new to SPS corals/ lighting?

alans22 · 01/26/2006, 08:59 PM

i have a 30 gallon long aquarium; i have 151 watts of light all power compact.

1- 96 watt quad with a 50/50 spectrum
1- 55 watt cool blue

arranged like this

-----------------------------------------------------------
' 9696969696969696 '
' 9696969696969696 '
' 9696969696969696 '
' 9696969696969696 '
' 55555555555555555555555555555555555'
' 55555555555555555555555555555555555'
' 55555555555555555555555555555555555'
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in reality the 96 quad is centered (it is a retrofit)

i know that my system does not have enough light to support SPS even very close to the top i just tried a montipora and it started to bleach so i gave it back to the LFS. I was thinking of adding another 96 watt quad in the empty space on the upper right. Will that be enough (247 watts 8.2 watts per gallon), any suggestions?

reefwick · 01/26/2006, 09:05 PM

Watts per gallon isn't a good way to look at this. You need more intense lighting. I'm sure you can keep some kind of SPS under what your proposing but were still talking PC's. I could go on in a long explaination here but do a search for waterkeepers thread entitled "let's shed some light on the subject". It explains everything you'd ever need to know about aquarium lighting. It's a long read but so interesting and informative. To give you a short answer here, 250 watts of PC isn't the same as 250 watts of MH.

Fast Fred · 01/26/2006, 09:12 PM

Some SPS may do well, try a Monti Cap for example.

01/26/2006, 08:59 PM	#1
alans22 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: texas Posts: 42	new to SPS corals/ lighting? i have a 30 gallon long aquarium; i have 151 watts of light all power compact. 1- 96 watt quad with a 50/50 spectrum 1- 55 watt cool blue arranged like this ----------------------------------------------------------- ' 9696969696969696 ' ' 9696969696969696 ' ' 9696969696969696 ' ' 9696969696969696 ' ' 55555555555555555555555555555555555' ' 55555555555555555555555555555555555' ' 55555555555555555555555555555555555' ----------------------------------------------------------- in reality the 96 quad is centered (it is a retrofit) i know that my system does not have enough light to support SPS even very close to the top i just tried a montipora and it started to bleach so i gave it back to the LFS. I was thinking of adding another 96 watt quad in the empty space on the upper right. Will that be enough (247 watts 8.2 watts per gallon), any suggestions?

01/26/2006, 09:05 PM	#2
reefwick Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Winfield, IL Posts: 1,010	Watts per gallon isn't a good way to look at this. You need more intense lighting. I'm sure you can keep some kind of SPS under what your proposing but were still talking PC's. I could go on in a long explaination here but do a search for waterkeepers thread entitled "let's shed some light on the subject". It explains everything you'd ever need to know about aquarium lighting. It's a long read but so interesting and informative. To give you a short answer here, 250 watts of PC isn't the same as 250 watts of MH. __________________ 28 Gallon JBJ LED Professional Current Tank Info: 28 Gallon JBJ LED

01/26/2006, 09:12 PM	#3
Fast Fred Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Northfield, NJ 08225 Posts: 1,170	Some SPS may do well, try a Monti Cap for example. __________________ Ya know, for a clown fish, you're not very funny! Member of the New Jersey Reefers Club Current Tank Info: 125g Reef Ready AGA /55g Top Fin Tank for a sump/refugium/ LifeReef Skimmer/ Changing over to SPS only