and it does become work. My advice to newer reefers interested in SPS is to be prepared in the necessary maintenance required to keep a nice SPS tank with fish. Have the right equipment.
If you are really serious about SPS and find yourself with limited funds for good equipment, add no fish or only 1 or 2 max. Feed little
The worst thing you could do is have a lot of fish, SPS, and poor equipment. SPS are "hard" to keep this way. In this case, you're better off keeping a mixed reef. Nothing looks worse than a tank of brown acros.
I am going to go out on a limb here
. You can keep SPS under just about any lighting even Normal output bulbs(I've done it). I'm not necessarily saying this is better for intense colors. The point is healthy, somewhat colorful SPS can be kept under less lighting. This is one of the biggest misconceptions in the SPS reefing. The key is to keep your nutrient levels down.Lighting is not the only factor to consider
Ask yourself this. Why don't my corals look like another guys corals with the same lighting? Because there are other more important variables such as coral selection, acclimation, nutrient level, water clarity, and coral placement. Don't accept the answer "every tank is different". The truth is they're all the same....well, not literally. They're the same in a sense that our animals will react the same given specific situations and environments.
Keeping SPS is easy. Keeping SPS with a nice stock of fish isn't. IME of keeping SPS over the last 8 years, they can handle huge swings in temp, alk, calcium, and PH and still be healthy + alive (maybe a little stressed) If you put them in a "dirty" tank they RTN overnight. A dirty tank for SPS would be considered many of the successful mixed reefs we have on the boards here. If you choose to keep SPS + some fish you will need a really good skimmer, large frequent water changes, a good phosphate remover, or you can resort to one of the uber reefing systems like zeo or prodibo etc...You'll likely kill quite a few corals learning how to correctly dose the last option.
That stupid saying "have your cake and eat to" applies here. You're not having a tank full of fish and colorful acros unless you are really prepared to work for it, and it does become work. My advice to newer reefers interested in SPS is to be prepared in the necessary maintenance required to keep a nice SPS tank with fish. Have the right equipment.
If you are really serious about SPS and find yourself with limited funds for good equipment, add no fish or only 1 or 2 max. Feed little
The worst thing you could do is have a lot of fish, SPS, and poor equipment. SPS are "hard" to keep this way. In this case, you're better off keeping a mixed reef. Nothing looks worse than a tank of brown acros.
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