acros under PC's?

[jshaw]

this kid at the lfs told me he had a tank running with a few acros and someother sps /lps. he told me he uses PC's for his main lighting. I thought you could only keep acros and sps under metal halides. any one have any comments about this?

 

[Peter Eichler]

Acropora occur in just about every possible environment in the coean and are probably the most diverse of all corals. There's no reason to believe that some can't do quite well under PC lighting. Most Acropora in the hobby will do better with intense lighting, but to say that they all need intense lighting is a fallacy.

 

[BLKTANG]

T5's work well also.

As for PC's ive heard of people keeping Montipora Digitata under PC's.

IME,LPS corals do well under PC's

 

[McCrary]

I've seen tanks that have acropora in them that are lite with PC lighting, but the acropora were thinner and less colorful than acropora that I have seen under more powerful lighting.

 

[RichConley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12520011#post12520011 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by McCrary
I've seen tanks that have acropora in them that are lite with PC lighting, but the acropora were thinner and less colorful than acropora that I have seen under more powerful lighting.

If they're thinner, its a lack of flow, not a lack of light. The color is probably from the same thing.

 

[JENnKerry]

We kept a green Millipora and some Orange Digi under PCs until we upgraded to MH lighting. I have seen SPS grown out under PC's but your limited to variety and coloration. Those that are under PC's are most likely going to be brownish in color or lack their natural color all together.

 

[timnnell]

I myself have grown acros and montis under adaquite pc lighting and have had great sucess. I just wouldn't try growing anything more than a foot or so below the H2O surface.

 

[JENnKerry]

They gotta be close to the surface, under a much higher wattage bulb/s. Sure they will grow, some do great, our green milli took off under PC's. But some corals like a Tri-Color Acro and Torts wont do well.
BUT the SPS we did have under PC's took on a whole different form once we upgraded to MH. They turned vibrant and grew twice as fast

 

[mile sq. reefer]

I've kept M. Digitata under PC (260w) before I switched to MH. I hope you like the color brown and slow growth, but they did live.

 

[LockeOak]

I've kept M. digitata, M. capricornis, Acropora yongei (green slimer) and A. millepora under PCs near the surface. Colors weren't great (green slimer went from neon green to olive), and growth was minimal for everything except the Montipora. When I upgraded my tank from 130W PC to 270W T5 the green slimer turned vivid neon green within three weeks. My experience is that PC's are enough to keep them alive, but they don't look that great with little to no growth. Anacropora, however, did great. It's pretty rare in the hobby though.

 

[pledosophy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12520282#post12520282 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RichConley
If they're thinner, its a lack of flow, not a lack of light. The color is probably from the same thing.

So that's why my SPS is getting so fat! Lots of flow.