enough light for SPS?

[lbaskball45]

Would 150watts of metal halides + 24watts of actinic power compact lighting enough to keep any type of SPS?

By the way, the tank is only 14gal nano cube. Would I have to aclimate it to the lighting or is that unnecessary since at the LFS they are already under metal halides?

 

[lbaskball45]

I was thinking of getting a monti cap coral

 

[natureboy222]

get abigger tank ha ha.

 

[natureboy222]

your coral will be unstable in such a small tank

 

[lbaskball45]

Well I dont have problems with temperture swings, I use a chiller. The tempertures stay at 78degrees. Evaporation is also within control, I only have to top off every other week, 1 cup of water.

 

[lbaskball45]

Nature boy, if I could afford a bigger tank, i would. And if I had time to do 20gall water changes I would..lol but for now this is all I can afford.

 

[murphreef]

with a metal halide ur guna experience more evaporation so ur guna wanna keep on top of that probably doing small top offs everyday cuz salinity can swing so much in a small setup and can kill sps corals

as for that being enough light yes .....

id just get a single pendant with a 14K bulb and not run the PC bulbs

 

[lbaskball45]

I took out the PC's and got a MH pendant and modified the hood myself.I only have the 24watt actinic PC to have it on after the metal halides go off and before they come on. There is no huge evaporation, ive been running this tank for 4months. I only have to put a cup of water in every week or so. The reason why no evap is because the lid is closed, and I run a chiller for temperture.

 

[lbaskball45]

By the way, its under 10K XM bulbs..im thinking about changing it to 14K hamilton.

 

[the_anti_honda]

You will be fine. Just start off with easier to keep SPS and move your way up..

 

[nmprisons]

yes, you will be able to keep any montipora under that lighting.

 

[plankton]

m.cap would not be my first choice for a 14 gallon nano; especially, if it actually takes off. Why? They grow too fast and given the scrolling growth pattern might over shadow your other corals.

If you want to add SPS. How about m.digitata? Or, slimer? Or, how about LPS (Acans, Micromusa, etc)?

Scott

 

[GSMguy]

put caps at the bottom and put any other sps you want in there you will be fine

 

[spankey]

How in the world do you get away with only adding a cup of water once a week? I run a 12 gallon pod with stock lighting and I go thru a gallon a week?? Strange......

 

[lbaskball45]

spankey, i run a chiller. thats why there is hardly any evap. The temperture in my tank is always between 79.5 at night and 80.00 during the mid day. The hood is always closed.

 

[spankey]

Oh ok, I was wondering what I was doing wrong. Even though my tank stays a constant 77degrees, I still get a gallon a week?

 

[lbaskball45]

Is your hood lid open? I keep everythign closed since I modded the metal halides onto the hood. I also do my water changes every week on fri. I add 1 cup on thursday. Then on fri, I do my water changes. Sometimes I dont even need to any even 1 cup since I do my water change on fri.

 

[lbaskball45]

spankey can you help me out with my other thread? do you know what type of an acro it is?

 

[spankey]

Post a link to the thread and I will see... The only thing I did to the pod is I added two more fans to it. Maybe the extra air is pulling the water out. I would think thats what the culprit is. Ding fries are done!!! Duh...

 

[lbaskball45]

here is the link spankey. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1002211

by the way, I dont have any fans running on my hood.