Re thinking My Lighting

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

i agree that 3 hours is not enough...also actinic vho bulbs do nothing for growth, no matter how many watts.

they get much more intense light on shallow reefs and for longer periods of time than 3 hours....

[wrassie86]

Originally Posted by E-A-G-L-E-S

i agree that 3 hours is not enough...also actinic vho bulbs do nothing for growth, no matter how many watts.

they get much more intense light on shallow reefs and for longer periods of time than 3 hours....

Right But in the process i have added 220 w's more 65k VHO to help with the shorter MH period.

I'm gonna try and get some good pics of the corals i'm worried about.And post them to see the changes.Since i really dont know whats going on,this has been an over time thing.

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

didn't know that.....i'd still be suprised if 5 or 6 hrs. of mh was too much.....i've seen 65g tanks with 4/5 halides for 7-10 hrs. a day with beautiful sps

[Wiskey]

Spanky runns 8 VHO tubes for 12 hours per day, and 3 250W MH for 1 hour per day. This is over his 350G (I think) tank, and he has great growth.

Whiskey

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

hmmm....that just doesn't make sense to me....could someone explain how that works as i'm sure it is for him?

[wrassie86]

Ok these are easy greens to photo and colors are pretty much on. Top colony had for about 2 years grown from a frag has more green hues than pic would show but at one time was green.Next smaller frag i ve had for 3 months now used to be a awsome bright green, growth has been excellent.Smaller stocks from base are all new growth.
Pic of 3 sps here



OK this is a ora Blue digi,was a brown out when i got it 3 mos ago.as it lightened the polops were super blue at one point,now not much.growth on this one has been exellent also.was just a little stick,no branches.
Pic of ora blue digi here



So blues like Tort and blue tip stags all look pretty good.My growth is great on pretty near all corals.but greens are all the same story.

Ok i could not get the 2 pics to load,they are in my gallery

{edited by Whiskey to add the pics for Wrassie86, No content changes}

[Wiskey]

Originally Posted by E-A-G-L-E-S

hmmm....that just doesn't make sense to me....could someone explain how that works as i'm sure it is for him?

You don't need MH to grow stony corals, I am willing to bet that if we tested Spanky's tank, his VHOs are putting off enough light (PAR) to cover the corals photosynthetic needs.

Whiskey

[Wiskey]

Wrassie, all your pictures showed up as a red X.

Whiskey

[wrassie86]

Whiskey
how do i get the pics from M gallery to the post?

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

that goes against everything i've read and been taught in my short year and a half reefin.....so why 400W halides? why $130 reflectors? Why tests on PAR for every bulb and people using 6.5K and mostly 10K for growth?

I am in no way saying you are wrong....i just am hearing this for the first time and i a mjust trying to understand.

[Wiskey]

[Wiskey]

Sweet! I didn't do this right, but what I did is open the picture (so it is the full size) then right click, select copy, go to the post, right click, and select paste.

Whiskey

[Wiskey]

Originally Posted by E-A-G-L-E-S

that goes against everything i've read and been taught in my short year and a half reefin.....so why 400W halides? why $130 reflectors? Why tests on PAR for every bulb and people using 6.5K and mostly 10K for growth?

I am in no way saying you are wrong....i just am hearing this for the first time and i a mjust trying to understand.

I have T5's with good reflectors and I am getting the same light (LUX) in the bottom of my tank that 2*250W XM 10K MH gave me.

My friend grows every SPS coral out there under 4*96W PC's in his 90G tank.

I am growing SPS in a 15 gallon tank with 2*55W PC.

If you use floressent light properly you can do it.

Whiskey

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

does flourescent light penetrate as deeply as halide? more? less?

so why all the talk about and $ spent for halides of all degrees and kinds and Lumenarc's and such....iyo?

[wrassie86]