acro help

[littleyea1]

Who in here has acro just under t5 lighting and not mh? I would like to hear how many bulbs you have, what wattage, and kelvin rating? I would like to know if your coral is growing, and what your tank size is, and what chemicals you add to your tank such as calcium and such? thanks - fred

 

[winyfrog]

I have acros growing under T12's (VHO) 110watts each I run 4 of them 2 super actinic and 2 white actinic. My acros are about 10" from the light and grow slow, but colors are good and they are healthy.

I have heard good things about T5's and seen frags from tanks that grow with t5's, although they will color up more under my VHO's and MH.

 

[littleyea1]

I just bought some acro, and a piece of birds nest, for about ten bucks, it seemed healthy and has polyp extension, I have a frag rack that is under some flow from a power head and is 3 inches from a set of my t5 lights 4 bulbs 39 watts 10,000 k white blue white blue white color configuration... i do water changes ever week... my water tests for nitrates are 0 and phosphates 0 . I don't know about my alkalintiy because I dont have a test for it... any suggestions hard corals are new to me?

 

[winyfrog]

Your going to want to test your calcium and alk. Keep your phosphates down.

They should do fine under those t5's. The birds nest is good starter sps, monipora are also good sps to start with.

 

[yote]

I kept acros in my old 75 under 8X 54 watt T-5s.Cant remember the K temp of the bulbs tho.
You'll probably want to acclimate your new SPS to your light.Corals need to be acclimated to T-5s the same as halides.
Also get a good alkalinity test kit and calcium kit,and get in the habit of daily or every other day testing.SPS require stable parameters,so you may have to do small doses daily to keep them happy.

 

[littleyea1]

well that I guess was my original question, my tank as of now has most soft coral and easy hard corals, and all i do is weekly 2 gallon water changes in my 29gal... I wanted to see if someone in here did not have a sump because I do not, and had a method of having sps like acro under t5 and have them grow a little and what method they used to dose supplement if they even do... I tried acro before and about 2 months it bleached but i had less light, now i have more so hopefully it will work, I am not sure... I know I have seen on the interenet people having like methods of drip techniques but I do not have the time or the want to try kalkwiser powder again.. it take to much time for such a little tank that i have ?

 

[yote]

Before I started getting hit with a lot of over time,I was dosing 2 tsp of Turbo calcium,3 tsps of baked baking soda,and dripping kalk every night,just to keep up with calcium and alkalinity consumption.
Since all the OT started,I've not had to keep up with it,so I took most of my SPS back to the store.If I ever set up a calcium reactor,I'll get back into SPS.

 

[littleyea1]

if i have 2 2inch frags of acro do you think my calcium consumption will be a lot

 

[daugherty]

no it will not be a lot

 

[winyfrog]

the main thing to keeping acros is a very stable environment. and of course great water quality. Good random flow and good lighting.

I am in the process right now in setting up a tank in my store using only t5 for an sps tank I will be using 4 54 watt bulbs over a 24" deep tank. Ill see how that goes.

 

[yote]

if i have 2 2inch frags of acro do you think my calcium consumption will be a lot

Nope.A single acro wont use that much calcium and carbonate.But you have to keep in mind that other stuff is using the same calcium and carbonates.Stuff like coralline algae.

the main thing to keeping acros is a very stable environment. and of course great water quality. Good random flow and good lighting.

I am in the process right now in setting up a tank in my store using only t5 for an sps tank I will be using 4 54 watt bulbs over a 24" deep tank. Ill see how that goes.

Good luck with it Winy.