Best bulb for coral color?

M

mufflerguy

Premium Member
I currently have 2 20k EVC 400 watt MH's on my SPS tank.
I'm happy with the growth, but I have seen other tanks with more brilliant rich colors from their SPS (I'm never satisfied...)
I know placement of corals is key, along with parameters (which are ideal) . Some of my acros have great color, while others are not as vivid, I dont want to say bleached , but they just arent as rich in color.
Would changing bulb type/ brand/lower wattage & lowering corals possibly produce the results I'm looking for?
I am in the process of experimenting with placement now, but I figured some of you have went through this already....
BTW, I have 2 tunzes at the top 3rd of the tank, no problems with flow.
Thanks, Matt
 
Yes, 3 55 watt t-5's within 2 " of the water surface, with ATI superblue actinic bulbs. they are 3 months old, & the MH bulbs have been replaced 3 weeks ago. I did this in hopes of richer color for the corals.
 
There is much more to the color of your corals than the lighting. Take a look at systems you admire and look at their skimmers + reactors etc...Then see what your system is missing compared them. Also look at their bioload and feeding.
 
I really didnt want to list all my equipment, but I have all top notch stuff, deltec 902 skimmer, cal reactor , I'v checked every parameter down to the Magnesium & all are excellent. I know there are some that dont know what the correct parameters are, but I am a very knowledgable reefer, I've tested everything, silicates, phosphates, DKH, etc.....
I feed very little, have a refugium, run rowaphos, carbon, etcc...
dose with magnesium.
I'm anal about all that stuff.
I'm just hoping to get feedback from others with this situation. its not as if the tank is going sour, most fellow reefers who come over think it should be tank of the month, I am just striving for a little more, thats all...
Any help or suggestions would be great...
Thanks, Matt
 
Richard,
I just looked in your gallery, & you have a beautiful tank with great coloration.
Most of your corals are near the lower portion of your tank.
What are you using for lighting?
I see you have an ETSS skimmer, tunzes, & a GenX mak 4 pump ( I think), & a kent marine calcium reactor.
I had this same setup on my 140 , although I recently went from the ETSS to the deltec .
Thanks for your time, Matt
 
Hey Matt,

Actually I have an MR-2 dual beckett skimmer with a pan world 200ps running it....I don't like etss skimmers :D Geo calcium reactor, tunzes, penductors and a genx return etc...blah blah blah

From looking at your gallery I think your colors look awesome. The only thing that I can think of is maybe you aren't feeding your tank/fish enough. In the past I used to skim heavily and feed little and all my colors looked pastel. Everything was light blue, pink, greenish/yellow etc. After I started adding more fish and feeding more often the SPS colors became rich in color. I think the key to the deep colors is feeding the tank/fish often and having the skimmer to remove the waste (which a deltec 902 is kick a$$)

Take a look at the high bioload SPS thread you'll begin to see the connection.
 
Oh and thanks for the compliment btw :)

My lighting is 2x250w 10k BLVs (PFO HQI ballast) and 3 VHO actinics on an IC660....this is on a 120g 48x24x24

One more thing :) I'm only running my halides 2hrs per day and VHO's for about 10
 
One thing you may want to check out is Coral Vitalizer. It is part of the Zeovit system and is supposed to really help growth and colors alot. There has been alot of skepticism about Zeovit on this board, but all the tanks that I have seen that use it are freggin AMAZING. Colors like you would not believe. I am actually considering starting it myself soon. The results are undeniable. A good freind of mine has a 260 that he uses it on and its the best tank I have ever seen with my own eyes. There are some nicer ones online but his is not far off. Iwan's tank comes to mind..
 
yes zeo is the bomb. starting in 2 weeks. that w/ excellent stability and equipment will give u silly colors. try the 400W Radiums.
 
Mufflerguy- I think coral placement is key also. I have a similar situation to you. City of Champs- Red Sox :thumbsup:

Jackson- What do you feed and how often?
 
great looking tanks guys.......also if your a night owl like me you can try feeding at night. I feed my tank cyclopeeze and oyster eggs about once or twice a week at night so only the corals get it and not the fish.
 
I use Pheonix 14k's with Actinic White VHO's.
Corals are very colorful and growth has been great.
 
Thanks everyone for the great responses!!!!
Right now I have a total volume of about 260 gallons, counting the sump & frag tank.
I have a sailfin tang, foxface rabbitfish, 2 false clowns, a radiant wrasse, a hawkfish & a bi color blennie, & I feed various foods, formulas 1 & 2, various frozen cubes soaked in Zoe, flakes & seaweed. I usually feed once a day (small pinch) & I'll go without feeding every third day.
So I guess I'd better start feeding more, & I'm gonna check out the Zeovit system. Everybodys had good luck with it??

Jackson- 2 hours a day for MH? How come, high electric bills?

Thanks ,Matt
 
Zeovit system. Everybodys had good luck with it??
Click to expand...

You might want to search for some zeo threads and make up your own mind. It's a very controversial method for several reasons. Some people seem to have great results while others don't, others don't see the need for it.

Chris
 


Jackson- 2 hours a day for MH? How come, high electric bills?

[/B]
Click to expand...


Because this is all the MH lighting my corals need to keep deep colors in my tank. There are many short photoperiod threads for you to read and decide. I slowly shortened my photoperiod and I saw my colors getting more intense. I really don't have an explination for it, but it works in my tank.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6627674#post6627674 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fishdoc11
You might want to search for some zeo threads and make up your own mind. It's a very controversial method for several reasons. Some people seem to have great results while others don't, others don't see the need for it.

Chris
Click to expand...

I agree it is controverial, but I think that is mainly because of ignorance on the part of those who are against it. Anytime something new comes out there are skeptics. It goes against alot of thigns that so called "experts" think you should do. There are some folks who have tried it and didnt do it per the instructions and failed. Even the instructions say you need to be very careful starting it and take your time or you could run into problems. This should be expected any time your making a drastic change to your tank. I know one thing, the tanks that I have seen that run it correctly have the best colors of any tanks I have ever seen and growth rates that are out of this world too. The system is not for everyone because it is fairly expensive and does require daily maintenance (about 5 mins worth). check out www.zeovit.com for more info.

I personally dont use it (YET), but may very well soon. I simply cant dismiss the results I have personally seen in some local tanks.
 
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