SPS & T5's

[Tron_954]

Hey RC,

I'm using a 4x24w ATI T5 over 30x13x16 display. At the moment I have an 8 / 10 hour photoperiod with the light 10" above the waterline. Is this an appropriate height and length; I suppose 10 / 12 hours may ignite some algae that I want to stay away from, and perhaps 8" is too close?

Are my thoughts accurate?

 

[quantim0]

Depends on the bulbs I think, even then you may just be on the lower limit. I tested my PAR yesterday in my tank, 16" deep with an 8 bulb Tek. The highest numbers at the middle of the tank with 4 bulbs on (2 B+, 1 actinic, 1 p+) were between 170 and 210, which is a bit low for SPS. The light is about 6-7" above the water.

I think that if I pulled the actinic and added another b+ the numbers would bump into the acceptable range, but barely with only 4 bulbs. Even with my full 8 bulbs (4 b+, 1 actinic, 2 coral+, 1 p+, 1 abs) I am only hitting 350-400 where my corals are growing. The oldest bulbs are from two months ago.

 

[Tron_954]

I run 2 B+ 2 C+

 

[quantim0]

If it's an ATI fixture, I think you should be in the range for sps. Just base your photoperiod off how the corals are looking. You should be in the right range now, if your corals look happy I wouldn't mess with it.

 

[Tron_954]

I need to try and find a par meter to check where I'm at.

 

[small_polyp]

id say there a lil high too..the ati fixtures run pretty cool n t5s dont generate heat like halides do neways.

 

[Tron_954]

It's not because of the heat they are raised to 10". More for the care of the coral, didn't want to have the light be too intense.

 

[Spyd]

I run my ATI fixture 4" off the water line but my tank is also 24" deep. I think 10" should be sufficient. If you find your corals browning some, then I would slowly lower the fixture. Your bulb combination is good for SPS and your lighting period sounds good. I run my fixture 5 hrs at full blast and 12 hrs with Blue Plus and my supplement LEDs.

 

[Tron_954]

Thanks everyone. I'll be patient, work my Zeovit routine, and share results down the road.

 

[jdraider75]

I run 7/10 for photo period. Tank is 48x24x24 ati 48 in sunpower 10 inches above water. Sounds like your good with your lights. I run bout 230 par in the sand with 6 blue plus 2 coral plus. If you can borrow a par meter gives you a good idea what you have. Good luck.

 

[sahin]

Hey RC,

I'm using a 4x24w ATI T5 over 30x13x16 display. At the moment I have an 8 / 10 hour photoperiod with the light 10" above the waterline. Is this an appropriate height and length; I suppose 10 / 12 hours may ignite some algae that I want to stay away from, and perhaps 8" is too close?

Are my thoughts accurate?

Hey Tron...nice to see you spending time here...I dont frequent N.Reef as much as I used to.

Your lights are fine for the tank size. The 8/10 light period is fine. 10" above the waterline is ok too. I tend to advise around 8" for a mainly SPS tank. If you have a bunch of Chalices/Acans then 10" is fine.

Once you get the PAR meter adjust the fixture height so that you are getting around 150-200 PAR on the sand bed (if you have chalices and Acans on the sand). Lower the fixture if you want a bit more PAR on the sandbed.

I havent kept up with your build lately. I'll check it out sometime.

 

[Art13]

If i'm not mistaken one of the recent tanks of the month was running t-5's instead of halides and his sps looked amazing.

 

[Tron_954]

The coral were all transferred to a new aquarium so Im sure I undid all the good I had going for the past several months... hopefully by summer I can really start to see results from larger water volume, I raised the light to 10" up from 8" on the previous build, and there are also more fish, so the water chemistry is going to need adjusting, I just hope to see the colors return and hopefully even better!

On another note, I am only running 80ml of Carbon this time around with my chaeto and skimmer as filtration instead of also running 4tspn of GFO with the carbon so hopefully that will also allow less stripping of nutrients and perhaps offer brighter colors than before...

Anyone care to comment on how the SPS may react to no GFO presence in the water?

 

[tripdad]

I run my T5's 4 inches off the water , 2 B+ and 2 C+, 39watt on a 40B, I get very good colors FWIW

 

[bobssecrtsn]

Depends on the bulbs I think, even then you may just be on the lower limit. I tested my PAR yesterday in my tank, 16" deep with an 8 bulb Tek. The highest numbers at the middle of the tank with 4 bulbs on (2 B+, 1 actinic, 1 p+) were between 170 and 210, which is a bit low for SPS. The light is about 6-7" above the water.

I think that if I pulled the actinic and added another b+ the numbers would bump into the acceptable range, but barely with only 4 bulbs. Even with my full 8 bulbs (4 b+, 1 actinic, 2 coral+, 1 p+, 1 abs) I am only hitting 350-400 where my corals are growing. The oldest bulbs are from two months ago.

What size is your fixture? i barely setup my 30g and i have a 24" tek 8bulb, i have it 12" above the waterline and my tank is about 18" deep. im going all ATI bulbs also

 

[Tron_954]

4x24W

 

[quantim0]

What size is your fixture? i barely setup my 30g and i have a 24" tek 8bulb, i have it 12" above the waterline and my tank is about 18" deep. im going all ATI bulbs also

It's a 48" over a 48x24x16 tank