Lighting for SPS

[cornerjag]

Hey everyone, I am getting back into the reef game after being out for several years and I am starting to build a primarily SPS tank. I have a 90G with a 29G sump/refugium. My biggest concern is lighting and how I can get the colors to really stand out on SPS. I have a Bird's Nest in there now while the tank matures and I figure out how I want to do the lights.

Right now I have 2x 250 Watt 14,000 K medal halides over the display and another 250 watt 14,000k over the refugium. I was thinking of upgrading to 15,000 or 20,000k and possiblly adding some LED's such as the ecoxotic Stunner stripe with 453 blue and magenta.

What kind of lighting setup would some of you suggest or what has worked for you? I have noticed over the past 3 months the birdsnest has been in the tank it has grown roughly 1/2 an inch and has been changing colors from more of a brown to pink

 

[d3hree]

depending on your bulbs IMO 14k will have a tint of blue to them...yours look quite yellow but that just may be the camera..is it that yellow/green in reality?
DT lighting is a personal choice as regards the kelvin...some prefer the sunlit yellow look...some the higher kelvin range. IME corals respond better to higher kelvin with the better results coming from 20k/radium bulbs.

250w MH over the fuge is a little overkill IMO...I would swap that out for a 65w CFL...or some people have good results with low watt LED lights. Your looking for around 6500k for the sump light to get optimum growth rates from the algae. As it looks in your photos your sump has a blue tint but the DT a yellow?

I recently added bulbs to my tank...this is what it looks like, pretty close to what it looks like to the eye. These are AFMMarine bulbs, 1kw 14.5k centrally with 400w radiums either side.

 

[cornerjag]

Thanks yeah the bulbs arent as bad in real life but still pretty yellow. I got the 250 watt MHs off a 180 tank that had them all hooked up still and thought id try just hanging them all while they were still connected. I may swap out my bulbs with higher k. Im not too sure if some actinic lighting would help but I think I may try new bulbs to see how it looks.

I have been also considering having Mangroves in the refugium area. I have heard they help with water clarity and wasnt sure if anyone had thoughts on that.

 

[d3hree]

yeah...always worth getting new bulbs when you set up a tank...you know where you are then as the spectrum will shift on them over time. My advice would be to try and see as many in the flesh as possible as forum pics often dont show them off as good as they are to the eye...especially higher kelvin ranges.

Mangroves are like other export options, they use the nutrients in the water coupled with light to grow, thus removing the nutrients from your water column.( IMO they dont do anything for water "clarity") I like mangroves but to have an impact on your water column you will need loads. Most hobbyists just add one or two and expect them to work miracles. They grow too slow for this to happen and if you only have room for one or two then they are next to useless apart from they looks nice.

I would recommend you get some cheato and start with that. It grows very quickly so you should be able to pull out a handfull a week, thus exporting the nutrients.

 

[meshwheel]

Cornerjag,
What type of 14K bulbs are they? What ballast are you running with them? Looks like a poorly matched/incorrect ballast with the bulb.
I run Hamilon 250 watt 14K and love them! I traded out my 20K Radium for them! And PAR numbers are indentical between the 2 bulbs!
NOT A HINT OF YELLOW IN MINE! I run a Ice Cap eleectronic ballast..........

 

[stevedola]

Radiums... nuff said.
leds or t5s actinics for night time viewing.

 

[cornerjag]

I bought these bulbs from a local fish store that were kind of cheaper and had some XM 15k on before to test but they were 400 watt and not 250. I will have to check the ballast when I get home from work. I will probably just have to buy the 250w 15k XM bulbs which looked way more blue and have to get some LED's for night time viewing.

I have been going back and forth on the LED's whether I should get just blue or a mix of blue and magenta to try and accent some coral colors. What kind of opinions do you guys have on using magenta lighting in a reef tank?