can you keep arcopora under power compacts?

[just_let_me_reef]

can you keep arcopora under power compacts? i have (4 )96 watt p/c's, and i am interested in getting a colony. are any of you keeping them under p/c's, and under what conditions?

[Randy V]

I think you can under 4x96 but you want to watch placement and pick acropora that aren't dense growers. There are other factors to success like water chemistry, water movement, and even feeding or having a thriving dsb that also contribute to success with these beautiful corals IME.

[mr294]

i definitely agree with randy on this one, positioning, feeding, and water chemistry are all key points. i have gotten beautiful coloration on lowerlight sps such as montipora digitata and montipora capricornis using power compacts. the digitata i got frags of was dark brown in the tank it came out of (tank had MH) and under the PCs has turned beautiful shades of purple and green. i also have a birdsnest under PCs that started as a creamy brown and has colored up to a nice bright pink. i keep my alkalinity and Ca high and place all the sps in the upper levels of the tank. they dont show the same growth rate under my PCs as they do under my halides, but they are definitely growing at a noticeable rate.

[ron4675]

You can definetly keep sps acroporia under pc. I have a 55g with 4x55w pc lamps. my grow out 30g has 2x55w lamps. I have sps very close to the surface all the way to the sand bed (4" deep) and they all have great color, of course the ones closer grow more.
check out pictures of my mother colony down in the sale forum under detroit sps for sale
Aaron

[alf3482]

I agree with above post. Yes you can, but the other factors pointed out above are just as important for the SPS. i have mine only 6" from the light though. and there is 8 x 96w pc on a 125gal tank. I also keep Max. clams on the lower rock work that are growing well.

[bradwent]

Of all the reading I have done on multiple boards and in books, the consensus I have reached is that most people recommend MH lighting for good SPS growth. I currently have 330W of PC lighting over my 72 gal and have been wanting to venture into SPS. I have been contemplating going to MH (if I can figure out how to convince the wife???). It is nice to hear of success such as the postings above. How do you think the PC compare, as far as overall health and growth, than quality MH, both being in the 10K spectrum? If money wasn't an object, would you ditch the PC and go with MH, add MH or stay with only PC for your SPS tanks?

TIA

bradwent

[ron4675]

For me I wouldn't change the lighting on my 55 gallon to MH. In the past I have thought about doing it and almost did. Then looking at my tank I decided why mess with something that is working so well. My sps are doing GREAT along with my other corals. I can't see the reason even money excluded to change what it working.
If I set up a new larger, deeper tank I may go MH with PC suppliments. I like the pc color, price, and longevity. One idea I had was to plumb in another aquarium with MH so the water parameters would be the same and just have different lighting so I could see the difference in the frag growth but because of space and $ I probably won't be doing that in the near future. For me it comes down to don't mess with what works.

[Randy V]

I run 250w iwasaki mh with actinic pc supplementation on my 15g sps tank. One thing I would note however is that when you run a single mh fixture as I do, which is pretty much all you can get over a small tank, you have the problem that metal halide bulbs provide point-source light. That means your corals are only going to receive light from one spot. So parts of your corals are going to be shaded. This isn't such a big deal with frags but with larger colonies I think it is a consideration. One advantage to pc and vho lighting is that the source of light is dispersed along the length of the tube. Of cource, point-source lighting has advantages also, but having multiple fixtures help alleviate that negative, and if you keep smaller tanks you can't always do that.

Also, I use a pendant to alleviate overheating my little tank. I don't mind that at all but some people would rather use a canopy and power compacts add less heat IME.