questions about lighting for frag tank?

[biocube386]

hey RC!

im planning to do a smaller frag tank, im either going to do a 15gal L(24"L) or a 20gal L (30.25), im going to put no sand and just eggcrat and pumps and skimmer. but the quesion i have what would be the best way to go for lighting to be able to grow hard and some softie coral with a decent rate? any suggestions would be great.

thanks!

[eshook]

My guess is everyone will say mh for hard coral. Some people may say that t5's are possible. I typically say that in shallow aquariums with a heavy emphasis on softies that PC's do just fine. Keeping in mind that you may have to raise the SPS to the top of the lights due to lack of intensity.

[LPS_Blasto]

What do you think of PC @ 7.8 watts per gallon on a tank 10" deep?

Color suggestions?

[eshook]

With PC I think the depth matters a lot more than 7.8 w/g. This is due to the fundamental difference between PC and MH: lighting intensity. Some people will call this a flaw, but I call it a difference. MH has a high intensity with low diffusion whereas typically PC has low intensity with high diffusion. So the fact that you have a 10" tank is awesome for PC.

Color is a different conversation entirely. It depends on your goals. It is my understanding that the lower K (6500Kish) the more growth with the drawback of color loss. Where 15000Kish/actinic you have awesome color, but slower growth. People seem to find that 10000K is a nice balance between color and growth. I am using the stock mixed bulb in my nanocube and find that it is a nice balance. I am starting a frag tank in my basement with NO fl. (6500K only). My biocube 8 has something like 2x20w mixed bulb, a 10w actinic and 10w 10K. This bulb mix wasn't my choice it configured like this from the previous owner. I plan on running it and seeing what I get.

What is the goal? Growth, color, mix? Is it for fragging or display?

[LPS_Blasto]

It's my frag tank. I try to get the best combination of growth and color. I'm having trouble with color. They grow fine, but I think I want more blue in the spectrum to try and get some color back. I'm thinking about using a 460nm bulb with the 10k and actinic.

[biocube386]

i thought about the pc but i really want grow and color out of it becuase i want to do more stonies than softies but i wana do zoo's and stuff, i can get this good deal from a friend that will sell me there nanocube 12 with stand for 100 so im thinking of doing that and putting a pendent over it with a 14k bulb for the more blueish look?

[eshook]

blasto,

What is your current mix of bulbs? Color can be challenging and you have to remember that it can take a *long* time to get color back once you lose it. I have heard reports from people having to wait several months for SPS to get color back. So you may not see a change overnight. Adding a 15K or actinic bulb or two should help.

biocube,

If you are shooting for more stonies then I would agree that mh or t5 would most likely be a better choice. A pendent can be ok over a nc 12, but keep in mind heat and evap. 14K will be blue. Not quite a 20K, but blue non-the-less. It shouldn't be horrible for growth so it might be a safe bet.

[lampcov]

I had a 250MH 14k Phoenix over a 20L frag tank and everyone was REALLY happy. All we had in it was LPS (Acans, candycanes, Brain, etc), a ton of zoas, and some shrooms down low. THe 250 was probably a bit much, but I had it.

If I had it to do again I'd probably get a 150MH with the same Phoenix 14k. That said, the 250 didn't give me much in the way of heat issues as the tank is in the basement. As for evap I can't extol he virtues of an ATO enough.

[Wrench]

The best prop facilities I've seen blast their stuff with 400w 20kk bulbs. Most use shallow tanks or tubs so even with 20kk bulbs the corals get plenty of par. I personally use a 250w 14kk bulb on my frag tank which is only 15g. The setup I have in the works consists of the 400w 20kk bulb over a 6' long tub. The light will be on a light mover.

[LPS_Blasto]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13425066#post13425066 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by eshook
blasto,

What is your current mix of bulbs? Color can be challenging and you have to remember that it can take a *long* time to get color back once you lose it. I have heard reports from people having to wait several months for SPS to get color back. So you may not see a change overnight. Adding a 15K or actinic bulb or two should help.


I'm currently using 10k and actinic. I'm thinking about changing to 10k, 6500k, actinic 420nm and 460nm.

I've thought about changing the 10k for 11k or 12k but not sure if I'd see any growth out of them. It's mostly a frag tank, I need them to heal and grow out just a bit. Then sell them when I'm sure they are healthy and ready to produce another polyp soon.

Will the 6500 spectrum work to produce growth even if the rest of the tank looks more blue? Or does all the actinic and 460 drown out the 6500k?

[egdevilboy]

I personally run a 20k 250w radium over my 30 gallon and love the blue and the colors.

As for fragging id say a 14k - 15k will give you the happy medium of good growth and good color.

Quite honestly though, (w/ SPS) I attribute growth to h2o quality and color to the bulb so thats why I run my 20k radium w/ (68w) actinic supplement. (My zoas look like coralpedia.com and zoaid.com pictures, I love it.)