[Scriles]

Hey, I have decided on my next addition to my tank. I finally found the perfect Toadstool last week after months of waiting and looking at shipments that would arrive at my LFS. Now I have decided on my next coral a Capricornus Montipora Coral. I know these corals are less light demanding SPS but would PC be sufficient for these? I have 130W PC Lights right now.

 

[ynot65]

yes,Thats what I run on my soft corals. Feel free to look on my site,all the shots are under PC's and my purple monti loves it

 

[Geoff]

it is not the light requirements that make SPS difficult, it is the amount of dissolved inorganic nutrients. the more dissolved inorganic nutrients the more light needed to counter their affects. you can keep SPS under PC no problem if the inorganic levels are very low. the problem in your case is going to be the toadstool. they like inorganic nutrients. you are going to have to find a happy medium between either keeping the inorganic nutrient levels low enough to keep the lighting requirement for the cap low without starving the toadstool, or upping the lighting in order to keep enough nutrients for the toadstool to be happy, and countering the affects of these increased inorganic nutrients.

G~

 

[Scriles]

Thanks Geoff. Wasn't aware of that at all. Is there a way to measure the inorganic nutrient level other then the general test kits for nitrates, phosphates etc... Seems like it would be hard to balance with how inaccurate normal test kits are. Not to mention figuring out how to precisely adjust them.

 

[Geoff]

the test kits test for inorganic nutrients. you can not test for organic nutrients without destroying the organism or material the nutrients are attached to.

the best way to tell what your inorganic nutrient level is, by looking at the algae growth. the more algae, the more inorganic nutrients available in the system. with SPS you want an absolute minimum amount of algae. this includes any "beneficial" algae. if it is growing, then there is available nutrients for it, and with SPS this available nutrients can cause growth issues.

have you read through the Reefkeeping Made Easy thread? link is located in my sig. very long read, but will go into all of this in more depth.

G~