[jpkarnes]

I have an established 75 AGA aquarium with a six bulb T5 lighting setup. All of my existing corals (leather, xoanthid, mushroom, frogspawn) are doing great. Can I add acropora with a total wattage of 324 W with three super actinic and three daylight bulbs?

John K.
75 G AGA
25 Gal sump

[dinor2]

I just got my first sps, a monticap (i think) or, a frag of one from my lfs, I can let you know how it does. I have the same watts in my tank with t5s, does your fixture have individual reflectors? I think that would make each watt more efficient.

[pogodzib]

6 T5HO bulbs should be plenty of light for most SPS corals, but different fixtures are more efficient than others. If you have a good unit like Aquatinics or Tek that have good ballasts and individual reflectors, you'll be fine with almost any coral. Cheap units with poor ballasts or a single reflector can make it much tougher to keep some of the more light demanding SPS corals. What light fixture do you have?

[jpkarnes]

I have a Solar Lighting hood with a "one piece" reflector, however the reflector is shaped to curve around each bulb to some extent. There are 3 "Advance 2S54" ballasts which control two bulbs each.

[Jason L]

no problem I am doing it with t 5 8 54 watt all sps

[ianizaguirre]

not to steal this thread but can you keep acropora with the 36 inch nova extreme pro ( 234 watts) ?????

[Mr_X]

yes. the nova pro will work for you.

[jimw369]

I find that all SPS are NOT created equal. Some are much easier to keep than others. When you say,"can I keep SPS under T5 lighting", there needs to be further discussion.

[Jason L]

here is minwe with t5

[Jason L]

[ianizaguirre]

SUPER SUPER NICE WOW GREAT JOB!!!! i have a question what fixture are you useing?? i am going to start sps in my 40 gallon but i am unsure i have a nova extreme pro T5 fixture that has around 235 watts i think. so with my fixture do you think i can have like a birds nest coral ?? and more ??

[Jason L]

thanks try it out start everything off low and work it up closer to the lights

[ianizaguirre]

really.. low ?? i thought if anything i was supposed to put spps high and then later on see if it does good over time and move it lower

[demonsquirt]

SPS prefer good flow over expensive lights. I would just place them a little higher but growth and health no problem.

[ianizaguirre]

oo thats great then cause i have a VorTech Pump so i should be fine then and i already have one hard coral that i put into my tank about 5 days ago its a yellow scroll coral but i really dont no how to tell if its doing bad or good cause the poyps are hard to see

[Fish Art]

I am running a Current Nova Extreme 48" 4 bulb T-5 fixture on a 45 gal tank. Most of the SPS in my tank are 6 to 8 inches from the surface. All are growing very well. But as others have said, you need to have moderate to high water movement for acropora to thrive.

[ianizaguirre]

thats nice but i am good cause i got the corallife 150 watt clip on light combined with the 6 bulb 36inch nova extreme pro so i am good i cant wait till the metal halide comes in i ordered it yesterday

[bwrpaintball]

I have a 48 nova t5 with 4 blue and 2 white, because of the way the switchs are. One switch works two and the other works four bulbs. This allows 2 blues to come on first, and the other four to come on later to simulate sunrise and sun set. Anyway the PAR rating of the light is what you want to concider and not so much the watts rating. The PAR is very good for the t5. I am growing sps corals very well, with a fast growth rate also. The factory current bulbs, the spectrum leaves alittle to be desiered though. I have had this light for a year and very happy with it.

[Mr_X]

ianizaguirre, you can put the clip on halide away if you are using the nova pro. it will be plenty of light for your tank.

btw- you might want to swap out a few of the factory bulbs for some higher end ones, but that fixture is plenty.

[ianizaguirre]

Mr X i am useing both more light cant hurt lol nothings bleached yet and my replacemnt bulbs are coming tommarow so i cant wait

[Mr_X]

what new lamps did you get?

na, it won't hurt, but if you don't need to use the extra electric and have the extra heat, why keep it?

[ianizaguirre]

1 x 39W 11000K Aquablue Plus T5 HO Fluorescent by Giesemann

2 x 39W 12000K Aquablue Special T5 HO Fluorescent by ATI

3 x 39W 10000K AquaSun T5 HO Fluorescent by UV Lighting

So was this selection good??

O and about the Metal halide it would help with the growth of my sps right

[Mr_X]

yes, those bulbs are much better than what you have.

it might help with the growth, if the sps isn't getting enough from the t-5's, but chances are, the pro fixture is plenty. when you add the new lamps, it surely will be.
i imagine you are keeping the sps towards the top anyway, correct?

[ianizaguirre]

well i only have a monitpora, birdsnest ( which is dieing) and a type of tan sps i am not really adding anymore sps for a couple of weeks till i get a Life reef CA reactor that i ordered in the mail set up it should be comeing next week , but what about the halide it sure cant hurt right and i have clams if thats worth saying, O and is the bulb combo good and how would you arrange the bulbs from front to back ??

[Mr_X]

well, again, the nova pro will do the job for you. i have one over my 30 breeder. now it's only a 12" deep tank, but i had to take all but 1 dalight bulb out of it because it was frying stuff. even now i have to put the lps under the eggcrate.