Lighting Over frag tank

[bmooney31]

I've got a 72x24x12" frag tank with 250 watt MH over it. I was talking to my LFS store and they were saying that I should have my lights about 8" above the water for SPS. I had them about 16" above the water and I"ve been moving them lower every month trying to get them lower to the water surface. Is this a good idea? what height do you guys think I should have these lights? The reason I'm doing this is I've had issue with the colors of my sps. All my parameters are great and have been for months. The only thing I can think is keeping these sps frags brown are lack of light. any info would be appreciated.

Thanks

Bob

 

[aslmx]

Does he have the goods to back up what hes saying. The reason I say that is because I usually go with what my coral guy says because he has the results to show me in his own tanks, so I try to keep my set up close to his because thats usually where all my corals come from.

 

[PVREEFER]

8 seems close

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[nixer]

no way your just going to boil your water.
12 maybe 16 perhaps what is your tank stats?
what are you dosing?

 

[Jcr's Reef]

I'm running 150 MH over a 20" high tank about 7". If they were 250's over 12" high tank, I would target for 14" or so above water surface since they don't have to penetrate much water.

 

[bmooney31]

I just measured and right now the bulbs are 16" above the water. I'm gonna leave them there a month and see how it goes then lower again.

 

[Crooks]

What reflector and bulbs are you using?

 

[bmooney31]

Lumenbrites and radiums

 

[Kbra]

My coralife fixture on my reef has two 250s and is around 8" away from the water. However you gotta make sure you have the bulbs protected from any splashing or else you will have blulb all over your tank... Pics of my tank are in my signature links

 

[nikesb]

My buddy has a 24" tall tank using 250w on lumenbrights. He has bulb about 12" off the water and still gets good penetration through the middle of of his tank. 8" seems to be way too low. 12" would be the minimum

 

[m and m]

I would say 16 i think thats way to close you gonna kills things with to much light. you think about it people have 250w over a 24" deep tank 8-12 inches away. The light has to penitrate 12 more inches of water there yours i can assure you wont like that much light.

 

[Troylee]

i have my lumearc about 4" off the water.... my corals love it man flat out!!!! it took some time to get them used it but there going now and thriving.....i run 250w radiums with a pfo ballast which pushes the bulbs to there full potential.... i would say your browning has more to do with nutrients imho...

 

[m and m]

i have my lumearc about 4" off the water.... my corals love it man flat out!!!! it took some time to get them used it but there going now and thriving.....i run 250w radiums with a pfo ballast which pushes the bulbs to there full potential.... i would say your browning has more to do with nutrients imho...

Yea but how deep is your tank, i would think thats fine if it was deeper but if its shallow i think 4 inches is crazy pluse thats alot of reflector cleaning.

 

[swannyson7]

I used to run my Halides about 18" off the water with a canopy set up with two 4" fans on each end for an intake and an exhaust and I still had problems with heat in the summer with the A/C going. Are you running a chiller on your system? If you are, you can try lowering the lights an inch at a time nice a slowly to see if there's any change in coloration. What is your nitrate and phosphate testing at? Are you running GFO, dosing vodka, or running pellets to try to cut down on nutrients?

 

[seafansar]

Were the SPS colored up or brown when you put them in the tank? I would think adding more light would help. I had two 250W MH's over my 40 breeder about 4" or 5" from the top of the water and my corals were doing fine. I think as long as you do it slowly you don't really have to worry about having too much light for SPS.

 

[bmooney31]

My nitrates and phosphates are 0. I run bio pellets and gfo so that I don't think is the issue. I only have two fish in the frag system also. I just started to use the roti feast product to feed the sps. THe corals were brown once I put them in the tank after dipping them. they have great polyp extension and growth, but their brown. and the site that I got them from show the corals I got with great colors and mine are brown. I'm gonna give the lowering the lights a try for a few months if that doesn't work then on to plan B. Whats plan B? LOL

 

[m and m]

What kind of bulbs are you using, also what are you testing your po4 and your no3 with, and lastly is there any visable algea?

 

[Troylee]

I highly doubt lighting is the issue but you never know... How about flow??? What are using and how much?? Flow plays a huge factor in Colors from my exp..

 

[swannyson7]

Plan B could be attempting a few pieces in your DT to see if they color up. Are the DT & frag system tied together, or are they stand alone. Maybe it could be stray voltage from a bad powerhead or heater?

 

[bmooney31]

It's a free standing frag system. I did notice that one of the browned out Sps is starting to color up with some purple on the tips. I use the Hanna Meter for phosphates and salifert for nitrates. I might be crazy but I really think it was lack of light that was keeping these corals from coloring up. I guess I'll know in a few weeks if they all start to bleach out.