Hello!
Reading over many posts on this board, you get the definite impression that MH really is necessary in order to keep the more challenging corals/clams and that those poor fools running VHO, in any amount, might as well throw in their salty towel. (Ok, Ok, I might be going a little far here but you know what I mean )
Case in point:
My question is this: Do you not get roughly the same intensity of light per watt from MH and VHO? Why wouldn't more than 12 watts per gallon be enough for a Maxima?
I am currently running 330 watts of 10,000k VHO over my 48 gal. tank on an Ice Cap. I made the choice because it avoided the issue of excess heat that is often a problem with MH, allowing me to place the lights very close to the surface, and because I really do like the look of the flourescents. I love the beautiful colours of the Tridacna clams and have one Derasa on my substrate that appears to be doing very well. The gold / yellow colour is absolutely incredible and it seems to be growing steadily. I have gorgonian, and finger leather (admittedly not the most light demanding species...) growing like weeds and I really had my heart set on a Maxima. I talked myself out of a ridiculously cheap Ultra grade Crocea but I thought I might be OK with the Maxima. There are at least some Maximas found at lower lights/ higher Kelvin temps. amongst coral reefs in the wild aren't there? I do not want to come across as sounding like I will only listen to what I want to hear, but I do want to understand what I and others are being told.
Thank-you,
Owen deVries
Note: I have nothing but respect for HFF and his contribution to both this board and the hobby as a whole (I can't count the number of times the sight of his tank has had me shoulder deep in salt water trying to improve my own tank...) and don't want it to appear that he was being singled out in my example, it was simply the first instance that I came across.
Reading over many posts on this board, you get the definite impression that MH really is necessary in order to keep the more challenging corals/clams and that those poor fools running VHO, in any amount, might as well throw in their salty towel. (Ok, Ok, I might be going a little far here but you know what I mean )
Case in point:
Hi!
I wanna get a maxima for my 30 gallon long reef tank, and I was planning on putting him on the substarte. Is this not possible? I have gotten Daniel Knopp's book yet, but I will soon. am I correct in assuming that they must be place don the rocks? The lighting will be four 36", 95 watt VHO lamps for 12.6 w/g. Two actinic, two daylight. Is this good?
__________________
-jon
IMO, your lighting might be a little weak for a maxima, especially if you have it on the bottom on the substrate. Perhaps it would be better to place the clam a little closer to the light, up on the rocks. In a tank of this size with MH lighting, I would say it's probably close enough to the light on the substrate.
HTH
__________________
HFF
My question is this: Do you not get roughly the same intensity of light per watt from MH and VHO? Why wouldn't more than 12 watts per gallon be enough for a Maxima?
I am currently running 330 watts of 10,000k VHO over my 48 gal. tank on an Ice Cap. I made the choice because it avoided the issue of excess heat that is often a problem with MH, allowing me to place the lights very close to the surface, and because I really do like the look of the flourescents. I love the beautiful colours of the Tridacna clams and have one Derasa on my substrate that appears to be doing very well. The gold / yellow colour is absolutely incredible and it seems to be growing steadily. I have gorgonian, and finger leather (admittedly not the most light demanding species...) growing like weeds and I really had my heart set on a Maxima. I talked myself out of a ridiculously cheap Ultra grade Crocea but I thought I might be OK with the Maxima. There are at least some Maximas found at lower lights/ higher Kelvin temps. amongst coral reefs in the wild aren't there? I do not want to come across as sounding like I will only listen to what I want to hear, but I do want to understand what I and others are being told.
Thank-you,
Owen deVries
Note: I have nothing but respect for HFF and his contribution to both this board and the hobby as a whole (I can't count the number of times the sight of his tank has had me shoulder deep in salt water trying to improve my own tank...) and don't want it to appear that he was being singled out in my example, it was simply the first instance that I came across.