SPS In Small Tanks With Low Light!

[Pattylucylaura]

Anyone keep SPS in a tank 20 gal or less on lights other than MH. Reason for asking I have a 20 long with 100w of PC at the moment will be hopefully 195w of PC's in a couple of weeks and wonder if it is possible to keep any species of SPS under either one of these configurations of PC's with good color if kept higher up in the tank even though it is shallow enough as it is (30x12x12). Asked this question in the SPS forum and all I heard was buy MH. So thought this might be a good place to try. If anyone has pics that would be great. Species that will work would also be helpful.



Thanks

[Andys29]

Iv seen many threads on people that keep SPS with lower lighting. Just make sure your water quality is good and start off with monti's, and other simple SPS first.

[banditfl]

in my 10g, I have been keeping a Green Acropora for over a year started under 2x28w then 2x40w for 11 months and now under 96w quad. doing very well and I did see and increase in growth and improvement in color as the lighting increased. also keep a green Birds nest and is doing very well.

full tank:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y92/banditfl/10gFTS12-12-05.jpg

Green Acro
12-28-04:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y92/banditfl/600310g_green_agro_12-28-04.jpg
12-12-05
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y92/banditfl/greenacro12-12-05.jpg

Greem Birds nest:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y92/banditfl/BirdsNest12-12-05.jpg

[surfnvb7]

i've commented on this a bunch of times, as well as shown the pics...so here it goes again...

it IS possible to keep SOME sps alive under that much PC. I did it for 5-6months in a 20g-high, with a 130w coralife PC.

HOWEVER, with that said........there is a BIG difference b/w keeping something barely alive, with no color..........and keeping sps with glowing color and growing at a good rate.

I still think PC's are crap for sps compared to VHO's and T-5 HO's, and esspecially MH.

With the PC's, you are limited to montipora digi that will most likely be somewhat brown (may have a little bit of color, but no where near what it would under MH's). and montipora caps that will have color, but grow slowly and will not have that amazing glowing rim (like the purple rim on green caps). you "may" also be able to get away with other stuff that is exclusively an aquacultured species that doesn't require really bright light. Example *might* include poci's, bird nests, hydnophora, pavona, and milli's (these are BIG maybe's, i wouldnt put the money into buying them if i wasnt sure they'd keep).

I've seen amazing SPS tanks that use all T5-HO's or VHOs, so we know that can be done without question.

So, as a recap...some SPS will be able to stay alive, but will lack any extraordinary color and grow quite slowly (by SPS standards in MH tanks).

Here is the link, and here are the pics (please read, as I have actual factual evidence with this, unlike many people's opinions...which are strictly that, and not of experience): http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=726775

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/ayoung/Aquariums/20g%20reef%20tank/blue%20tip%20stag%20before%20and%20after.jpg

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/ayoung/Aquariums/20g%20reef%20tank/green%20cap%20before%20and%20after.jpg

also, heres a link to some other pics that were represented by those red X's...i just didn't feel like copying and pasting a bunch more times. ;) http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=6417733#post6417733

the only other thing to remember with SPS, is they require very clean water, or they'll turn brown and die (or RTN), calcium has gotta be up around 400, and alkalinity has gota be around 8dkh and kept stable there. SPS will also require close to double the amount of flow versus a softie tank, which is kinda tough to do in a smaller tank with sand.

hope some of this helps, ask any questions you like :)

[surfnvb7]

also, increasing it to 190w I don't think will make that much of a difference. it may increase some growth more, but you still wont get the amazing glowing color when the zoanqthele (sp? i butchered that spelling lol) start to glow when they get lots of light and grow at a very fast rate.

it helps that you have a 20g-long....its a shallow tank which helps the PC light get to the bottom. so thats a plus in your book.

[phenom5]

Asked this question in the SPS forum and all I heard was buy MH.

sounds like your searching for the answer you want to hear...

based on my experience, IMO, water quality is the most important factor in keeping SPS. followed by light and flow, which are both important, but you hear about people keeping SPS under VHO's or PC's, but you never hear about people successfully keeping SPS in a tank with poor water quality. and if your going to keep SPS with less intense lighting, that makes water quality that much more important. if your tank is stable and well established, you might try some montipora sp. or maybe some porties...if those are successful, then maybe give a hardy acro a shot, bali green slimer maybe. i'd definately look into aquacultured frags, as they tend to be a little more adaptable to different tanks.

now, all that said...i'd get MH. if you look around you can probably find a pretty good deal on a 150W DE or 175W SE retro, but hey, that's just me.

HTH:thumbsup:

[banditfl]

As surfnvb7 said Hetal Halide will give increased growth and color. I used a 70w Iwasaki Full Spectrum on my shallow prop tank and saw excellant results on all my coral. If you want to go with MH, www.hellolights.com has some good deals on retro kits. 175w kit: http://www.hellolights.com/arocu17rekit.html

Good Luck.

[Pattylucylaura]

Ok guys thanks for the info I might try to get a piece of montipora in a month or two possibly, cant't see the point in getting MH when I still need a skimmer and I won't get any sps until I get one since I am not the best with doing routine water changes (like others who just won't admit to it).

Thanks Again

[Pattylucylaura]

Probably will get some LPS this weekend what do you guys think about that.

[sneeyatch]

surfnvb7 - i do have a dumb question - the pics you posted at 5 months and 10 months - is that at 5 months plus 5 more months, or 5 months plus an additional 10 months for 15 total?

[surfnvb7]

not a dumb question at all...prob my fault for not being clear enough.

its 10 months total. so 5 months of PC's, then 5 months after that with MH.

:)

[ratimpulse]

I would try a form of monti if your dead set on keeping SPS, and i would also have to agree with water quality, lighting and make sure all your paramaters stay in the right area.

[NanoManMaster]

i dont recomend it never sorked for me