Acropora under VHO's: A Test!

[wax32]

Today I brought home my first acro. I THINK it's a Acropora verweyi from looking at the corallite shapes, but I am certainly no expert.
At any rate, I have 300W of VHO on my 29 gallon and about 25-30x water turnover. I am going to see how this baby does. Feel free to follow it's progress in this thread.
Edit: Seems to be a prob with the board, can't post a pic atm, will post one when I am able!

 

[golfish]

Originally posted by wax32
Edit: Seems to be a prob with the board, can't post a pic atm, will post one when I am able!
Its getting to be old news around here...I think the admin going to have to pony up some cash for an upgrade.

 

[bdhough]

Good luck man. I had an acro under 130 pcs in a 20 and it didn't grow much and was a nice brown. I kept it alive because it was practically free and i knew i was getting a halide. Some of my other sps corals did quite well and grew nicely though. I will tell you the acro will probably loose whatever brilliant color it had despite the super high wattage you have. Its not so much the wattage but the intensity of the light coming from them. Just cant simulate a halide. Try some of the montiporas and seriataporas. You will like their growth.

 

[wax32]

Originally posted by golfish
Its getting to be old news around here...I think the admin going to have to pony up some cash for an upgrade.
Blah. I got a site where I can host the pic, but I'll have to do it tomorrow when I head over there.
bdhough: I just got a M. digitata and a M. capricornis also. I kinda figured I wouldn't have a problem with them, hope that turns out to be true! Crossing my fingers on the acro, I know a guy that has had his under VHOs for a long time and they seem to be nice. We'll see!

 

[bdhough]

Well they will definitely live. Don't get me wrong. Color is another matter entirely. It would be nice to know what happens. I've definitely broken the halide/sps rule and used just pcs and was pretty pleased with the growth i got. Color was another matter..... Just keep that in mind when you buy more species of SPS. If you want to truly find out what you can keep try and get an aquacultured one. Shouldn't be hard to find alot of varieties of aquacultured and youll have a better chance of keeping them.

 

[wax32]

This one is aquacultured actually.

 

[tizzo]

Holy cow that's pretty!!
Well lemme be the first to wish you luck and also I will offer my services... If for some reason that acro appears to diminish in health to a point where you have deemed that conditions are no longer satifactory, then I will...free of charge, take it off of your hands for you.
I know, I know, you can thank me later...

 

[spsfreak100]

Your coral is actually an A. sarmentosa.
I can personally say (with experience) that Acropora will not do very well under flourecent lighting. "Back in the day" I had kept at least 6 Acropora frags under 8x 65wt PC's and one 110wt VHO. This was all under an 80 gallon tank. Within two weeks all of the corals were completely brown-- including a formally pink S. hystrix. Luckily I had upgraded to 2x 400wt Radiums shortly after, otherwise most (if not all) of the corals would not be around anymore.
One coral in piticular that I would like to point out is an A. nana frag which I recieved back when I was still running power compacts. Most died within three weeks of being kept under PC's. I had no growth at all from the corals, despite the mild coralline growth. Now, almost two years later, the coral is over 5x5" and is bright green with purple tips.
The only coral that I was, however, able to keep was Hydnophora rigida. I had recieved a very small 1/2" frag in August of 2002. It stayed alive for 5 months before I upgraded to halides. However, it never grew at all.
Overall, if you want to keep SPS "Successfully," there's nothing better than MH. Occasionally, one person may have some success with keeping SPS under flourecent lighting, although these are the very few exceptions. It's like the lottery -- one person may win, while millions loose. Except in your case, the downside is much more than a dollar
Keep in mind that I'm only speaking from my experience. I'll try and upload a few pictures, if possible.
Take Care!
Graham

 

[nm reef]

graham....been a long while since I've seen you here....I've been curious about how things are goin for you.....drop me a email if you get a chance....(nmreef@cox.net)....and definitely post some eye candy....I'd like to see whats going on in your display...don't know about everybody else.

 

[promisetbg]

Originally posted by NM reef
graham....been a long while since I've seen you here....I've been curious about how things are goin for you.....and definitely post some eye candy....I'd like to see whats going on in your display...don't know about everybody else.

I'll second that emotion
Beautiful acro Wax

 

[gregm779]

Here is a link to another forums tank of the month, he has 8 54w t5 bulbs but has all SPS pretty much. I don't think you can do it with vho except for montiporas but you can do it with something other than MH.
I don't really see a reason for doing it with T5s, the electric is probably more and you probably don't get as much growth, but it can be done.
Edit: Links of that nature are against this sites policy.

 

[bdhough]

SPS_Freak
I have a 175 halide with 2x55 50/50s pcs over a 50 gallon breeder it's 18 inches deep and the light is a little over 6 inches off the water in the middle of the tank. Could you recommend any acros that would look colorful, aside from green and brown , and be able to keep that color under the 175?
I'm scared to try any considering their price and i know some of them need a 250 or 400 watt halide. I'll try and attach the arco i have right now. Its a nice puke green and the tips are white with growth but i want something other than green....

 

[_kip_]

the march TOM left a little to be desired IMO

 

[wax32]

Originally posted by SPSfreak100
Your coral is actually an A. sarmentosa.
Thanks for the ID Graham
I'd like to get into some halide lighting one day. Maybe later this year.
How much MH should I think about for a 29 gallon tank?
The day after putting this guy into the system I got a huge ammonia spike out of nowhere. I moved no LR and nothing died (that I know of... all creatures purposefully in the tank are still alive). Did a 20% water change. Still no clue what happened. Keeping an eye on the acro ATM. Cross your fingers for me!

 

[liverock27]

I had the same question about what size MHs to get for a 29gallon. I was looking at 150w, 175w, or 250w, but thought 250w sounded too much.

 

[wax32]

I am thinking that 175W would likely be fine. I would consider something like a Current USA PowerCompact Outer Orbit Fixture. It has 175W MH and a pair of PC actinic bulbs. My problem is I have this nice 300W VHO setup already!

 

[reefnut]

Feel free to follow it's progress in this thread.
Post back in 6-12 months... then I'll be interested in what the progress is...

 

[golfish]

Originally posted by wax32
I am thinking that 175W would likely be fine. I would consider something like a Current USA PowerCompact Outer Orbit Fixture. It has 175W MH and a pair of PC actinic bulbs. My problem is I have this nice 300W VHO setup already!
I just fired up a 150 watt HQI 50K Iwaski over my 30 gal frag tank. I really like this setup for the smaller tank. If I had more room under the stand I would have gone with a 250 and hung the pendant a lot higher over the tank.