when do you think I can add sps?

[Neurotech]

Hello all,
After having to cancel my 118 gallon corner tank, I will now be setting up another 54 corner, this time for SPS. I will be able to use some water, sand and rock from my existing lps/softie tank to help it get started, and then (wahoo!) venturing into sps the first time. How long after the newer rock is fully cured need I wait (do I need to?) to start with sps? Anybody growing their sps out who wants to sell me some colorful frags, start getting them ready!!!!

Also, how much light would you recommend so that I could do any SPS I want and a clam too?
Boneh

 

[teen]

i would say you can add something easy like a monti. or birdsnest like 3 weeks to a month after the tank cycles. you just have to keep an eye on the water parameters and make sure they dont jump/drop.

for light, i would do 2x 250w MH and you should be able to safely keep clams on the bottom. how deep is the tank?

 

[onegreenray]

1 250 should be enough for a 54 corner tank. lggoldman has the 92 corner tank and he has great growth with the one 250 supplemented with 6 55 watt pc's.

 

[Neurotech]

Ray,
That comes to 580 watts total, similar to what teen recommends. I am thinking about the 12k reeflux bulb and maybe not needing actinic supplementation. If I went that route, do you think I would do well with a 400? If I am correct,one 400 would penetrate deeper than 2 250's no?

 

[onegreenray]

400's are useless. you would end up bleaching out any sps you added. way to much light for a small tank. a 250 will reach down to 24". look at my little red house. i have used the 250's one my 90 gallon which is 24" deep and had no problems with any clams on the sand bed. i also use 2 110 vho's as well. they to me put out more purple then any t5 or pc. besides how would you mount 2 250's over the tank. the 54 is only 22" high so there shouldn't be any problems. reefjunkie has a 400 mh over his 92 gallon corner. ask him if he thinks its over kill.

just my two cents.

 

[bobbbm]

Since you are talking about lighting here I am running 2 /175 10K bulbs in my 72... Should I be switching to 250? I want to add some clams next month after I get all of the rock and Coral sorted out....

 

[teen]

i suggest the 2 x 250w mh because i use a 250W HQI on my 30 gallon tank. ive never bleached anything, and im starting to get some real nice growth on my acros/montis. zoas and everything else grow amazingly fast.

id reccomend the 2x 250w if your budget allows, but if not, im sure you will be fine with 1 x 250w supplemented with pc/vho/t-5.

bobbbm: just an fyi, you will have to get a new ballast which will cost some $$, you cant just buy 250w bulbs and put them on a 175 ballast. dont know if you knew that already, but i figured id say it anyway.

and you should be fine with the 175 w, just make sure the clams are directly under it, not off to the sides.

 

[onegreenray]

i agree with teen you should be fine with the 175 halides with clams. i know someone who has been growing clams and sps in a 180 for ten years with just vho's.


teen the only problem with dual 250mh's on a 54 korner tank is how do you mount them in a hood? that is unless he is hanging it from the ceiling as spot lights.

i have had a 250 over a 40 breeder and it was over kill. at some point you can have too much light.

eventually the corals will adapt to the light but why pay more for the lights, bulbs and and LIPA if you don't have to.

lighting as you can see is like the dreaded deep sand bed question. everyone has different opinions.

 

[teen]

the only problem i have is heat issues in the summer. tank climbs to like 85 degrees. never bleached anything.

as for mounting them, id just get rid of the hood (if there is one) and use pendants.

 

[Neurotech]

Excellent contributions folks. Thanks. I definitely want to use a canopy, as I am tired of my current 54 without one. The people at (darn it I can never remember the name) on sunrise highway have somebody who can build me one for the 54, so I think I will get two canopies and have matching tanks in the corners of the room - a softie and an SPS. I am going to see what reefjunkie has to say, and am now leaning toward one 250 plus some actinic supplementation - It will reduce my contributions to the LIPA fund as well, and I'll be able to set up a dawn dusk cycle too. I think I will go for the coralvue electronic ballast and reeflux bulb from Tony at Reefexotics. Thanks again Ray and Teen for tossing around the variables for me - any further ideas/suggestions/comments are always welcome.
Boneh

 

[billr]

Not a 400.

 

[teen]

if your going to do the single 250, i suggest using a 10k bulb, then supplementing with an actinic vho bulob and a daylight actinic bulb.

if you do this, you can have daylight vho on at 8am

MH on at 10 am

MH/ daylight vho off at 5 pm

actinic vho on at 5pm

actinic vho off at 6pm.

and it will sorta simulate dawn/dusk, like you mentioned above.

 

[Neurotech]

Interesting. I am thinking of:

8 AM 10 AM noon 5 PM 7 PM 10 pm
PC actinic on PC DL on MH on PC DL off MH off PC
Act
off

Any reason you think I should be looking at VHO instead of PC?

 

[DgenR8]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9027788#post9027788 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Neurotech
I think I will go for the coralvue electronic ballast and reeflux bulb from Tony at Reefexotics.
Boneh

I'm going with three reeflux 10K on Coralvue ballasts, and Lumenarc reflectors from Tony. I only have one of the three in hand, and it'll be a while before I actually fire it up, but I'll be happy to tell you how I feel about it (them) at that time.

 

[teen]

well you said this is going to be an sps tank and i honestly dont think the sps will benefit at all from the PC, the actinic pc will only bring out there color a bit.

at least with the VHO, the sps can utilize the lights as well as bring out there color.

to me, VHO just makes more sense on an sps tank, rather than pc.

 

[onegreenray]

vho's i agree are nicer for the look of corals then pc's. i only change mine out once a year.

also you could build a diy moon light that will even more the dawn to dusk effect.

 

[Neurotech]

Cool, I will look at VHO's. They come in sizes small enough for a 54 corner canopy? What about T5's?

 

[JB NY]

I don't think you need to go any higher than 250 watt lighting. If you go with a 10K bulb I think a single 250 watt SE light would be fine.

As far as when you are ready to try SPS. SPS require the tank to be very stable. So really once the tank has cyled and you have a few other critters living happily in the tank start paying attention to you water parameters if you can keep the numbers from fluctuating much (if at all) that id=s what you are trying to achieve. Ph, Temp, NO3, Ca and Alk should be very consistent for the best success.

 

[Reef Junkie]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9024597#post9024597 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by onegreenray
400's are useless. you would end up bleaching out any sps you added. ------ reefjunkie has a 400 mh over his 92 gallon corner. ask him if he thinks its over kill.

400 can be overkill due to the fact that most people keeping corals use 250 watt MH's. Yet, if you purchase or trade coral with someone using a 400 watt MH, the coral might not keep the same color as it did under a 400 watt mh.

They are not useless, but they are meant for larger tanks keeping mostly SPS corals. If you had a 180 or larger size tank, you could use a 400 watt mh. Yet mgny keeps incredible SPS growth and color with just VHO. I recently traded with him and had to be very careful not to bleach his frags under my MH. They transitions with no problem.

I recently downgraded to a 250 due to the fact that I didn't keep that much SPS. Ray is right in the respect that since I only have a tank with a 92 gallon volume, I can get away with a lower wattage bulb. I just have to keep my light hungry SPS and other corals close to the center of the corona of the light.

Joe B is giving some great advice here people. Lighting is the easy part, it's keeping those parameters steady that takes dedication or a lot of money on a machine that'll do it for you!
Keep your Alk and Calcium up and you'll be able to keep colorful SPS. Keep your nutrient level down, and they'll grow better and not brown out on you.