SPS in 36 inch deep tank - advice needed
- Thread starter adamPL
- Start date
SeargentSlice
New member
I have a 30 in deep tank runnin 250 radiums in lumenbright reflectors on select a watt E ballast on hqi setting . Putting 280 to 300 par in spots on bottom glass. U can run 250s on 400 watt setting and get more par similar to over driving the 400s and shorten bulb life but honestly you can keep sps 6 in off ur bottom and up and do just fine. Ultimately reflectors play a big role u can spotlight down with less spread with different ones . Led will punch down but they lack spread so u need a lot of them.
Moser
Active member
Hi Adam,
I'm not sure if the users above keep 36" deep tanks or not? If they don't, then what they are saying is misleading! 400W MH are far from the only option!!
My tank is 6ftx8ftx 36 in deep sps tank.
I used 400W MH + T5 for several years, based on similar information.
I used 400W Radium x 9 and 80W Blue T5 x 12. In Giesemann Spectra units.
They worked very well. They gave off intense heat. They use a lot of electricity!
6 months ago, I switched to ATI Hybrids. I was always told that T5 would not punch 36", so I never risked T5 alone, but I went with LED/ T5. I have 4x4ft units and 2x3 ft units. These units give off way more PAR than the 400W Radiums I was using and bleached several corals.
Now it's all settled in, there is no question that T5's colour corals better than Radium's can and nothing can match the ATI 8 tube T5/ led hybrid for lighting an SPS tank.
Trial and error with leds is what is damaging to SPS.
The problem with LED is their direct penetration. There is no getting away from it!
Here you have a guaranteed to work T5 light source, so your corals will grow from day 1 with the best light for colouring corals. You then start very very low with your led and gradually introduce it to whatever levels the corals can take. Messing with DIY setups, with no idea of led par and intensities and just a couple of T5's thrown in is not really the same thing and is just as damaging to SPS.
Do it once and do it right!
400W Radium/T5 or even better 8 tube ATI hybrid! There is no other choice for a 36" deep SPS tank.
Mo
I'm not sure if the users above keep 36" deep tanks or not? If they don't, then what they are saying is misleading! 400W MH are far from the only option!!
My tank is 6ftx8ftx 36 in deep sps tank.
I used 400W MH + T5 for several years, based on similar information.
I used 400W Radium x 9 and 80W Blue T5 x 12. In Giesemann Spectra units.
They worked very well. They gave off intense heat. They use a lot of electricity!
6 months ago, I switched to ATI Hybrids. I was always told that T5 would not punch 36", so I never risked T5 alone, but I went with LED/ T5. I have 4x4ft units and 2x3 ft units. These units give off way more PAR than the 400W Radiums I was using and bleached several corals.
Now it's all settled in, there is no question that T5's colour corals better than Radium's can and nothing can match the ATI 8 tube T5/ led hybrid for lighting an SPS tank.
Trial and error with leds is what is damaging to SPS.
The problem with LED is their direct penetration. There is no getting away from it!
Here you have a guaranteed to work T5 light source, so your corals will grow from day 1 with the best light for colouring corals. You then start very very low with your led and gradually introduce it to whatever levels the corals can take. Messing with DIY setups, with no idea of led par and intensities and just a couple of T5's thrown in is not really the same thing and is just as damaging to SPS.
Do it once and do it right!
400W Radium/T5 or even better 8 tube ATI hybrid! There is no other choice for a 36" deep SPS tank.
Mo
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SeargentSlice
New member
I stated I get 300par at 30in never said 400 mh was inly option unless u are refering to another poster. I run a glass bottom so if the OP mounted SPS corals 6in off the bottom and up he would be just fine Not sure how thats misleading. And T/5 are a good option there are many ways to light a reef my preference is MH/T5 and could definitely be used to light a 36 inch Reef
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Moser
Active member
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SeargentSlice
New member
My apologies Mo hectic morning
I would do either the ATI hybrid or metal halides and T5. I have taken care of a lot of deeper tanks with the cannons and they work well for deep tanks, at 5-10' sps do great at 3' they die on top and have great color on the underside. On the 10' deep tank after 4 months we dimmed them anyways to about 80% because the only coral that looked great was on the sand bed, everything else was bleached to some extent. If your going to dim them enough to grow corals at 1' you might as well get 50w kessils and run them closer to full power. I really don't like LEDs for sps tanks, some people do great with them but mh and t5 are pretty much foolproof. LEDs also cost more, end up using only a bit less power than T5, about 1/2 of MH. I have yet to see that led fixture that lasts 5-6 years when the upfront cost starts to pay off.
Moser
Active member
Hi Adam,
Here is the 3ft one.
http://premiumaquatics.com/products/ati-36-2x75w-led-8x39w-t5-ledpowermodule-return.html
Mo
trueblackpercula
New member
My tank is 31 deep and I use mitras lx6100hv and its more then enough.
Moser
Active member
I've heard some good things about it, but als few users moving away from it.
What area will it cover to grow colourful SPS.
Is the spot right under the diode much brighter than the surrounding area?.
This is the main trouble with almost every led system I have seen.
I think most successful led systems run on almost half power and double recommended number of units for spread... Or so it seems?
Mo
trueblackpercula
New member
Half power is correct but for me the spread is good as my tank is 30 x30 x31 deep. I have been at 58% right now and my Sps look there best since I've lowered it.
