This week I had the opportunity to visit one of our R2R sponsors facilities and was in total awe over their SPS system. It's light by MH with 20K Radiums, IIRC. I was simply blown away by the vibrant color of all the livestock in the system. It got me thinking about changing my lighting.
For some background, I have a young tank that's working toward being SPS dominant. It's a 36 x 18 x 15 display with a total system volume of around 60 gallons. Params are in check (sg. 1.026, nitrate 0 per salifert, PO4 0 per salifert, mag 1380, CA 420, Alk 8, pH 8.3, temp 78-80). I use a BM NAC6 skimmer, a small amount of GFO, and small amount of bio pellets. I run an aquatic life 6 x 39 t5 with ATI Blue +, Blue +, coral +, purple+, blue +, blue +, front to back suspended about 8" above the water level. I'm having decent growth, but the colors are NOTHING like what I saw in this system. They're not as vibrant as I would like.
So, this experience has me considering my lighting. I had previously been thinking of going LED/T5 hybrid of sorts and the desire to do so was primarily based on color, heat, and power consumption. Since seeing this system, I'm now thinking of going 2 150W MH with 20K lamps supplemented by T5. While I do have a few LPS, the intent with the system is to keep the LPS to a minimum, so I think as the SPS grows in and creates more low light areas below, then I can get a few more select LPS pieces. If I do decide on MH, I'll be attempting to build them into a canopy that I have which is currently not in use. In this case, I'll retrofit the reflectors into that canopy with the T5 and fans for cooling purposes. All this said, what say the R2R SPS pros about my position?? What are your opinions?
TIA
C
For some background, I have a young tank that's working toward being SPS dominant. It's a 36 x 18 x 15 display with a total system volume of around 60 gallons. Params are in check (sg. 1.026, nitrate 0 per salifert, PO4 0 per salifert, mag 1380, CA 420, Alk 8, pH 8.3, temp 78-80). I use a BM NAC6 skimmer, a small amount of GFO, and small amount of bio pellets. I run an aquatic life 6 x 39 t5 with ATI Blue +, Blue +, coral +, purple+, blue +, blue +, front to back suspended about 8" above the water level. I'm having decent growth, but the colors are NOTHING like what I saw in this system. They're not as vibrant as I would like.
So, this experience has me considering my lighting. I had previously been thinking of going LED/T5 hybrid of sorts and the desire to do so was primarily based on color, heat, and power consumption. Since seeing this system, I'm now thinking of going 2 150W MH with 20K lamps supplemented by T5. While I do have a few LPS, the intent with the system is to keep the LPS to a minimum, so I think as the SPS grows in and creates more low light areas below, then I can get a few more select LPS pieces. If I do decide on MH, I'll be attempting to build them into a canopy that I have which is currently not in use. In this case, I'll retrofit the reflectors into that canopy with the T5 and fans for cooling purposes. All this said, what say the R2R SPS pros about my position?? What are your opinions?
TIA
C