james37128
04/24/2009, 09:53 PM
Recently I setup a frag tank, well all except lighting. Dimensions are 24x12 and 10 inches deep. The tank is plumbed to my main 120 gallon display with about 40 gallon sump.
I am fragging Florida ricordea for this tank. I love the look of a Ricordea carpet, and will make a good trade for new corals. I started with 25 rics about 6 months ago in my display, all glued to rocks. Some of them mulitplied well on their own under 250w MH's about 18 inches deep. Then I finally followed through with my plans and plumbed on a frag tank 2 weeks ago.
Last weekend I cut about 20 of the rics off the rock, and then out of my 20 cuttings I halved about 10 of them and 2 or 3 were cut into 4ths. All but a couple(the few that I cut into quarters) of the rics are healing pretty quick, not getting big but "rounding" back off nicely.
I started the first 4 days with Standard output florescent tubes I think 2 @ 18 watts each. Then Moved up to t5s with two 24 watt bulbs with crappy reflector. These are both just spare lights I was using for different tanks.
My question is what would be optimal for florida Ric's to split often/ heal quickly when cut. Would it be smart to lower light intensity for recovery a few days after first fragging the rics? Would a 4 bulb t5ho fixture be too much on this tank with only 10 inches of water? I really want alot of actinic pop so I was thinking of a combination with 3 actnics and 1 10k or 6500 kelvin. What do you all think the best light combination would be for growth and viewing pleasure. would maybe two aquablues and 2 actinics be good? What do you all think? Anyone have pictures of there ricordea prop setups?
I am fragging Florida ricordea for this tank. I love the look of a Ricordea carpet, and will make a good trade for new corals. I started with 25 rics about 6 months ago in my display, all glued to rocks. Some of them mulitplied well on their own under 250w MH's about 18 inches deep. Then I finally followed through with my plans and plumbed on a frag tank 2 weeks ago.
Last weekend I cut about 20 of the rics off the rock, and then out of my 20 cuttings I halved about 10 of them and 2 or 3 were cut into 4ths. All but a couple(the few that I cut into quarters) of the rics are healing pretty quick, not getting big but "rounding" back off nicely.
I started the first 4 days with Standard output florescent tubes I think 2 @ 18 watts each. Then Moved up to t5s with two 24 watt bulbs with crappy reflector. These are both just spare lights I was using for different tanks.
My question is what would be optimal for florida Ric's to split often/ heal quickly when cut. Would it be smart to lower light intensity for recovery a few days after first fragging the rics? Would a 4 bulb t5ho fixture be too much on this tank with only 10 inches of water? I really want alot of actinic pop so I was thinking of a combination with 3 actnics and 1 10k or 6500 kelvin. What do you all think the best light combination would be for growth and viewing pleasure. would maybe two aquablues and 2 actinics be good? What do you all think? Anyone have pictures of there ricordea prop setups?