Intense Iluminated 40 Breeder.

[JAustin]

Well the 40 breeder is well on its way. I've got the corals acclimated to actinic PC and the 2x 250w Phoenix MH lamps and today I made the switch from the PCs to the 4 T5s.

I want to have light everywhere in this tank, to give the SPS light from every direction for maximum color. The best success I've ever had was with my old 120g with two 400w Radiums and Luminbright large pendants with actinic VHOs.

I decided to duplicate that with the 40 breeder. I've got 2x 250w Phoenix driven by icecap ballasts in PFO pendants mounted about 15" above the water. I also have 4 T5s, two ATI Actinic and two ATI blue plus. The actinics have TEK reflectors, the blue plus buls do not. The T5s are abou 14" from the water.

This color combinaton is fantastic!

 

[G4546]

Just beautiful! Looks great, thanks for sharing!

 

[JAustin]

Thank you. Will look better once I get all the extra frags out of the DT.

 

[R@ck78]

Looks good. Are you having any heat issues with that much light in a canopy?

Thanks
Mark-

 

[Frick]

I thought my 400w radium over my 40 was overkill. Looks good!

 

[mike r]

:fish1:glad i got my shades on! :fish1:

 

[JAustin]

Looks good. Are you having any heat issues with that much light in a canopy?

Thanks
Mark-

I have two quiet fans in the hood moving air through it when the lights come on and a fan over the sump to keep temps down. With all that going on the temp is stable at 79.2 +/- .2. I've got an RKE to keep things under control.

One thing that helps a good bit is my pendants are out of the hood. A good bit of the MH heat isn't even in the hood.

I thought my 400w radium over my 40 was overkill. Looks good!

Thanks, I would have gone with a single 400 but I wanted multipal light sourses to bounce light off every angle for maximum SPS coloration.

So far everything is loving it. Cant wait to post in a month to show my FTS then. Will be interesting for sure.

 

[lolgranny]

Good god thats alot of light lol!

How high are you keeping the fixture above the water line?

 

[glennr1978]

Pretty sweet! I recently upgraded to a pair of 250w radiums in lumenarc minis fired by lumatek ballasts over my 40. Unfortunately I did this when I moved the tank from one room in my house to another. I guess the new lighting (even though I put plenty of screen over the tank to acclimate) combined with the tank move killed quite a few of my SPS. My work load has been crazy lately but when things calm back down I plan to restock the tank.

 

[JAustin]

The halides are 16" above the water and the t5s are 14".

 

[sra_chipmunk]

Looks nice Jason,

Get PIC heavy and post your entire setup.... Sump included... You know I have a sump fettish.

 

[REEF SMAC]

Looks like it's gonna rock some SPS to me.

 

[JAustin]

It should for sure. I feed every other night phyto, roti feast, and oyster feast. I also export a lot of nutrients. I dirty my water only to clean it the next day, but for me this had been the best method to growing Sps. Well, that and enough light to cover every inch of the tank.

 

[fihsboy]

I too am running two 250's on my breeder. Has to be the best light I have ever had on the best diminsion tank i have ever used as well. Awesome tank!

 

[JAustin]

The important thing here is the lights are over a foot away from the water. That keeps most of the MH heat out and provides the most light spread.

It's important to me to get light on all sides of the acroporas for best color. I'm sure PAR to the corals that are around 6" or so is no more than 3-500.

I did the same thing when i had my 120g. It had two 400w radiums with luminbright refletors and two t12 VHO URI 454s. Par was 200 24" down and the bulbs were 16-18 above the water. Grew SPS like mad and had fantastic coloration.

I switched to LEDs and just wasn't happy.

 

[JAustin]

Updated FTS.