I am looking to upgrade my tank and lighting. The tank will be 24 deep and I want to put 250w 20k hqi's. My question is, aside from water chemistry, what brings out the true color in like acros, torts? Will a higher wattage bulb work? I am currently running 150w 10k hqi's. When do, and what causes their little feelers/polyps? to come out? Mine barely extend. I have them at the top of the tank under the lights and that is starting to help. They were at the top but to the side of the light and browning out. Since I have moved them, they are starting to turn around. Please help. I am going from a 100g to a 240g and want to grow them but want to make sure that I am using the right amount of lighting. I will also be building a coral cliff in the middle of the tank. Kinda like two mountains, one on each side and a void in the middle. Right there I want to put a 400w hqi and do some deepwater sps. Have I given enough info? Hope so. Thanks, Vinny
sps coloration
- Thread starter Vinny73
- Start date
jmcmahon66
New member
Vinny73,
I am no expert, but I will try to point you towards some good information. When you say "true colors" of acros, I assume you mean the vivid colors or the corals rather than a dull brown. Vivid coloration is accomplished through good water quality with low PO4, high lighting, and good flow. Your lighting scheme is fine, but the 400W HQI might be overkill for deepwater acros. IME, they require the same parameters as regular acros. Polyp extension will increase for you by maintaining the three rules above good water, flow and lights. Stability in these three areas will give you the best results.
It is easy to get good lights ($$), and good flow ( I see you Tunzes $$), but good water quality is sometimes hard to nail down. A huge skimmer is a must, ASM and Deltec are my favorites. A large Ca reactor will maitain Ca, Alk, and Mg. And finally, a good qualtiy refractometer. I was surprised by how far off my digital refractometer was. I had more success when I started using the refractometer. As a reference, look into posts by JB NY for details on water, lights,and flow. HTH
I am no expert, but I will try to point you towards some good information. When you say "true colors" of acros, I assume you mean the vivid colors or the corals rather than a dull brown. Vivid coloration is accomplished through good water quality with low PO4, high lighting, and good flow. Your lighting scheme is fine, but the 400W HQI might be overkill for deepwater acros. IME, they require the same parameters as regular acros. Polyp extension will increase for you by maintaining the three rules above good water, flow and lights. Stability in these three areas will give you the best results.
It is easy to get good lights ($$), and good flow ( I see you Tunzes $$), but good water quality is sometimes hard to nail down. A huge skimmer is a must, ASM and Deltec are my favorites. A large Ca reactor will maitain Ca, Alk, and Mg. And finally, a good qualtiy refractometer. I was surprised by how far off my digital refractometer was. I had more success when I started using the refractometer. As a reference, look into posts by JB NY for details on water, lights,and flow. HTH
MiddletonMark
Premium Member
Great advice above, would check the SPS stickied FAQ threads, including the `lets talk about ___ in a sps tank' series mentioned above.
Stability and water quality are the easy ones to ignore, and IME tend to be what I focus on more on more.
Stability and water quality are the easy ones to ignore, and IME tend to be what I focus on more on more.
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