Increasing SPS growth? Lighting

[dadany]

At present I have a 250 watt HQI on my 90 gallon corner unit. I also have a dual chamber calcium reactor, however I am only experiencing moderate growth with my SPS. I have 4 different montipora caps (green, green purple rim, red, orange) with a few other acros. These monitporas are rumored to grow like weeds yet mine have not really taken off at all.

I am thinking of upgrading my lighting to dual 400 watt Radiums. I have a few questions that need some answers:
(1) Radiums run on HQI ballast or Pulse Start ballast? I have been told that they run closer to specs on HQI ballasts but also can fire on Pusle Starts.
(2) which of the following would be recommended as a good ballast:
PFO Lighting dual 400 watt,


Sun Systems Blue Wave II MH 400 watt
(they say they are available as pulse start)


Could someone please recommend a good ballast alternatives?


I have also considered just adding a single 400watt Radium to the 250 HQI that is already on my tank. What would be the draw backs of just adding one 400 Radium? Would 2X400 watt Radiums be to much lighting for a 90 gallon or would the 250 +400 combo be more that enough to stimulate some growth?

[scubadude]

Just curious how long you have had your caps....they may just be still adjusting to your tank.....also how new are you to reefing? If you have only started with caps then you dont have anything else to refer growth rates to so caps can seem slow maybe?!

As far as HQI ballast running a radium I believe that some of them ballast will overcharge which may give you more intensity of lighting but I believe you will be sacrificing the life of the bulb. Actually the proper ballast IMO for the 400w radium bulb is the Blue Wave I (by sunlight supply) which is Ansi code M135 this ballast is Pulse Start.

There would be a couple of things that concerned me if you went w/ the existing 250w HQI as well as the 400w radium....first and foremost would be heat issues on your 90g tank Im sure that a chiller would be not much farther down the line if you apted for both of these bulbs.....Next problem would be acclimation of your corals to their newfound intensity which may take a while, but can be done. FWIW I am running a mix of 400 rads and a couple of 250w ushios over my tank and I used to have 250w HQI's and I love the mix I have now but I do think I miss my HQI's .....Hope I shedded some light (no pun intended)

[Ninong]

Hi Dadany, welcome to Reefland!

I'm moving your thread to the Lighting Forum where PerryinCA may notice it. He is the guy to answer all of your questions about Sunlight Supply products because he works for the company.

[dadany]

thank you for the welcome and the input thus far.

after further consideration, i think i have settled on adding a 250w 6500k Iwasaki and changing my 250watt 10000k HQI bulb to the new 20000k HQI bulb. The heat from a 400watt bulb maybe create additional problems that i want to avoid.

I am going to get one of those EYE ballast for the Iwasaki. I am also going to eventually replace the my current reflector with spider reflectors.

now i have to figure out the best way to mount the 6500k so that i dont get that funny spotted effect over my tank. there is limited space under my hood, considering it is a corner unit.

[SueT]

dadany, I sure agree with scubadude on whether the montipora caps are still in the acclimation process. Depending on how old this system was when you first put the montipora's in they can take up to as long as 6 months to adjust to acclimation to new environments. While some montipora do grow like weeds I consider the digitata to be a weed way more so than the plating species. I have around 6-7 different colorations and species and not one would I consider a weed except one.

FWIW, I do think you'll like the iwasaki in addition to your present light. I sure don't know all the stuff out now but I do know what has worked for me and my sps only system.

Out of curiosity, are you seeing any growth on the other sps corals in this system?? I would think if you have only been using the 1 MH lighting bulb that it is maybe not enough intense lighting for these corals.

Practical Fishkeeping mag's. April 2003-Featured reef system.

[dadany]

i have seen plating for the montipora caps. they have encrusted onto the rocks i have glued them onto. i have also seen growth out of the montipora digita, but it has since slowed because i moved it closer to the light. I have also seen some coloring up of a blue tipped acro and minimal plating onto the rock. there is growth in my system but not considerable growth.

what do you think of my final plan to add a 250w 6500k Iwasaki and changing my 250watt 10000k HQI bulb to the new 20000k HQI bulb?

thank you for your input and suggestions.

[kevinpo]

Although you may already be aware of this I will mention it just in case. Lighting it just one of the factors in SPS growth just as important are calcium and alkalinity levels. IME 420 ppm for calcium and 2.8-3.0 meq/L for alkalinity will produce fast growth for most SPS even under 175W halide bulbs and VHO lighting.

Regards,
Kevin

[SueT]

Thats a excellent point Kevin. I was thinking the same thing. dadany, what are your calcium and alk. levels running. Is the reactor dialed in to have your levels rock stable?? I don't use a reactor so my knowledge of them is limited. I dose Tropic Marin Bio-Calcium and my growth has increased to a steady even growth in my clams and sps corals/frags. Also was this a completely new system or an upgrade?? How old was the tank, if new when you added the first sps??

These all play into how fast any sps coral will take hold and start growing. Maybe when some people are saying their montipora grow like weeds, that you are expecting more than they could grow. It's just a thought. If you are seeing encrusting growth then that is perfectly normal. IME, my montipora plating species do put down a base as that helps them to start the growing process. Once the base is encrusted to the rock then they will usually take off in the plating growth forms, tiering, whorls etc.

HTH..

Practical Fishkeeping mag's. April 2003-Featured reef system.

[kevinpo]

Another question is what other corals do you have in the tank? Specifically leathers. Some species can really stunt the growth of SPS corals. A couple of leathers that I have seen in action are Sinularia flexibillis and Alcyonium sp.

Regards,
Kevin