lighting question

[RAY in PA.]

Hi, I became a member of this forum last evening. I've been keeping saltwater fish for >20 years. Reef keeping for about 13 years. I now own a 180 gal. reeftank and I'm not really happy with results that I've been seeing and I'd like take a fresh look at my setup. When I first started my reef tank it was a 150 gal. Lighting consisted of a canopy with 3 175 watt. MH's, and 2 48" actinics 50/50 40 watt. My water parmeters are fine(and stable). The few surviving corals are not really thriving and new ones eventually don't open and just fade away. I change the bulbs @ appropriate intervals and I'm wondering is this canopy adequate for a 180 gal. reeftank. I'd really appreciate an objective and educated opinion from some of you experienced reefkeeper. Thanks.

[thegrun]

The lighting is fine for soft corals, but lacking for the high light demanding corals like SPS (it will be okay for high light corals at the upper 1/2 to 1/3 of your tank). List your water parameters (Temp, Salinity, Alk, Ph, Ca, Mg), we may be able to spot a deficiency and offer solutions. A list of your equipment would also help.

[izzy123]

Originally Posted by thegrun

The lighting is fine for soft corals, but lacking for the high light demanding corals like SPS (it will be okay for high light corals at the upper 1/2 to 1/3 of your tank). List your water parameters (Temp, Salinity, Alk, Ph, Ca, Mg), we may be able to spot a deficiency and offer solutions. A list of your equipment would also help.

yep, and how many kelvin are your bulbs?

[uncleof6]

Originally Posted by izzy123

yep, and how many kelvin are your bulbs?

The kelvin temperature, or better, the "correlated color temperature" of the lamps, is rather irrelevant. It is how we perceive the light, and aesthetic property, how it appears, rather than a useful measurement for photosynthesis. What matters is the PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation) of the lamp. In what part the light spectrum, is the radiation from the lamp.

Personally, I have raised SPS, and clams, in the sand, in 150 and 180 gallon tanks, 72 x 24 x 20, and 72 x 24 x 24, respectively, using 3 - 175 watt, 10k lamps, with no supplemental fluorescent tubes. (Actinic is useless anyway.) This was some years ago, and I have since moved to T5/HO.

It is not just about the lights. You gotta feed these guys too. I think we are overestimating the amount of light these guys actually need, and demphasizing, caring for them.

[RAY in PA.]

Sorry for the delayed post, but job, daddy and husband (and late night cigar by the fire pit) delayed my response. My MH's are 14K. I have a Neptune systems aqua controller Jr. controlling heater, aquanetics ADIC drop in chiller. Iwaki MD-70 RLT main pump and lights. Precision marine calcium reactor controlled by a Milwaukee ph controller. Precision marine bullet protein skimmer. Turbelle stream Kit ( 2 pumps 6000 and 1 multicontroller). I utilize a refractometer to maintain spec. gr. Kent marine RO with automatic top off. I'm not sure what PAR means. My parameters are as follows:

temp. 76.6 ph 8.28 carbonate hardness 8dkH spec. gr. 1.023
phosphate 0 nitrate 20 ppm. nitrite 0
I know my calcium is low because I haven't run my reactor in about a year and a half due to a serious outbreak of slime algae. My local fish store (a sponsor) upon a home consultation couldn't find any problems suggested to discontinue the reactor. ( I think I the water and CO2 rates were too fast). The lights were also decreased so the slime alge is gone. So I installed a 10 gal. refugium and I think it had a great effect. Now I'm giving it another attempt. To be in the hobby for so long and admit to being so unsuccessful is a bit embarrassing, so any opinion would be greatly appreciated...Thanks