Softie question

[fishy888]

I was going to do an lps dominated tank then someone gave me a finger leather coral and now I am hooked on softies once again lol. I have some MH fixtures and am wondering if leathers and other deeper water corals would benefit from 175 w MH lighting in my 55. I hope so as I love MH lighting. I have done t5 in the past. I am also wondering if that much light will bring out additional color in corals that are mostly brown otherwise. I would love to hear your thoughts.

 

[RyanSweatt2004]

I keep all my soft corals, from leathers of all sorts right down to mushrooms all under 250 watt 20k halides in my 120 gallon. They love it and it does bring out more colors in some corals

 

[cloak]

I was going to do an lps dominated tank then someone gave me a finger leather coral and now I am hooked on softies once again lol. I have some MH fixtures and am wondering if leathers and other deeper water corals would benefit from 175 w MH lighting in my 55. I hope so as I love MH lighting. I have done t5 in the past. I am also wondering if that much light will bring out additional color in corals that are mostly brown otherwise. I would love to hear your thoughts.

With that type of lighting, you shouldn't have any problems with softies in a 55 gallon tank. As far as colors go, most softies are either tan, brown, beige, pink or yellow. The lighting will not change that.

 

[fishy888]

I figured it would not alter color that much but was just curious nonetheless. I am also wondering if they will have as hard a time adjusting from a t5 regimen to MH. If so I will have to get some screen or something to put over that spot for a while to break them in.

 

[Hormigaquatica]

I am also wondering if they will have as hard a time adjusting from a t5 regimen to MH. If so I will have to get some screen or something to put over that spot for a while to break them in.

It could potentially light shock them and cause the corals to retract or bleach. A few layers of screen will help; stack maybe 3 layers up and pull one off weekly so they can adapt. You could also cut back the amount of time the lights are on by a few hours, then add a half an hour every couple days until you're back to a normal schedule.