Lighting for SPS

[SLPReefer]

I've heard that you need MH or T5 for SPS corals. Has anyone had any luck with less? I have a 2 x 96w pc fixture and I'm adding a 2 x 65w fixture to my 75g. How do I stand as far as being able to keep sps? If I added 2 HO T5's to that would I be a lot better off or do all the lights have to be at least T5?

[mtfatwork]

you should be able to keep pavona, montipora, porites, but I am not so sure about the acropora species, they seem to do best under t5 high in the tank, or mh anywhere in the tank

[Sea monkey]

I have heard some sps might survive under PC's if they are way up at the top.

To be honest i think you are better off saving a few bucks up to get some T5's and know that you are providing the proper environment for them. with bulb replacement and energy costs it might save you money over the next couple years anyways. custom aquatics sells the 4 bulb tek fixture for $225 http://www.customaquatic.com/customa...2Dsy&offset=30

[David Grigor]

Yes, it can be done. I wouldn't necessarily advise or recommend thoug.

Birdnest, Several monitpora caps, montipora digitata ( will do okay but at best will likely only have any real color on the tips only ), Pavona, Hydnophora, pocillipora, turbinaria ( again will only have good color on the rims and polyps ). Some Acropora millepora and staghorns will do okay but most Acorpora will not be very flashy looking. As long as your deligant with your water parameters though most will survive.

You would be much better off upgrading to T5s. Using the T5s for the days and the PCs for the actinics can work okay. At least buy some time between costs but you will likely want to eventually go all T5s especially now that UVL has an good actinic version for T5s that is better than any available PC actinic.

[Sizzlersonthebrain]

I have 2 36" vho's and a 2x96 watt pc fixcture over my 40 breeder sps do great. use a lux meter on someones tank with mh and find the brightness they like at thier depth then compare to water under your pc. greens, purples, and blues come out good under my light. slower growth but stronger skeletons. i actually had to use force and bone cuters to frag peices that broke easy under mh and higher skimmed tanks.

[oyam123]

So looks like the bottom line is...WHO KNOWS?
You will just have to try it.
Start with some frags and don't buy any $$$ corals till you know how they do.

[Sizzlersonthebrain]

unlike clams that starve under lower lights, (it can take over a year) with sps you can see if they are healthy under the lighting.


on a side note i may be replacing the pc with mh soon as i get the hood built so I can keep clams
or i might put mh on the sump and grow clams in there for filtering.

[Sea monkey]

to be honest , in this hobby i think you are just better off buying the right equipment the first time, lights, skimmers.. whatever . saves a ton of money in the end because you dont buy a bunch of crap over and over. If you can't afford it at the moment just wait and save for it .

in this case keep the 96w PC's you already have and hold off on the SPS until you can afford the tek fixture and then ebay the PC's and get some nice SPS frags from club members.

[Clownnut]

you want your sps do well in your tank, please dont aim for how to make sps survive in your tank.

[rihanssu]

retrofit kits arn't expensive either, if your the DIY type try those out.

[SLPReefer]

Hmm, that's a lot to think about. Definitely agree with not just trying to "keep" corals alive. I'm trying a little montipora digitata that I'm tring in my established aquapod right now. I'm taking pics periodically to see how much growth (or decline) I get in what kind of time frame. I'll probably post the results for others to use a reference. I really would like to have T5's on the 75g. I guess I'll keep saving and looking for right now. Thanks for the feedback.