MarvinsReef said:
alright, update..
a friend of mine will help me incorporate a NO T-5 for dusk/dawn effect only.. I don't think I will need the wattage from the T-5's since I'm already running 250w on a 32g tank..
now, here's another question:
what is the best brand of 250w SE bulb you can recommend to me... please give me pro's and con's... I will be looking for great coloration and decent growth..
I've heard good things about Phoenix 14K but I had them on my old 75g but only 150w HQI and wasn't very impressed.. also, I've heard good things about 15K XM's...
Thanks
Marvin
they dont make a pheonix bulb in SE that I am aware of.
you cant run a radium on magnetic ballasts, so thats out. dont get the new 14k Iwasaki, absolutely blows for zoas.
i LOVED the XM15k's, only downside when i had these bulbs a year ago, was they were dimmer than the XM20k's. I've heard rumors they fixed this problem. Also, no one buys these bulbs b/c of the "PAR", so alot of stores have marked the prices down alot.
I'm not convinced by the whole PAR data. And I've yet to see anyone difinitively come forward that can say zoas grow faster with one bulb (like 10k) than another bulb (like 20k).
With that said, I always go for color over growth. Can't go wrong with the XM 20k, but it may be too blue for your tastes.
OH! Twon8 runs the 250w SE 14k AquaConnects, they have a HIGH price tag of over $100/bulb. But are so worth it, amazing color. I have no idea who sells them though. And I think he runs his on electronic ballasts, not sure how much of a difference it would make on a magnetic ballast. probably a little less blue.
As far as the barebottom thing. I wouldn't do it for a zoa mostly tank. All of the sps guys I know locally, are going back to having a sand bed from having a BB tank for the last year. They had issues with getting refugiums to work (they seemed to cause more harm than good), couldn't control random algae outbreaks in the tank. BB only works if you constantly siphon up deterius. Cant get those special nasarius and fighting conch snails if you go BB since they need the sand to burrow through and live.
Also, BB tank would be very low nutrient, which we know zoas dont like, and seem to struggle growing in conditions when there arent much nutrients in the water.
A local reefer to me, has a 850g BB tank, with zoas all over the bottom. He said he wishes he went with a sand bed. B/c once the zoas start spreading onto the starboard, he has not figured out a good way from them running into eachother and taking over everything along the floor. Which means your favorite frag may get over taken in a matter of weeks by 1 morph that seems to be growing like weeds all over the tank and destroying your other morphs.
Anyways, hope some of this helps.
