Great Info for SPS keepers

[Antonias1391]

Numbers For Success??!!

Hey every one i got really bored the last couple of nights and decided to punch some numbers on the chemical levels and photo periods of the last 5 years of reef centrals TOTM SPS keepers. I decided opon there TOTM's because they went back so long (back to 2002 to be exact), though R2R TOTM numbers can be easily incororparated (something to do next weekend perhaps ??? :nerd: ) please remember that this is only observations i have made for discussion with the other members.

Here is the chemical aspect of it i did not include P04, N03, or PH as the first to should be non exestant or minimal and Ph should be correct if alkalinity levels are correct

Calcium 411.94
Alkalinity 9.09
Magnesium 1338.33

These numbers seem very close to what is suggested for most tanks, but a tad lower in calcium and magnesium. I say this because from my experience 450 and 1400 for calcium and magnesium where the "magic numbers". i found that aspect interesting as we are all trying to reach our givin "magic numbers".

I also recorded temperature as this is also a very important aspect of reefkeeping, Especialy SPS in my honest oppinion. here it is

26.026 °C
78.846 °F

This is close to what i try to keep my tanks temperature at (78.5 °F) and it seems like the optimal for grow and motabolism as well if im correct (BTW pleas feel free to correct me :tongue: )

On to the photoperiods!!!:bigsmile: im interested to read comments about this as i was surprised with the results. On to the stats then shall we

Average Metal Halide Photoperiod - 9:45 Hours
Average T5 Photo Period - 12:01 Hours
Average Dawn and Twilight Period - 18. 46 Min before and after the T5 period

In my mind these numbers seem a tad high I would more like likely use - 9:00 hours MH - 11:00 hours T5 - And 15 or 20 Min before and after main T5 photoperiod.

So the most important part is what the forum thinks! i enjoyed spending my weekend nights putting this writeup together for every one and i hope every one finds this usefull in some way as well!
Happy reefing everyone :bigsmile:
Antonias1391

 

[blaten]

Thanks for putting in the work. Not that I would expect you to do this but the min and max for the "big three" might be interesting to know as well. I wonder what the spread would be.

 

[Antonias1391]

bump for late morning

 

[sowellj]

Nice work. The metal halide period surprises me as well. For whatever reason (myself included), I was under the impression that most folks had their halides on for ~ six hours. Maybe I will try increasing my lighting period a bit.

 

[cee]

Nice work. The metal halide period surprises me as well. For whatever reason (myself included), I was under the impression that most folks had their halides on for ~ six hours. Maybe I will try increasing my lighting period a bit.

Ditto. The others don't surprise me the the photoperiod does. Interesting idea to do this analysis and thanks for the info.

 

[ronnie]

There was a thread on RC at one point that showed that there was a possibility of a reduced photoperiod actually increasing growth. After reading it, I slowly dropped my MH (before I switched to T5s) from 9hrs to 6hrs. I did not notice any decline in color or growth, and may have seen a small increase in growth.

 

[EVReef3]

thanks for taking you time to gather some info.
it give me an idea on what i would be looking at, im setting up a 90gal sps tank

 

[Antonias1391]

Nice work. The metal halide period surprises me as well. For whatever reason (myself included), I was under the impression that most folks had their halides on for ~ six hours. Maybe I will try increasing my lighting period a bit.

I thought the same in about the 6 hours, some of the MH periods went for exaple first set 12:00pm-6:00PM second set 1:00 pm-7:00pm so the avarage may be smaller more like 8:45 Hours est.

There was a thread on RC at one point that showed that there was a possibility of a reduced photoperiod actually increasing growth. After reading it, I slowly dropped my MH (before I switched to T5s) from 9hrs to 6hrs. I did not notice any decline in color or growth, and may have seen a small increase in growth.

i wonder how things would fare in the medium of 7:30 hours

thanks for taking you time to gather some info.
it give me an idea on what i would be looking at, im setting up a 90gal sps tank

Good luck with your tank! im glad this is helpful.!im sure the info is useful for other coral types as well would be awsome id some one (or myself) got the same kinda stats for softy and LPS dom tank

 

[Acroholic]

The photoperiod is actual, but may not be necessary. A 9-10 hour photoperiod would probably hurt in the electric bill more than anywhere else. My 300 gallon SPS tank does quite well with an 8 hour photoperiod (3x 400 watt halides).

 

[Antonias1391]

The photoperiod is actual, but may not be necessary. A 9-10 hour photoperiod would probably hurt in the electric bill more than anywhere else. My 300 gallon SPS tank does quite well with an 8 hour photoperiod (3x 400 watt halides).

Ya i just redid some of the math and it comes closer to about 8:47 hours.

 

[Murfman]

One of our local reefers, who has an SPS dominant tank only runs his 400 MH 4.5 hours a day. I was only running mine 6 hours a day. This is because of photo inhibition.

 

[Antonias1391]

One of our local reefers, who has an SPS dominant tank only runs his 400 MH 4.5 hours a day. I was only running mine 6 hours a day. This is because of photo inhibition.

What is photo inhibition ive never heard of it before? :nerd:

 

[ronnie]

The corals have saturated all possible light and stop photosynthesizing. This can also cause corals to bleach or RTN, IME.

 

[Troylee]

I would think the wattage and kelvin would come into play on the photo period as well...

 

[Antonias1391]

I would think the wattage and kelvin would come into play on the photo period as well...

Wouldn't it be some what proportional to the tank? IE takes only 2x 250 Mh on mine but would need 3x400 or 250 for a 180. and also is it as important for actinic supplementation? :ooh:

 

[Troylee]

Well I use to run xm10ks for 8hrs a day and then I switched to 20kradiums for the same time and noticed the xm10ks would bleach a coral quick even after I acclimated them to the light... I truly believe if I was to run the 10ks for 10 hrs it would prolly kill the coral from what I have seen.... I could run my radiums 20k for 10 hrs comfortably but see no use in it... Right now I run my mh for 6hrs and my vho actinics for 8.5 they come on and go off 45 min after the halides... I tried 8mh and 10 actinics and saw no added benefit... "just killed the power bill more"

 

[Murfman]

Here is an article by Dana Riddle on the subject;

Feature Article: How Much Light?! Analyses of Selected Shallow Water Invertebrates' Light Requirements | Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine

SPS #1 might need 4 hours of light at 400 watts and SPS #2 needs 7 hours. 1 shuts down and might even have growth stunting vs #2, if the lights are run at 7 hours a day. Spectrum is the new thing being looked at now as well. Talk of red spectrum impeding SPS growth if there is too much of it.

 

[doug864]

Antonias,
Thanks for the effort as I was wondering about this also. I would also be interested in the different parameters.
Regards,
Doug

 

[Antonias1391]

Well I use to run xm10ks for 8hrs a day and then I switched to 20kradiums for the same time and noticed the xm10ks would bleach a coral quick even after I acclimated them to the light... I truly believe if I was to run the 10ks for 10 hrs it would prolly kill the coral from what I have seen.... I could run my radiums 20k for 10 hrs comfortably but see no use in it... Right now I run my mh for 6hrs and my vho actinics for 8.5 they come on and go off 45 min after the halides... I tried 8mh and 10 actinics and saw no added benefit... "just killed the power bill more"

Thanks for the observation troylee! im planning on a 12 hour T5 cycle and a 6-7 hour MH cycle just so see.

Antonias,
Thanks for the effort as I was wondering about this also. I would also be interested in the different parameters.
Regards,
Doug

What parameters are you interested in im going to have a lot of free time tomorrow as im going to be at a hotel waiting for my military physical exam and interview (USMC OORAAH!)