[Reef-Daddy]

I know this is only a rough measurement (I should probably buy a light meter) but what is the consensus on the minimum for SPS Coral?

[Reef Success]

SPS corals have a wide range of light requirements. At the minimal 5 watts per gallon. Most tanks I see successfully keeping SPS have 8-10 watts per gallon. Now this standard isn't perfect b/c tanks below 20g or above 200g are skewed and you can't use this rough measurement.

[mtfabel]

The depth of the tank also is a factor in figuring lighting. The deeper the tank the more light needed to reach the bottom of the tank. I have a 180 AGA with 3x250w HQI and 2x165w VHO. If you do the math this is exactly 6 watts per gallon. I have lots of SPS and all are doing well. Growth is slow at 6 watts though. In the future I will be purchasing 3 more 250w HQI. I may instead get 2 more VHO which would give me close to 8 watts per gallon.

[DEWAYNE]

Okay, As You Who Have Read My Postings............i Am Going Out On A Limb And Setting Up My Son(he Is 13 & Hooked) With A 75 Gallon Saltwater Tank Of His Very Own, Yes He Will Be Mowing Lawns To Support His New Habit(ha Ha). When Setup My Saltwater Tank I Lucked Out And Had Made Really Good Friends With A Neighbor That Had A Special Made Show Tank. Long Story Short I Was Able To Get Alot Of His Water, I Thought This Was Risky, But Very Nice Of Him, He Had A Beautiful Reef Tank. I Went Well Over Two Years Before I Ever Lost An Inmate. I Have Gotten Back Into The Great Hobby Of Having A Piece Of The Ocean In My Den. I Have Many Questions, As Now I Want A Reef Tank. I Tried It Briefly, With No Success, My Water Was Good, Could This Have Been Water Temp., Lighting, Or Just So Far Off The Mark I Never Would Have Made This Work. I Know How Exspensive These Reef Tanks Can Be, That Is Not Reall An Issue, I Just Do Not Like To Fail. I Know This Comes With The Territory, But Any Advice To Minamize This Would Be Great.

[Krazy]

In my opinion the least amount of Light I'd put over the 75 gallon would be a 4x96watt power compact setup, due to the low depth of the tank, the power compacts in this case would provide excellent results with most corals, soft corals, LPS and even some milder sps corals like pink birdsnest.. A 4x96 PC setup will also be friendly on your wallet, a retrofit kit is even cheaper I believe if you have a canopy over the tank That would give you 5 watts per gallon which is pretty descent for a good variety of corals...

[Reef Success]

Originally Posted by DEWAYNE

Okay, As You Who Have Read My Postings............i Am Going Out On A Limb And Setting Up My Son(he Is 13 & Hooked) With A 75 Gallon Saltwater Tank Of His Very Own, Yes He Will Be Mowing Lawns To Support His New Habit(ha Ha). When Setup My Saltwater Tank I Lucked Out And Had Made Really Good Friends With A Neighbor That Had A Special Made Show Tank. Long Story Short I Was Able To Get Alot Of His Water, I Thought This Was Risky, But Very Nice Of Him, He Had A Beautiful Reef Tank. I Went Well Over Two Years Before I Ever Lost An Inmate. I Have Gotten Back Into The Great Hobby Of Having A Piece Of The Ocean In My Den. I Have Many Questions, As Now I Want A Reef Tank. I Tried It Briefly, With No Success, My Water Was Good, Could This Have Been Water Temp., Lighting, Or Just So Far Off The Mark I Never Would Have Made This Work. I Know How Exspensive These Reef Tanks Can Be, That Is Not Reall An Issue, I Just Do Not Like To Fail. I Know This Comes With The Territory, But Any Advice To Minamize This Would Be Great.

4 x 96 compacts would be nice but I really feel that you want to do the tank right I would switch over to metal halides 2 x 250 or T-5 setup 400w or a combination. There is a lot of setup and planning that needs to be done if you want to minimize your losses. Such as buying all the equipment up front like a calcium reactor, skimmer, and kalkreactor. I think for a discussion on the best way to setup you should creat your own thread talking about setting up 75 gal tank and looking for suggestions.

[Canarygirl]

Hi there, introducing myself to the forum in this thread.

I am gradually switching over my 120 from mixed reef to still-mixed-but-mostly-SPS tank. I currently have 2 175 watt MH (Iwasaki 15K), and 2 54 watt actinic T-5's. This averages out to only 3.8 watts per gallon and according to the 5 watt minimum rule it's not enough. However, I have read about the PAR ratings of various MH lights and the ones I've got are top-notch. Doesn't that make a difference? For the record, my tank is 24" tall and I have a tall canopy (15") so my lights are quite a ways above the tank. I will be installing luminarc mini reflectors very soon.

What do you think? Do I need more light to succeed with SPS?

[Reef Success]

Originally Posted by Canarygirl

Hi there, introducing myself to the forum in this thread.

I am gradually switching over my 120 from mixed reef to still-mixed-but-mostly-SPS tank. I currently have 2 175 watt MH (Iwasaki 15K), and 2 54 watt actinic T-5's. This averages out to only 3.8 watts per gallon and according to the 5 watt minimum rule it's not enough. However, I have read about the PAR ratings of various MH lights and the ones I've got are top-notch. Doesn't that make a difference? For the record, my tank is 24" tall and I have a tall canopy (15") so my lights are quite a ways above the tank. I will be installing luminarc mini reflectors very soon.

What do you think? Do I need more light to succeed with SPS?

Because of the bulbs you are using they have a better par value than some of the 250w 20k bulbs. Also, you will be using Luminarcs which are incredibly good at reflecting light. It does sound like you put a lot of thought into this since the coloration will be a theoretically nice crisp white. I bet your tank will do well and your most light demanding SPS will be located at the top. I know the 5 watt min rule isn't the best but it still is relatively low in intensity. I'm not saying in your instance you need to add more light. But factoring in height above the tank and within the tank I think you'll eventually want at least another 150w-400w.

On a side note I would be curious to know what your MH PAR value is for a single bulb at the bottom of your tank.

[mcintosh]

I think the best way to go about the lighting issue is to break it up a bit.
High light - light loving animals throughout the tank, from the top of the tank to the bottom, clams on the bottom of the tank.
Medium light - Light loving animals at the top of the tank, lower light required species at the bottom.
Low light - Really, a softy tank. Maybe a few montis or LPS up top, and very low light animals at the bottom of the tank.

High light--
18 inch deep tank or less 150 HQI/175 MH plus supplemental lights per 2 square feet.
24 inch deep tank or less 250 W MH plus supp. lights per 2 square feet.
more than 24 inches 400W or greater per 2 square feet.

If using T-5's, as many T-5's lights as will fit across the tank (Probably need 8 T-5's spanning the full tank)

Medium Light --
18 - VHO/PC @ minimum of 6W per gallon or 70w MH/poor PAR 150/175, no supp.
24 - 150/175W MH or approx. 4 T-5's spanning the tank
>24 - 250W MH or approx 6 T-5's spanning tank

Low light --
18 - normal output Fluorescents over tank (ie 4 40W fluo. over 55 gallon tank)
24 - VHO/PC's no more than 3 or 4 watts per gallon (4 65W PC's over 90 gallon tank)
>24 - same as 24 inch tank above.

HTH. And feel free to flame me on any of the above statements. I know that there are exceptions, and I am more than happy to hear about them.

[pogodzib]

As I was reading down the post, I was going to break it down similar to how Mcintosh did. Guess I don't need to. Great job Mc. The watts/gallon rule doesn't take into consideration the tank depth, but light penetration is pretty much based only on tank depth. A 45 gal (24" high) tank's lighting requirement is more than a 50 gal (18" height) Coral lighting should always take into account tank depth much more than the tank's gallons.

[chuck rayburn]

does anyone use vhos only for sps? i have read some will do well under whos but, i wonder which ones. i have 500 watts per gal on my reef.

[Krazy]

Originally Posted by chuck rayburn

does anyone use vhos only for sps? i have read some will do well under whos but, i wonder which ones. i have 500 watts per gal on my reef.

500 watts per gallon

[blind1993]

that is alot of wattage.

[mtfabel]

he must have a 1/2 gallon tank with a 250w MH LOL

[blind1993]

that would be crazy

[chuck rayburn]

ooops i mean 5 watts per gal.

[chromafi]

I have many acros in a 75g reef w/ 2X175@10K Ushio & 2X110 VHO. I only get fast growth if the acros are in the top 6" of the tank, but they grow very fast there. I use a chiller to keep the heat down, so dont buy MH unless you want a chiller too, especially if you are in the south. Another option would be 6X110 VHO w/ sps in top 25% of tank. PC bulbs are good, but you can cram more vho bulbs in the top. Icecap fans are also a great investment.

[e_baer]

alright, so i have 4-65w compact flourescent bulbs, 2 12k and 2 actinic. I have them over a 55g tank that is 18" tall.

I only have a brain and many polyps and some gorgonians, and shrooms.

My question is would i be able to keep any sps corals in my tank near the top?

[chromafi]

Short answer yes, with an if, long answer no with a but. If you have a strong skimmer and a wavemaker to wash the sps polyps, & have the lights within 6" of the water and the sps within 6" of the top you have a good chance. The darker and farther toward the red/brown end of the spectrum the SPS coral is, the less light it needs i.e. blue acros need lots of light & brown acros need less. Hydnophora probably have the lowest lighting requirements, while acros need the most. You will probably get very slow to no growth unless the corals are very close to the PC bulb.

[e_baer]

i dont plan on getting any anytime soon, but i am htinking ahead for my next tank.

[ckwatson]

I have a 45 gallon (24" tall) i am looking at a light that will has a total of 156 w. Can i keep softies at the bottom and maybe some shroom and a brain near the top?

[pogodzib]

Up until a few weeks ago, I had my 45 gal tank setup with a 2x96w Orbit PC light fixture over it. All of the corals that I had in there (mushrooms, yellow polyps, softies, zoos, and a few LPS) did good, but all but the mushrooms and yellow polyps grew very slowly. On a tank that is 24" deep where it is tough to elevate the corals due to the narrow width like the 45 gal tank has, it would be ideal, although not necessary, to get a stronger type of light.

[Adam J]

I was thinking of buying the same pc.Do you think I could keep sps coral with the 2x96w orbit?Maybe towards the top?That would put me at 6.4w per gallon.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

I have to put my 5 cents worth in here.power compacts are a technology that is slowly being passed over by those that dont want heat issues and want more bulb choices.With the advent of t-5 ho and vho being the current choice of most.By using with single lamp reflectors you can put more light on the bottom of the tank with less total wattage.T-5 vho is also an excelent replacement for mh with the ability to grow the more light loving sps.By using T-5 you wont have to run your a/c in december,put lots of fans on your tank or pay a monsterous electric bill.You wont even need a chiller.I am sad to say that with T-5's you will not be able to fry eggs or perk coffee on your light fixture but you cant have everything lol.I know I am attacking the old staples of the aquarium hobby but I believe mh's and pc's are going the way of carburators and wash boards.

[ckwatson]

I am looking for some lights on my 45 tall also I went with a 4x39w. I was told, and it seems to make sence, is it is now more inprotant to look at the par level of the light not so much the watts per gallon. The more par you can get out of your light the better penitration you are going to get.