SPS Nano's under PC light, anybody do this ?

[Rakie]

I've been out of the game for a few years, it seems there are more people keeping SPS under PC lights in smaller tanks like Nano's where there is little more then water changes and a bit of dosing to up CA.

Anybody have any examples of this ?

Im thinking skimmerless as well, i've seen a couple but cant find the pics and specs again, the few I saw were under 20g.

[brandon7491]

dont do it. i have the experiences and they were awful. yes u can keep some species of monties under pc lighting but little to no acros. dont go skimmerless either you wont get the colors that you would normaly c in a tank with a skimmer.

[Rakie]

Its not my intent at all, i was just curious if this has become more popular in my leave of absence.


My next tank with be Zoo and Rics.

[PSam]

skimmerless under PC's? sounds like a recipe for brown, stagnant coral.

[Illuminati]

I went both skimmerless and PC's and had o.k. results but I like my halides & skimmer now.

My green slimmer looked bland under PC's but has regained color, my ORA Green Polyp Birdsnest and Pink Poci looked the same under PC's as they do now under halides but growth under PC's doesn't come anywhere near the growth under MH.

Here's a pic of my ORA Green Polyp Birdsnest under PC's:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h73/colinadam/BirdsnestCandycane.jpg

[Bri Guy]

I don't have alot of SPS, all montiporas except for one, its a cactus coral. Every thing is doing just fine, except for my purple tipped digita, its bleached out a bit, It just won't get all its color back, I blame it on the lighting.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i319/podheadx/1yrpic.jpg

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i319/podheadx/Clownindigita-1.jpg

Now Ive got 192w PC on a 30g, ive tryed some of my SPS under my 55w PC on a 10g and they don't survive, you need some PCs with some bang behind them, the smaller (55w bulbs) just don't cut it.

ps I skim, but I don't get massive amounts

[uhuru]

purple digi's are extremely difficult to get the color back on once they brown out, even with MH lighting, I've read on the sps forum that you really have to blast them with the MH

[Bri Guy]

thankx, now I don't feel so bad :)

My montis grow great under the PCs but they do lack a bit in color (same coral under MHs would look better)

[Rakie]

Thanks much for the responses guys. I know its not a great way to go about it, but I remember seeing a great tank like that awhile ago here, it's been years though.

[Jimbo327]

PC, skimmerless, nano. Brown much?

[breeze]

I've had great results using PC light on my nano with SPS. I have several monti's (rainbow, hispida, superman, purple polyp danae, sunset, purple digi) which have all kept their color and are growing well. I also have a previously browned birdnest that pinked up nicely and is growing like crazy. My yellow porites has also improved in color since buying. The tank has been up for a little over a year now.

My lighting is 96 watts of PC (48 watts actinic, 24 watts 10000K, and 24 watts 50/50) in a 12 gal nanocube.

I also do not skim. I use chaeto in the back with live rock for nutrient absorption and weekly 10% water changes for export.

[Jimbo327]

96w in a 12 gallon is quite a bit. But I would still like to see this color in a pix.

[breeze]

will take some updated pix tonight and post.

[sperry]

I tried acros in my NC12 w/ 96W 2 24W 10000K, 1 24W 50/50 1 24W actinic. They all died. I have a skimmer and chaeto. Now running 70W MH + 2.18W PC actinic. Miami orchid is growing nicely, havent tried any others.

[breeze]

pink birdnest

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/tbreza/CIMG0770.jpg

yellow porites

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/tbreza/CIMG0771.jpg

rainbow and sunset monti

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/tbreza/CIMG0772.jpg

[Jimbo327]

You picked all of the easiest SPS to try. Good idea. The polyps can usually retain its color.

[breeze]

Yeah, I knew acropora would not do well so I tried to stick with montis.

[clockwurk]

I have some sps on a standard 24g nano. 72 watts PC.
I didnt try anything too fancy but my birds nests, red and green monti caps, digitata all kept their color, infact id say they are more prolific now since i bought them. Just make sure they are placed high up.

[reefer1024]

If care is taken to find species that don't need really intense light I don't think you will have any problems. In my 2.5 gallon pico I experimented with a few SPS frags. I used only 2 x 9 watt PC. I had great results with an orange monti cap (fragged it about 5 times) and some other encrusting SPS that I think are porites. The branching coral in the picture was sold to me as a deep water acro. It has been growing steadily but rather slowly for 2 years (it has about doubled in size in 2 years). I also tried a green slimmer frag but the tissue slowly receded over a few months from the bottom that got little light all the way to the top.
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa280/reefer1024/DSC00681.jpg

[breeze]

Yeah, I knew acropora would not do well so I tried to stick with montis.

[breeze]

I dont know why that posted twice

[glassbox-design]

there is no real difference in the lights we use than a 2x55 watt PC set up. we went with T5's because the bulbs last longer and better bulb choice...without individual reflectors it's just a glorified PC set up and we primarily house sps.

sps wont die from lack of light, they will just grow slow. if they die, it's from the water. keep nutrients low and you can grow colorful SPS with NO flor's given proper placement, flow and params.

jmo.