Light intensity and photo period.

by **schigara** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 6:00 am

I just want to share a screw up of mine so others can benefit.

I set up my current tank exactly one year ago and set my light timers for 12 hours on Halides and and about 15 hours on T5HO actinics . I did this mainly for my own selfish reasons of wanting to be able to view the tank for as long as possible.

I have seen very poor growth in my SPS and thought it was a high nutrient problem or even a low par problem due to the XM15k's I started out with. Well, I went from the XM15's to Reeflux 12's and finally to Phoenix 14's that produce twice the par of the Reeflux 12's and was still seeing very little growth.

Even with the Halides at 14" above water surface, my Seriatapora would still bleach out down in the sand.

I have a Hyacinth Seriatapora that bleached within a week and was only able to keep it alive by putting it on the side of the tank that was mostly in the shadows.

Anyways, after some reading a month ago, I change the photo period to 7hours halide and 9 hours T5HO actinic and wow, I have seen more growth in some acro's in a month than in the past 6 months. The hyacinth birdsnest has regained full color and has very nice growth tips as well as the green birdsnest, blue prostrata and others.

I had no idea those extra hours were doing such harm.

by **Snowboss4492** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 12:09 pm

interesting ....good info man ......glad to hear your babies are groin and not cooking anymore

by **saltwaterpimp** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 2:13 pm

schigara, in your opinion do you think T5s alone can keep most sps growing and color, i was thinking 4 54watt t5 (or 8 54 watt ) over mabie 14 inches of water, i am going to build a sps frag tank , t5s are cheaper then halides, but growth and color are important too,

by **fihsboy** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 2:29 pm

I have been wondering the same....4 T5 VHO bulbs at 75 watts a piece, more then a halide....but cooler and alot cheeper!

by **schigara** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 3:27 pm

Pimp,

Yes, T5's alone can support any SPS and do it very well.

The owner of one of the Reef stores here in Memphis has a 240 cube tank at home that is mixed and he only runs T5's over it. His SPS growth has been incredible and colors are great as well.

Check out the 240 T5 tank here. http://www.fishman.smugmug.com/gallery/ ... 1539_q8mFG

by **snowboss** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 5:11 pm

wow - -beautiful set up ........flat screen aint bad either.....lol .........only critisism i have about it really isn't a critisism more of a preferance on my part ........i can't stand to see the water line on a tank ..................but again......WOW ...the work and care definately shows .......and the lights seem to be doing a great job as well....i'll definatley be looking into them for my new tank ......MH have been scaring me for quiet some time now

Boss

by **schigara** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 5:22 pm

Yeah, both my LFS owners have awesome displays in the stores and at home. It's great having 2 excellent reef stores so close by. Hell, the owners and employees are hardcore reefers first and foremost.

Their knowledge is overwhelming but the cool thing is, if someone asks a question that they don't know the answer, they say they don't know. I have never seen them try to sell people crap they don't need. They both have one hell a loyal customer base,

I don't care for the water line either. I have been meaning to ask his reasoning for that.

by **Snowboss4492** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 9:41 pm

very cool.............you are lucky as hell to have that much knowledge at your figer tips

by **fihsboy** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:57 am

I love LFS's like that. The one down the street from me told me to go to walmart to get a measuring cup to measure my alkalinity and calcium for dosing for 10 bucks cheaper than he could offer me.......THATS what keeps me loyal to his reef shop, the fact that he is honest.

by **blueshoes2208** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 4:53 am

must be nice to have places like that... you guys are my main source of information... my lfs is actually 20 miles away and its not all that... mainly freshwater

Light intensity and photo period.

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