72" aquatic life t5 good for acros?

[Gdk414]

Hi. New to the hobby in 2017. I hope this is the right place to post this, but i have a question.
I have my first serious reef tank, 125 gallons w a aquatic life t5 fixture w new ati bulbs
I know 6 bulbs is enough for acropora, but would 4 work? Its actually 8, 3 ft bulbs in rows of 4.
Now that im starting to buy more coral and going to FFM in March, i want to make sure i dont buy any corals than cannot grow if my light is inadequate.
Thanks

 

[Caseyoidae]

Ya, that should grow some acros it's a cool setup imo. More high par hotspots! Of course a par meter is always the best way to determine if they're bright enough

 

[hybridazn]

That light will grow sps but they will need to be kept higher up in the tank, like the upper 1/4 of the tank for them to grow. Anything lower than that might be difficult to grow the corals sps wise.

 

[Gdk414]

Some of my acros are around the half way mark. One of them i was told is a deep water acro. What are signs of too much light? Or not enough? Could i tell the diffrence. Im not seeing great polyp extention i dose brs cal and bicarb each week if beed be. Test every other day.

 

[hybridazn]

The term "deep water acro" is usually used on acropora that are smooth skinned, like any of the dragon acros for instance. If there isn't any polyp extension make sure all parameters are in check, alk is stable and that they aren't getting blasted by too much flow.

 

[Greybeard]

Two banks of 4x T5 should grow light loving corals just fine, provided placement and bulb selection is appropriate for the coral in question.

BRS's test on the ATI T5 was pretty good for general T5 info.
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/vide...ower-t5-lights-for-a-sps-dominant-reef-tanks/

 

[LetItReef]

When in doubt, add couple Reefbrites =)

 

[Gdk414]

Im trying to get more involved in the boston reefers society and hopefully someone can come over and hrlp me out.
My alk and cal are goid and stable (8.5-9.5dkh cal at 400 to 420) my mag is at 1650

I used old sand and rock from the previous tank owner. Washed the hell out of the sand and acid bath the rocks before i set up my tank. I kinda wish i started fresh w dry pukani because its always in my mind that maybe something in the old stuff if no good lol.

 

[[Cameron]]

Send the water in for ICP testing if you want to see a full run down of what is going on in the water column. Tanks tend to take about a year to really get rolling. In my opinion the best thing to do is not overthink it and don't over tinker. Screwing with flow, lighting, etc are frequent reasons tanks tend to falter early on. Most corals typically adapt if the water column is clean.

Getting accurate and detailed PAR, flow and water param numbers can be help dial in settings but beware that changes often disrupt growth and feeding to some extent.

 

[jda]

I agree with all of this and will add that I would use that fixture over any Kessil, AI or Radion on the market and expect to see better results in my tank.

If you get the bug for higher light stuff, then the choice to move to a 6 or 8 bulb fixture will be well-founded and easy, IMO.

You did good not starting with dry Pukani... it can take years for it to be as productive as what you have now and it can get every single pest that you currently have on the first frag that you get.

 

[joseserrano]

I had the 12 bulb unit on a 180, it grew acros fine. Top, middle, bottom of tank.

 

[BoomCorals]

I agree with all of this and will add that I would use that fixture over any Kessil, AI or Radion on the market and expect to see better results in my tank.

If you get the bug for higher light stuff, then the choice to move to a 6 or 8 bulb fixture will be well-founded and easy, IMO.

You did good not starting with dry Pukani... it can take years for it to be as productive as what you have now and it can get every single pest that you currently have on the first frag that you get.

I agree. You’ll have no issues at any level of your tank with T5.