Metal Halide for SPS!?

reefer123

Member
acroporas need metal halide lights because they come from really shallow waters, which get the most light from the sun. and metal halides lights are the closest you will come to replicating the sun.
but montiporas come from deeper waters, so powerful power compact lights will be enough.
i hope that helped.
 

jonnywater

Member
I think one of the reasons that his survived so well is because they were aquacultured. I just spoke to him to ask which ones that he had and JUST found that out. Also what about using actual sunlight? If you have your tank set up next to a window. Could you just pull the curtains open for 5-6-7 hours per day and get the same intensity? He doesnt have his in a window, but I was thinking about adding some frags he has to my tank.
Acropora Coral (purple), Acropora Coral (neon green), Birdsnest (Pink), Horn Coral, Yellow Cup Coral Turbinaria and Acropora Coral (Blue) are just a few of the ones that he has in his tank. I am running about 300 watts (2 actinic and 2 10K powercompacts with lunars) is what I am running on my 55. If I pull the curtains back, I can only assume it ups the wattage to about 600 or more. I just dont want to "scortch" my other corals in the process.
He sells his SPS (amongst other frags) for 5-15 bucks. The Acroporas are all around 9 dollars for a frag. All aquacultured. Which I can only assume is pretty good price. I have I guess what is a LPS in my tank right now. When I purchased it, it was a YELLOW plate about the size of quarter with small brownish "eyes" all over it that open when the lights are on. The thing has since doubled in size, the edges are folding up a bit and it is transfering from the rock it was stuck to, to some base rock. I think I paid about 8 bucks for it.
 

jer4916

Active Member
your friend is a risk taker....having SPS without MH's is just stupid.
they require the most light out of any corals.
imo.
 

fishieness

Active Member
my guess is that he has them way way up top?
acros do need a heck of a lot of light. But the aquacultured ones, even more so the small er ones, adjust much easier. They can go with less lighting, although they still need a lot, and are also more hardy.
natural sunlight is often too powerful without some type of filter. these corals are usualy in 20 feet of water, and then with natural sunlight, depending on wher eyou live, are putting them in like 2. And pluse it will heat up your tank like a tidal pool. also, if there is too much, it will cause a lot of algae growth.
and what type of lighting does your friend have? t5?
 

jonnywater

Member
No he is running power compacts. Same as mine. I dont see how he can be a risk taker, after 5 years and all.
I have pretty much the same set up that he does. The only thing that irritates me is that he doesnt have 10% the salt creep that I have and I cant figure that one out. The dude is running an open top with nothing but a lense between the water and bulbs. I do the same thing but have a 1/4 inch of salt on the light cover after about 2 weeks. Both of us are running the same PC on stand legs too.
 

fishieness

Active Member
Originally Posted by jonnywater
No he is running power compacts. Same as mine. I dont see how he can be a risk taker, after 5 years and all.
I have pretty much the same set up that he does. The only thing that irritates me is that he doesnt have 10% the salt creep that I have and I cant figure that one out. The dude is running an open top with nothing but a lense between the water and bulbs. I do the same thing but have a 1/4 inch of salt on the light cover after about 2 weeks. Both of us are running the same PC on stand legs too.
that has nothing to do with your lights or even the evaporation. it depends on your surface adgitation. you have two or more powerheads aimed at the surface that are flowing into the path of another one or a wall. it just causes the water to bounce up. i have a pretty good amount, but not that much.
 

jonnywater

Member
I was just talking about that in my most recent post, LOL. I have one powerhead that is 300 GPH aiming at the surface for surface agitation on the left. The other is on the right hand side and plumbed for a substrate spray bar. However on the right hand side I also have an emperor 400 that pumps a good deal of water (another 400 GPH I believe) and that stirs the top of the water pretty well. Then where I have the one that moves the surface on the left, I also have an AquaC Remora about 5 inches to the right of that. So it kicks up a good deal of mini bubbles in the process.
 
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