MH Distance from Water / Frags

  • Thread starter Thread starter -Logzor
  • Start date Start date
  • Tagged users Tagged users None

-Logzor

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 16, 2011
Messages
2,563
Reaction score
325
Location
United States
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Looking for some advice regarding MH placement and lighting duration. I'm running a 250w MH lamp (Sfiligoi) over a 40G Breeder as a frag system.

What is the ideal distance of the light from the water level and the depth of the frags and total light duration? I have the option to run four 24" T5 bulbs in combo with the MH but I currently have the T5 turned off.

Initially I had the face of the light about 19" from the water, then my frags were about 5" under the water line. The corals I had under there bleached pretty bad and eventually died, even with a 3-4 hour light cycle. Although, they were in rough shape to begin with.

I'm more or less starting over with frags, most of them were not salvageable, so I want to make sure I get it right this time. I removed the posts from my frag rack allowing the tray to sit 13" under the water line.

19" is the highest I can raise my light but I'm flexible anywhere from 5" deep to 13" deep for the frag tray. I can simply cut the PVC supports to the desired length or remove them entirely (13").

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I'm a T5 guy so the MH I'm still getting used to.
 
Last edited:
19" inches is fine. Start everything on the bottom, and slowly work them upwards over a few weeks. Also do research on what you buy to see what kind of intensity it likes. Most people do 6-8 hours with mh.
 
Thanks, I'll give that a try. All frags are now at the bottom and I'll start to increase the lighting duration.
 

TOP 10 Trending Threads

WHAT’S YOUR MOST MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE WITH A CORAL THAT LOOKED LIKE IT MIGHT NOT MAKE IT?

  • I’ve seen a dramatic comeback. I would have sworn it was a goner

    Votes: 16 45.7%
  • A slow recovery, and it got back to looking healthy

    Votes: 5 14.3%
  • It came back some, but never looked as good as it used to

    Votes: 3 8.6%
  • I tried to save one, but it didn’t make it

    Votes: 5 14.3%
  • Mine is still struggling...no comeback yet

    Votes: 3 8.6%
  • I’ve never had a coral in serious trouble

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • See, this is why I don’t keep corals

    Votes: 1 2.9%
  • Other (Post in the comments)

    Votes: 2 5.7%
Back
Top
Home
Post thread…
Market
What's new