Reef lighting suggestions needed...please

R

rio32

Premium Member
I have a 110g reef aquarium that has 300 W of light at the moment.
2 fluorescents at 40W ea. (daylight/actinic)
PC at 220 W (daylight/actinic)

My tank really just maintains itself but nothing really takes off.
I'm assuming lighting is the problem.

I saw a light fixture with 1134 W of combined MH and PC but thought that might be over kill.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Tracy
 
I'm assuming lighting is the problem. said:
Why do you assume this? If you can post as much information about your setup as possible, maybe we can see something else that could be the problem.

Lets start with actual readings for alkalinity, calcium, pH, temp, nitrate, & magnesium.

When you say nothing "takes off",what exactly are you referring to? I am assuming you are you speaking of corals. Is that correct? If so what type?
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PCs are not great light for anything except a fish only tank in my opinion. They get worse as the bulbs get older too.

A T-5 fixture might be the ticket for you.

But the questions about your tank are valid. Its hard for us to help you without some basic information. What do you keep, what do you want to keep and water quality readings are unfortunately necessary.
 
I agree, we need to know more before we decide it is the lighting.

By the way, I assume the light fixture you are referring to is the one in the for sale section. Unless you have a custom tank I don't think that one will fit. It is 6' long and I've never seen a tank your size that is that long. I agree with Gmax that a good HO t5 setup would probably work great for you. Unless you want to keep a lot of sps or have a real tall tank, then metal halide isn't necessary.
 
@dvups1 wrote:
[quote="I'm assuming lighting is the problem. said:
Why do you assume this? If you can post as much information about your setup as possible, maybe we can see something else that could be the problem.

Lets start with actual readings for alkalinity, calcium, pH, temp, nitrate, & magnesium.

When you say nothing "takes off",what exactly are you referring to? I am assuming you are you speaking of corals. Is that correct? If so what type?"]

In addition to the above request on your water parameters, I have a question and comment. What type of corals do you have in your tank? Most soft and LPS corals will do just fine with PC’s or T5’s but they are not enough light for SPS corals where you would need MH’s.
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Well I would say David that my SPS corals in my 55 under t-5s would take exception to your contention they wont make it under t-5s. Yes, you can keep anything under t-5s. And if one of the Pyckels were around with photos of the stuff they grew under t-5s you would be amazed.

Now will MH penetrate deeper into a tank, that is an open question for which I dont know the answer. But my t-5s are growing LE SPS corals, and they are flourishing.
 
@gmax wrote:
Well I would say David that my SPS corals in my 55 under t-5s would take exception to your contention they wont make it under t-5s. Yes said:
Gary you are correct and many people have grown SPS corals using T5 lights with enough of them being used to create the required PAR. They are much brighter than PC’s it would also have to do with overall deep of the tank as well. I have a 75 gal with only PC’s and all the soft and LPS corals are doing great but there are no SPS corals in that tank.
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Tracy I would go with two lumenbright minis with 250 watt coralvue ballasts. Monisa another member has this setup and this would work perfect on your tank.

his setup resembles this but instead of a canopy he has the reflector hanging kit...looks really good. then you can get rid of that canopy you were talking about.
 
Okay here are the current water parameters:

Nitrates - 10-20 ppm (hard to tell exactly)
pH - 8.3 daytime, 8.0 nightime
Calcium - 460 ppm
Alkalinity - 11 dKH
Magnesium - 1400 ppm
 
Thanks, that helps :D. Is there any way to get a phospate reading? Phosphate can block the corals ability to consume calcium. That, coupled with the elevated nitrates may be the reason your corals are not happy.

Be leary of a low phosphate reading. If you have problematic algae, it could be consuming the phosphate as quick as it is being produced.

Also, how old are your bulbs?
 
I have mushrooms, xenia, finger leather, rose anemone.

I am attaching some pics so you can see what it looks like.
 
I'll check the phosphate and post later.
My bulbs are approx. 6 mos. old.

I do have a hang on refugium with LOTS of caulerpa in it. So much that I need to thin it out.
 
Oh crud...I forgot to say that the temp stays constant at 77.6 unless it is Summer time then it is at 80.
 
@rio32 wrote:
Okay here are the current water parameters: Nitrates - 10-20 ppm (hard to tell exactly) pH - 8.3 daytime said:
All except for the nitrates are good the nitrates should be less than 10 ppm. From the pictures it looks like you just have Soft corals in your tank and PC or T5's should be just fine they do not require a lot of light. In fact the lighting that you have should be OK as well unless you are planning on adding SPS corals in the future.

How long has your tank been setup?
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Tank has been set up for a little over 4 years.
I just can't seem to get the realy purple coraline algae and even xenia tends to fade away sometimes.

Not really sure but I will start with the Nitrates.

Probably because I get lazy with water changes. (ooops did I say that out loud?)

To tell you the truth I have always looked at my Rose anemone to tell me if there are water quality issues. My rose got too close to a power head and well....you know the rest. He used to be 3 times that size. Now he just stays at what you see.

Tracy
 
I would start with performing a 20% water change every week or more often. It will take some time to get the nitrates down with just water changes so you will need to be patient. You can also try chemical means to lower you nitrates such as this one http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~SearchStr~nitrates~action~view~idProduct~CP2151~idCategory~FIADSAWE~category~AZ_NO3_Nitrate_Eliminator_240mL_Saltwater_Aquarium_Supplies_Additives_Specialty_Nitrate__Phosphate_Eliminators~vendor~.html but with a low fish load I would try water changes first. . I did not see that many fish in your aquarium so make sure that you are not over feeding and this will help you control your nitrates and any phosphate issues if you have any.

Make sure to clean you skimmer on a regular bases if you have one. You don’t seem to have an algae problem which is good. A refugium with macro algae is also a excellent way to control nitrates the natural way and a Phosban reactor will take care of any phosphate issues if you have any when you test.

Here is a thread on Marc’s battle with nitrates http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=36902&highlight=nitrates so you can get an idea of what it will take to bring it down. You should feel free to contact him if you have any questions.

Hope this helps.
 
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