Sps corals under t5's?

[Mattchamp]

What sps's would flourish under 4, 54 watt t5's in a 75g reef tank?

 

[potterjon]

I think you could do some at the top. Try birds nest to start. Are these high output t5? Do they have individual reflectors?

 

[Mattchamp]

Yes they are, so would birdsnest brown out or should they retain their colour and what are some other sps's( not including montiporas)

 

[Laddy]

If we assume that you have means to keep alk/ca stable with the use of an automated dosing pumps or calcium reactor, along with good skimming, and low PO4......so in essence only talking about lighting at this point: yes, you'll be able to keep SPS.

I know this b/c there are countless tanks on here in that volume range with great growth. However, you'll want to consider running six over-driven bulbs, to maximize color spectrum. There are a whole lot better people than I who can comment, and who want to comment on bulb selection, however, I have run 4 T5s over a 55g, 4 T5s over a 75g, and 6 T5s over the same 75g. Two Icecap 660s driving six independent reflectored t5s is more than enough light for a 75g, and will give you good color contrast too.

 

[Mattchamp]

Will any acros be remotely possible with this lighting system, and btw how do you attach an image to a message?

 

[seamonkey84]

the biggest thing besides lights is a clean stable tank, and of course keeping Alk, cal in check, along with and a nice high flow rate.
It really depends how you have your rocks stacked. I think you'll be fine with just about any Sps as long as you keep them within 20" or so of the lights. I've kept a bunch of different acros in my ten gallon using 2x24w t5ho, and I have to be careful, its too much for some and I've bleached some do to not starting them lower.
This is a standard ten gallon with the lights 3" above tank. centerpiece is a Cali blue tort that was growing out of control (hence frag rack on right)
The color looks a bit washed, using iPhone and my lights are on the blue side.
Note the Xenia I'm using to shade the plate and one of the acans.

Hope that helps and sorry for hijack

 

[Laddy]

Will any acros be remotely possible with this lighting system, and btw how do you attach an image to a message?

You need to upload to a second party, like Photobucket or Flickr, then drop in the photo link.....but you can't simply cut and paste into your posting.

Hope this helps.

 

[Mattchamp]

Also are there any hardy and relatively easy to keep acroporas?

 

[Big E]

What sps's would flourish under 4, 54 watt t5's in a 75g reef tank?

All acros will flourish under that setup anywhere in the tank.

I run 48" ATI bulbs --2 coral+ & two blue + in a 75g tank.

Make sure your are using a good fixture like ATI or Tech. Or you can DIY using ATI ballasts or ice cap.

4 inches from the bottom---

[/IMG]

There are more progression, color pics here also---
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2197142

 

[XxreeffreakxX]

All acros will flourish under that setup anywhere in the tank.

I run 48" ATI bulbs --2 coral+ & two blue + in a 75g tank.

Make sure your are using a good fixture like ATI or Tech. Or you can DIY using ATI ballasts or ice cap.

4 inches from the bottom---

[/IMG]

There are more progression, color pics here also---
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2197142

There is a big difference between running a 4 bulb ati fixture then a 4 bulb tek or 4 bulb anything for that matter. Ati is a high end fixture with top quality reflectors you don't see on any other fixtures.

For what it's worth I ran a 6 bulb tek over a 40 gallon frag tank that's 11 inch deep and I had problems at the beginning trying to keep my color because I had the fixture up to high I moved it down 6 inch and color came bac within weeks, so it sat about 5 inch above water level. Alk and cal and phosphate levels should be more important for now after you get them level and stable then add a 2 bulb retro to your lights and bam 6 bulb should be great. HTH

 

[redwingrob40]

All acros will flourish under that setup anywhere in the tank.

I run 48" ATI bulbs --2 coral+ & two blue + in a 75g tank.

Make sure your are using a good fixture like ATI or Tech. Or you can DIY using ATI ballasts or ice cap.

4 inches from the bottom---

[/IMG]

There are more progression, color pics here also---
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2197142

Wow what kind of milli is that? That is color is amazing!!! It is nice to see that you can get colors like that witha 4 bulb fixture!!! Very Nice BigE!!

 

[kissman]

Threads like this make me wonder if my color is because I am running 6 HOT5's over a 55g

 

[kissman]

Wow what kind of milli is that? That is color is amazing!!! It is nice to see that you can get colors like that witha 4 bulb fixture!!! Very Nice BigE!!

That Rasberry/Bluberry Milli is incredible man at the colors, when i get my colors straight in my tank I think I have to get one

 

[Bdeppen]

I'm using a TEK 4 light with 2 ATI aquablue specials and 2 ATI Plus bulbs. Just threw in 3 monti caps, birdsnest, 2 monti digis and one acro. Only has been been one week but I'm getting good polyp extension and color seems to be coming slowly. I'm still trying to level out calc and alk using kalkwasser. I'll keep in touch and let you know how they do. I'm with you though, hope this setup is good enough to grow some nice sps!

 

[Bdeppen]

All acros will flourish under that setup anywhere in the tank.

I run 48" ATI bulbs --2 coral+ & two blue + in a 75g tank.

Make sure your are using a good fixture like ATI or Tech. Or you can DIY using ATI ballasts or ice cap.

4 inches from the bottom---

[/IMG]

There are more progression, color pics here also---
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2197142

I hope I get colors like that from my T5s! awesome colors!:thumbsup:

 

[Big E]

There is a big difference between running a 4 bulb ati fixture then a 4 bulb tek or 4 bulb anything for that matter. Ati is a high end fixture with top quality reflectors you don't see on any other fixtures.

For what it's worth I ran a 6 bulb tek over a 40 gallon frag tank that's 11 inch deep and I had problems at the beginning trying to keep my color because I had the fixture up to high I moved it down 6 inch and color came bac within weeks, so it sat about 5 inch above water level. Alk and cal and phosphate levels should be more important for now after you get them level and stable then add a 2 bulb retro to your lights and bam 6 bulb should be great. HTH

I haven't used the Tech but I know a lot of people have been happy with them, so I'll defer to you on that. I run an ice cap ballast & reflectors. All the reflectors for DIY purposes have near 100% reflectivity & are top shelf. Another thing to keep in mind is that you are running 39w bulbs. The 48" bulbs are 54 watts.

For height, I run mine 7 1/2" above the water line.

ATI fixtures & my diy ice cap are probably comprable & you can buy ATI ballasts if you want to DIY.

One thing to keep in mind..........number of bulbs have nothing to do with penetration........it only affects spread.

I also mentioned the bulbs I used because they are all high par. I don't use any of the purple or antinic bulbs.

 

[sminker]

Miro reflectors from reefgeek are some of the best. ATI ballasts or workhorse will work. They both run the bulbs at the proper wattage. This tank started the first two and a half years with 6x80 watt. The last two years was with halides in lumenmax elite reflectors. I just switched back to 8x80 watt T5s. I missed the less heat, less electricity, and more combos of bubs available. No actinics.

 

[sminker]

Double post.

 

[kissman]

I have a 55g with T5's and have been following this thread because I am having problems with my SPS under T5's I use a Nova Extreme Pro 6x54w is it really that bad compared to the TEK and ATI? I do run all ATI bulbs

 

[sminker]

I have a 55g with T5's and have been following this thread because I am having problems with my SPS under T5's I use a Nova Extreme Pro 6x54w is it really that bad?

Lighting is just a part of it. Calcium, ALK, Mag, salinity, pH, PO4, nitrates, stability, flow, + more all play into the SPS game.