new to hobby

[outeastreef]

Hello everyone, I have a 120gal reef setup, 50gal refugium,calk reactor,phcontrol,led lights. my question is what par reading do you need to grow acropora coral. thanks

[Dubya_R_X]

Are you planning on going LED, MH, or T5? That's an easier place to start rather than specific PAR readings

[spkentchai]

nice...looking forward to see more updates

[Drew707]

What leds do u have? Check into Ai sol blue par readings they work very good..cant think of it off the top of my head

[Michigan Mike]

Usually over 200 par up to 400-500 or more for high end SPS is good enough.

[outeastreef]

Drew I have 5 sets of 5ft trueleumen pro leds, I have approx 190-208 par @ 5 inches below surface.

[Donkeykong]

PAR is not the end all be all of reading, there is actually alot of articles and discussions out there that show that most par meters cant accurately read LED lights.

[Donkeykong]

I dont see the option for a 5ft trueleumen pro leds, I only see the 48" which is 30watts. Is that what you have? Also what colors do you have? Having a full spectrum of light is just as important as having intense light.

[outeastreef]

Thanks for the help.

[nanito]

If you are new to to the hobby my suggestion is to start with the easy to care corals and add SPS corals as you get more experience with time. I have seen many newbies that start with SPS corals and never kill one,,,,, but I have seen many post of newbies asking "Why is my montipora melting or doing this or doing that?" or "I know my water is fine because my xenya and my GSP are doing good, but how come my monti is not doing so good?"
So my suggestion is : "go slow and start with LPS or soft corals".

[outeastreef]

Nanito, Thats some good advise. thanks Greg