Open Brain Coral Minimum Lighting???

S

scuba-al

New member
I love open brain corals and I have been doing my research. Genus Trachyphyllia says that it requires low-moderate lighting, but what exactly does this mean?

I have read that they do ok under PC's, in my case, 105 watts for ~24 gallons so roughly 4.5 watts (really 4 and 3/8 watts/gallon per gallon. Will they do ok under PC's and is 4.5 watts/gallon enough?

Furthermore, I understand that they must be kept on the sand bed lest they will be cut up on the rocks and succumb to a green algal infection. My sand bed in my tank is exactly 14 inches from the surface. Will there be enough light at 14 inches for this type of coral?

If it means anything at all, I bought 6 palythoas not even a month ago, there are now nine with another one budding off. At least palythoas seem to thrive in my tank.

Tank Stats:
Salinity: 1.025
pH: 8.3
Nano JBJ 28 Gallon, 24 Gallon Display Area
1 Royal Gramma, 1 Unidentified Watchman Goby
Weekly 4 gallon (14%) Water Changes [no skimmer, blah blah blah]
Feeding twice a week
17 lbs Live Rock, 25-ish lbs live sand
105 Watts PC Lighting

Thanks

Also, I may as well ask this: will Caulastrea (trumpet/candy cane coral) be ok under this PC lighting if high up in my tank? Thank you.
 
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I've had open brains and trumpet corals for years under VHO lighting (330W on a 60G 18" tall tank). You're lighting should be perfect! I've upgraded to 90G with 500W MH, and am having trouble with too much light for some of my corals. It's an interesting problem that I hadn't thought of...
 
I don't think watts per gallon are so important as to direct light. I had mine under 150w MH and it wasn't very happy. When I moved to my other tank that had 8T5s and I placed the corner as far from direct light as possible. It then blossomed it puffs out more and more everyday! I don't think these corals are found in shallow water, so moderate light is where they excel. Make sure your feed it at night:)
 
you should be fine just remember you can bleach all corals with t5's they are very powerfull.i bleached a brain when i shocked him with new bulbs .i whent from stock ho t5 with attinic suppliment then went to all guesszmen power crome ho t5's the par i get from them is very high on the sandbed you dont need attinic with them unless you want the look i use blue leds.the power crome are a mix of 20000k and 12000k.the brain went completly white but came back with vengance here is what he looks like now.i dont have the pics of him bleeched but it took over a year to come back.here he is now
 

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i have two in my 26 gallon bow, and they both do great. i have t5s --96 watts i feed them once a week to 2 weeks. the red one is on the sandbed the green one is up high on a flat rock
 
Thanks guys, this is perfect. I'll probably start out with a few heads of Caulastrea in a few weeks then try my luck at Trachyphyllia sometime around Christmas :D

A bit too early but.. happy holidays!
 
I've had a Lobophyllia for years in a 46g under 2x 96W PC lighting, sitting on the sand bed. Doing just fine, better coloration than when I bought it. Even though it's not the same exact coral you're talking about, the conditions it wants are more or less the same.
 
just b carefull t5 are more powerfull then you think.i love the giessemen power crom aqua blue and i use leds for my attinic.the par is just outstanding in them great color to.i get the shimmer from the led blues they really look nice.also the deep blue 4 bulb ho t5 units are youre best for the money.i have seen such subpar units sell for 100$ online the the 170$ for the 4 bulb 24 watt.it has adjustable legs that slide to fit any tank size.or hangers to hang it with the hardwear.glass cover and great reflecters with 4 led night lighte.digatal timer lets you set times in 2 at once.fan cooled.no metal to rust.the only thing that is a downfall is leds run constant but i saw a way online were you can cange that and get them on there own plug without detroying or cutting the outside of the fixture .i dont mind the leds running all the time my corals dont care.
 
just b carefull t5 are more powerfull then you think.i love the giessemen power crom aqua blue and i use leds for my attinic.the par is just outstanding in them great color to.i get the shimmer from the led blues they really look nice.also the deep blue 4 bulb ho t5 units are youre best for the money.i have seen such subpar units sell for 100$ online the the 170$ for the 4 bulb 24 watt.it has adjustable legs that slide to fit any tank size.or hangers to hang it with the hardwear.glass cover and great reflecters with 4 led night lighte.digatal timer lets you set times in 2 at once.fan cooled.no metal to rust.the only thing that is a downfall is leds run constant but i saw a way online were you can cange that and get them on there own plug without detroying or cutting the outside of the fixture .i dont mind the leds running all the time my corals dont care.
 
He doesn't have t5s, he has power compact lights which are way out dated and aren't very strong lights at all. Also light per gallon means absolutely nothing when regarding how much light a coral needs. You might be OK but. How deep is your tank?
 
karsseboom said:
He doesn't have t5s, he has power compact lights which are way out dated and aren't very strong lights at all. Also light per gallon means absolutely nothing when regarding how much light a coral needs. You might be OK but. How deep is your tank?
Click to expand...
if you would read the post i wrote i am telling him what i use not what he uses and im trying to get him to switch to t5.:hammer:
 
Well the coral would be 14" under the surface, I'm afraid that might be too much.

Also I am aware that PC's are very outdated but I really wasn't planning on setting up a reef tank until recently and now I'm stuck with PC's. Alas...

I understand that people do fit/modify T-5's and MH's into the hoods of these nano systems but I would never forgive myself if I made an irreversible mistake. Which I probably would. And so I am stuck with my humble PC's :)
 
heres mine under 2 150 watthqi m.h phoenix 14k & 2 pc 130watt 420/460nm
also they like low flow well mine does anyway.
 

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mine realy likes low flow but not no flow.pc lighting will be fine bro 14 iches is close enough for plently of light to get to him.what kind of pc lighting do you use.im not sure you can get two many different kinds of bulbs i no they have 50/50 i would do half 50/50 and the other halph of the light 10000 k.if its only two bulbs and you dont care about the blue look you can use both bulbs 10000 k you dont need the attinics.if you want to add the blue look you can get led strips that you can add to the pc.by using both 10000 k bulbs or if you can get 12000 k14000k i dont no if they make them but you will be adding more useable light and then get pure blue stunnersw or whatever is best for you .i have stunner strips and they just glue right in the fixture im sure there are others .this way you get highest par/pur and have the added blue look.in A 24 gallon tank with 105 watts of 10000k pc lighting with the supplimented attinic leds you will be able to grow sps in that tank with no prob.see what i mean.if you dont mind the yellow look get 8500 or 5500k mixed in with the 10000k ,12000k,or 14000k to even boost it more.i think also pc lighting is under rated its people obsession with the blue look and attinics if you use just the 5000k to 10000k and dont add the weak 50/50 or full attinic you get so much more useable light.and when can get led suplimentation to fill in the blue need were the powerfull day light is all pc.i have seen everthung grow in pc lighting settup this way.it just gets very hot .and not many people like the yellowish look but you can def blue that out with led.if you can only use pc lighting this is youre best bet.you can buy the lighting system i talk about for 180$ with bulbs and it fits any tank looks great and you can keep anycoral or nem under it .pm if you need anymore info.i grew my very old nem i still have under 3000k 100watt metal halide security light i got from home depot and it thrived under that light but it was so yellow.i think he was under it for 4 years.i still have the light over my frag /coral quarantine tank.thanks
 
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davbrunson said:
Anyone having success with using led lighting with lps?
Click to expand...

YES! depending on the LED setup (i.e. PAR38 pendants, rows of bulbs with optics) will determine where to place lower light lps. for example, the PAR38 is more of a spotlight, so underneath them there is a ton of light, so open brains, blastomussa, cyphastea, most favia, etc. should be tossed to the side a bit. also, the super colorful brains need lower light to retain their rainbowiness (not a word, i know :frog: ) the rows of LEDs tend to give a uniform lighting from end to end unlike florescents where it is much brighter towards the middle. all corals LOVE LEDs, just dont torch them because they can be very bright for some corals.


oh, and to answer your question... your lighting is fine, just switch out the bulbs at least once a year. if you get fed up with PCs, which most people do, try something else. they are pretty tolerant of light intensity unless you, for example, switch out all 4 bulbs in a 4 bulb t5 fixture so your tank is getting 5x as much PAR.
 
thanks guys, I'll get around to that open brain, currently I think I saw an Aiptasia yesterday but it was probably a hydroid (they came in on a snail shell). I bought a peppermint shrimp today (really an excuse to buy a shrimp) but I'll see if these devilish anemones manifest themselves.

Basically I've told myself NO MORE CORAL until I'm certain there's no Aiptasia :(

Happy Holidays to all, thanks for all the great responses and if no sign of Aiptasia, I'll be getting an open brain around Christmas time.
 
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