Who's been keeping sps & clams under 150W hqi?

[wayner1]

Would like to know who's been keeping SPS & Clams under 150HQI and for how long, how's the growth & are they coloring up?

Thanks

 

[aquacyn]

I keep many sps and clams under dual 150 watt hqi, my system has been running for 4 years, 2.5 years with the 150w.
All have great color and are thriving, my tridacna has double its size in less than 6 months. my corals look much better than when purchased from lfs who kept them under 175 watt and 120 watt mogul type set up. Very please with hqi, I would suggest aqueline if any. cynthia

 

[seaspook]

i have a 2x150 DE HQI 10K aqualinebuske spacelight over my 75. no problem with sps or clams, lots of growth and good color. if i had to do it over i would go with the 2x250 for the few extra bucks

alan

 

[tomheo]

Re: Who's been keeping sps & clams under 150W hqi?

Would like to know who's been keeping SPS & Clams under 150HQI and for how long, how's the growth & are they coloring up?

Thanks

I currently have two Ushio 150W 20kk DE's ("HQI") over my 120g reef.

I used to have Aqualine 10kk's before my tank crashed 2 years ago after a move, but before the crash, my tank was thriving w/about 20 different species of SPS & two 4" T. maximas. The T. max's were at the very bottom of the tank (24" tall tank) and had very noticeable growth, along with the SPS that were also growing very well!

I think I like the look of the 20kk over the 10kk, and it also seems like I'm getting better coloration of my SPS. I also have a new 2.5" T. maxima at the bottom of the tank that's been doing well for a few months, and recently, I got a frag of the Larry Jackson "purple monster" which came to me as a tan-colored frag. In the 2 mos. that I've had it at the bottom of the tank, it has turned green with blue & purple tips and has grown numerous new branches!

I've noticed that SPS that come from tanks under 400W halides color up, even under my much weaker lighting (water quality may have a little to do with it but it shows me that you don't need the strongest lighting out there to keep teals, blues, purples, pinks, and reds).

I've thought about switching to 250W or 400W halides, but I figured since I'm having good luck with these lights, I'll stick with them for now. I am, however, going to try sticking some PC's or VHO's with a mix of actinic/daylights to see if I can get even better coloration.

Hope this helps.

Thomas