sps and garf

bigchubby · 07-10-2002, 02:53 AM

I just received a shipment of corals from GARF. The lfs tells me i need more than 5 watts per gallon to keep an sps. But the ppl at GARF told i could keep them fine with only 5 watts/gallon. The sps's in my tank are opened up. So what do you guys say?

balakoth · 07-10-2002, 04:34 AM

Im sure many people have had varied success with SPS under different types of lighting. Many including members here. While I think you can keep SPS under that little of light, I dont believe they would promote the growth and color you would want from stoney corals long term.

i plan to go SPS once my tank is a bit more established and I have managed the heat factor of MHs. I personaly just wouldnt want to lose a $150 colony because I skimped on the lighting that they actually do recieve in their natural enviroment.

I say if it works for you, piddle on what other people say. Its your tank and if you like how things are doing theres no reason to change.

Joe

wanareef · 07-10-2002, 04:44 AM

on your order from garf, where you happy with the size of the frags?

i've heard stories that they were very small for the price, small like 1 inch

Rick O · 07-10-2002, 06:13 AM

What do you have in the way of lighting? Metal Halide (MH) is the best. I've kept some SPS under VHO but they didn't retain their vivid colors. I've seen SPS successfully kept under PC's but again they didn't do as well as under MH.

Doug1 · 07-10-2002, 08:05 AM

Watts per gallon rule is not that accurate, you have to take into account the specific animals and the type of lighting. Different light bulbs produce different amounts of PhotoActive Radiaton(PAR) and MH kicks *** hands down. SPS seem to do the best under MH esp 400 watt in larger tanks. IF PC or VHO were adequate I doubt some many people would invest in the big MH setups
FWIW the light levels acheived with a couple MH 175 watt bulbs is exceeded on a real reef about an hour after sunrise, good lighting and an understanding of the animals nutritional needs seems to produce the best results

Brooke · 07-10-2002, 08:34 AM

.....and let's not forget calcium. Your levels need to be 400+ to keep the sps happy and growing. We've had excellent growth under 250 watters. As mentioned above there are some sps that will grow under VHO or other lighting, but the best growth and coloration comes from MH, IMHO.

HTH0
Brooke

Stang69 · 07-10-2002, 09:54 AM

Im not bashing garf by any means but as in the case with whats his name Scott something he has kept them under NOo florescents with the triron bulbs etc dont know much about them but thats what his page said. Im looking to also do more SPS in the future and I have dual 250's on a 110 and love it. Bulbs are 65k saki's

Jeff

hamburglar · 07-10-2002, 08:42 PM

Garf seems to do SPS well in 1 foot of water with like 50 standard 40 watt bulbs

It looks like they are getting smart and upgrading most of their tanks to VHO now.

dark horge · 07-11-2002, 05:00 AM

To pile onto what Doug said:

If I take a 200W lamp and use a reflector to focus it on a square inch colony of stoney coral sitting at a depth of one inch in my 40 gallon tank...

Then yeah, sure, I'd definitely exceed mimimum lighting requirements for coral...

on "5W per gallon".