lighting

[Cheeng Su An]

hi folks and pro out there ,

i need advise on lighting for 4x2x2 mostly sps tank.

i am using wave point consist of 6 bulbs 4xT5 + 2xT5 (2 wavepoint sunwave white , 2 wavepoint super artinic blue , 1xATI Aquablue Special 1x ATI Purple Plus)

i asked some SPS keeper they said SPS tank require 8-10 bulbs T5 and 6 bulbs consider minimum requirement .

what should i do ?? my tank has no space for additional T5 and i was planning to put DIY leds to increase lighting quality .

i am thinking of to change currently bulb to full set ATI bulbs(currently running on 4 wavepoint and 2 ATI) and which combination of ATI bulbs is recommended for SPS tank??

appreciate your advice and thank you for your time .

[james72]

Need so much light meh? I think you can make do with 6 x T5 by using good deflectors and positioning them lower for intensity. I believe kH & temp stability is still number 1 parameters for sps, lights and flow are secondary.

[Evolutionz]

6 tubes should be enough but provided it is individual reflectors and not 1 big reflectors for all the bues.

[cedricang]

The two seniors are quite right, 6 tubes is about right for most SPS ( for a width of 2 to 2.5 ft width and height tank ). From my experience, about 60-70% of SPS do trive without having accessive light intensity.

As James also righty pointed out that water parameter will be the first qualifying criteria for good sps colors, lighting will come next in line with equally important in providing the right PAR spectrum.

I believe that the design and built of the T5 light set do have a difference in terms of performance. The well known ATI T5 system is one example of a fine T5 light set.

In short, without reasonale good water quality, no matter how much lighting is given, it wont do much good to SPS coloration.

[brojj]

Yah, 6 tubes is sufficent. 8 tubes would juz nice cover up the whole length of the tank (2 ft, ATI lightset) but that would leave no space for your hands to go in & do maint.

[Cheeng Su An]

thx all ,

i am currently using 6 ATI bulbs with wavepoint single reflector unit , i added in DIY leds and so far lighting is still ok (cant say very good ).......

[Fukcable Fcuker]

the tank will get hot using T5, can i use T5 without chiller ?

[brojj]

U can do without chiller if u do not intend to keep any corals, using T5. If u re using MH, chiller is a must.