SPS lighting

[Kylefitz]

Hi I currently has the fluval evo 13.5 and am looking to add some SPS and was wondering if my current lighting schedule/intensity would be enough? I have the AI prime 16HD Thanks!

[jservedio]

Yes - that's plenty of light to get started with, you will likely want to adjust things once you get some SPS in there and they adjust, but you aren't going to be killing anything for a lack of light. SPS need far less light than most people assume - your tanks stability (particularly alkalinity) is far, far more important than the light.

 

For reference, my 20g tall tank is using about 46 watts of LED with 120 degree optics with a shorter full-intensity photoperiod and I can grow acros on the sandbed with great color and a couple years ago was only using roughly 35w with zero lighting issues. If you have issues with SPS, it certainly isn't going to be because of your light!

[Kylefitz]

Thanks! That gives me some reassurance. Im starting to dose now and dial in my alk, calcium etc. Lastly I’m curious on the amount of flow in your tank? 

[mitten_reef]

19 minutes ago, Kylefitz said:

Thanks! That gives me some reassurance. Im starting to dose now and dial in my alk, calcium etc. Lastly I’m curious on the amount of flow in your tank? 

 

[Kylefitz]

Oh awesome I’ll check it out! Congrats 

[jservedio]

1 hour ago, Kylefitz said:

Oh awesome I’ll check it out! Congrats 

Thanks! If you have questions about flow, add what you are currently using to the thread and add a picture of your tank so we can see the scape and placement of your powerheads. If you have an MP10, Nero, or one of the various Gyre pumps, placement will be dead simple, but if you are using multiple small fixed-flow powerheads, it can be slightly more tricky.

[Matteo]

if you wanted to go pro for SPS lighting you could always add an 18in T5HO strip. 

 

My sticks have 0 shadowing now that I switched to T5 dominant. I think they react better to a more even spread natural light. 

 

The prime will do fine though for sure! 

[Kylefitz]

On 7/24/2020 at 12:15 PM, Matteo said:

if you wanted to go pro for SPS lighting you could always add an 18in T5HO strip. 

 

My sticks have 0 shadowing now that I switched to T5 dominant. I think they react better to a more even spread natural light. 

 

The prime will do fine though for sure! 

Good point thanks! I Have a large bubble tip and decided to go anemone only versus stress over touching  

[paulsz]

Hi,

Just wanted to share some PAR readings i took today for an AI Prime HD on top of my fluval evo 13.5. Hope it helps a little!

 

https://www.nano-reef.com/forums/topic/414308-fluval-evo-135-par-readings-with-ai-prime-hd/

[Kylefitz]

On 8/2/2020 at 10:08 PM, paulsz said:

Hi,

Just wanted to share some PAR readings i took today for an AI Prime HD on top of my fluval evo 13.5. Hope it helps a little!

 

https://www.nano-reef.com/forums/topic/414308-fluval-evo-135-par-readings-with-ai-prime-hd/

Super helpful! Have been curious but not enough to rent a par meter 

[paulsz]

On 8/14/2020 at 6:57 PM, Kylefitz said:

Super helpful! Have been curious but not enough to rent a par meter 

I've added more data now. Two at lower intensities, one at higher.  Sorry it's missing some points, rockwork in the way and I haven't had the chance to upload a pic of the rockwork with the PAR readings at different points. But you can get a good idea regardless of the missing points. 

 

Same link as above