To Halide or not is the question???

Poppy828 · 11-24-2004, 09:13 PM

Evening all. Thank each of you again for all your help.

My next question is whether or not to switch my current lighting to halide? I am using coralifes aqualight. 96w day 96w actinic. This is over a 46g bowfront. I have mostly soft corals. I.E. group of zoo's, several types of shrooms, green,blue,orange ricordia, toadstool leather and finger leather. So far everything has been doing well with the exception of my xenia. I can not for the life of me get it to grow in my tank so I have decided it is not for me. I would like to add some more color to my tank and different types of coral. Maybe some acro, and LPS type corals. Is halide a necessity for these types of corals or am I safe with this setup? If I do need Halide, which brand/type is the best? I saw that coralife has one available. 280w total with 150w halide.

Thank you again for all your help.

Todd

Birdlady · 11-25-2004, 03:17 AM

Hey Poppy, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Acros are one group that need "intense" lighting. I have used Coralife - that was the first ballast and bulb I used. My fish store pretty much only carries Hamilton bulbs and that is what I have now. I like them both. Someone else with more knowledge will have to weigh in here...that is my total MH experience.

Many LPS don't require intense lighting, and things like the sun polyps (which are bright orange) are not photosynthetic at all. You should be able to add lots of color with LPS's without upgrading if you wish to. JMHO of course!

What happens to your xenia? The require only moderate flow and moderate light. You may want to check your iodine levels...that's the only thing I can think of. Oh yeah, they apparently "ship for crap" is what my LFS told me as he begs for xenia frags. Make sure it's healthy , try and get a frag off someone close by if you can.

Birdlady · 11-25-2004, 03:18 AM

Of course, with MH, you can add anything!

Like clams! They are so cool.

sorry...LOL

Poppy828 · 11-25-2004, 03:35 AM

Happy Gobble day Birdlady.

As far as the Xenia, they just seem to melt away. I have never bought any online. I have purchased from my LFS and taken a frag from my brother. The lfs had nice xenia that was fully extended for over 2 weeks before I bought it. My brothers frag was fragged from a mother colony that he has grown for well over 9 months. Each piece looked very good in the respective tank. My brother can grow it like a weed. I unfortunately have no success with it. Such is life. Everything else in the tank has split or grown very well. No clue. They say some people can grow it and some can't. I must be the can't.

Such is life.

I would love to have some clams in the tank, but not dead set on them. I do like acropora a lot. So I may have to upgrade the lighting. X-mas is coming...LOL

Thanks again Birdaldy.

T

Birdlady · 11-25-2004, 03:41 AM

OK, then MH it is!

I do like my coralife stuff....I bought my stuff used over 6 years ago. I e-mailed them with some questions this year as I was setting up my tank again, and they e-mailed right back with the answers.

The ballast and bulbs have been very reliable.

Poppy828 · 11-25-2004, 03:51 AM

I was thinking of just going with there MH.compact set up I mentioned in the initial post. 150w mh with 96w actinic and of course the moon lights. I love the moon lights at night as does my wife. I have read the MH have a "Glitter" effect in the water? That sounds very cool.

Would 150w be plenty for a 46g you think Birdaldy? Or should I just go bigger and be done with it? Like 250?

I am all ears...well eyes [smiley=freak3.gif]

Birdlady · 11-25-2004, 04:15 AM

The smaller one should be just fine. I have a 58 gallon with a 175 w and some of the stuff I have I need to shade somewhat from the lights. Just my opinion of course. I actually shocked the crap out of a Pagoda coral by not light acclimating it properly. It has not opened in 3 plus weeks. It's not dead yet but I don't hold much hope for it.

How deep is the tank? Of course, some will say you can't have too much light! I think acros shoud be OK under 150's.

szidls · 11-25-2004, 04:37 AM

Poppy,
Your decision on the MH should take depth of tank into consideration. With a 150 MH you will be limited to placement of any sps corals. Close to top and higher water flow. If you do decide to get a clam it also needs more intense light. If it were me I would go 250 watt just for flexability.
Scott

Poppy828 · 11-25-2004, 04:55 AM

The tank is a 46g bow front. 36" wide by 18" tall.

Right now I have the lights on legs about 3-4" off the top. The tank is fully illuminated with this set up. No dark spots anywhere. That is with 192w only. I don't want to go with too much lighting and bleach the corals. On the other hand, I want enough light to grow the corals and give them nice color.

So I guess the next question is 150w or 250w??? Is the rule of thumb 6 watts per gallon for acros? Or is it more? If it is 6 then the coralife MH/Compact is plenty with the 150w HQI MH and 2x65w actinic. That would be 280w.

T

szidls · 11-25-2004, 06:37 AM

Poppy,
Is the Coralife light a complete hood? Is it a pendant? You said your tank was 36" long. Just wondering about how high you will have to be above water to get full spread of Mh. Most MH are designed to cover 24x24 in area. Recently I had to retro a 175mh over a 40 gal breeder.(18x36x14 tall) This was just a single end MH with spider reflector. I had to raise it about 14" above water to get spread to cover 36" length. This was a softie tank so I was not concerned with not having enough light for corals. Just trying to throw some more info for ya to think about.
Scott