Which light for frags in quarantine

ReefHog · Nov 5, 2019

My friend has a very large reef that is in need of thinning out. We will be fragging as much as we can. I am lucky enough to be the recipient of the frags (many of which will be sps). I will be quarantining the frags in a 40 breeder I'm specifically setting up for this. I will leave them in there for 45 days before adding them to my main display. My main display is a 6' x 24" x 28" 220g. The lights I currently use are three Kessil A360WEs. The Kessils work well for the various softies I have which all are growing and multiplying. I will be adding an Aquaticlife T5HO Hybrid 4-Lamp Mounting System to the 220g in preparation for the addition of the sps frags. I have some black boxes laying around that I can use for lighting the 40 breeder during the 45 day quarantine period. This will be my first time keeping sps so I'm a little nervous dialing in the black box. Would I be better setting myself up for success buying a 24" 4-lamp T5 fixture which would be more plug and play?

ihavecrabs · Nov 10, 2019

ReefHog said:
My friend has a very large reef that is in need of thinning out. We will be fragging as much as we can. I am lucky enough to be the recipient of the frags (many of which will be sps). I will be quarantining the frags in a 40 breeder I'm specifically setting up for this. I will leave them in there for 45 days before adding them to my main display. My main display is a 6' x 24" x 28" 220g. The lights I currently use are three Kessil A360WEs. The Kessils work well for the various softies I have which all are growing and multiplying. I will be adding an Aquaticlife T5HO Hybrid 4-Lamp Mounting System to the 220g in preparation for the addition of the sps frags. I have some black boxes laying around that I can use for lighting the 40 breeder during the 45 day quarantine period. This will be my first time keeping sps so I'm a little nervous dialing in the black box. Would I be better setting myself up for success buying a 24" 4-lamp T5 fixture which would be more plug and play?

Start with low intensity.. those black boxes put out some light. I run OR T247s above my tank and my intensity on whites is 30 and blue is 60. I use a PAR meter to dial mine in and always recommend the same to others since % intensity is all relative.

A T5 system is plug and play like you say, but knowing par would still be helpful to know where to start the SPS and how high you can move them.

In my opinion T5 are much more forgiving

ReefHog · Nov 11, 2019

Since this is my first go at SPS, I think I'm going to go with T5s. I can get a cheap amazon 4 lamp T5 fixture and load it with ATI lamps for quarantine period. I like a whiter look than most so I'm going to go ABS - C+- True Actinic - ABS.

SeaDweller · Nov 11, 2019

Why are you QTing so long? Does your buddy have known pests?

ReefHog · Nov 11, 2019

SeaDweller said:
Why are you QTing so long? Does your buddy have known pests?

Not that I’m aware of.

I ran my tank fallow for 90 days after velvet took 9 of 12 expensive fish last March. I’m pretty sure the velvet came in on coral I added three weeks prior as I hadn’t added a new fish in a long time. All fish in it now we’re strictly quarantined and treated with CP then observed with black molly before they were placed in tank. My plan moving forward is to quarantine everything that goes into the tank.