yrevanth Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Guys, I am looking for some really nice and decent sized SPS corals, can you please let me know which ones are easy to keep (scratch) (and not too aggressive) and also are suitable for my lighting, consider the fact that I am a Noob!! :P !?! Tank Stats: 29 G 18 in deep 2 T5HO's (1 acitinic bulb, 1 regular T5HO) Please do let me know if you have any for trading/ suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRENT Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Man, that's really hard because of your lighting. you may want to look into some new lighting before you try SPS's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yrevanth Posted September 27, 2011 Author Share Posted September 27, 2011 Ok.. Any suggestions for type of lighting? Please do let me know, because I am a total Noob to lighting systems... all these things confuse me a lot!! :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 I would agree you might want to upgrade before starting with SPS. As far as nice beginner sps birdnests are usually a good one to start with. I also have a few SPS colonies in one of my tanks that have been bulletproof surviving salinity drops, temperature swings, lower pars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yrevanth Posted September 27, 2011 Author Share Posted September 27, 2011 awesome!! would love to upgrade as soon as possible, need to check out some lights.. can anyone suggest some good lighting for my tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanS Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Lighting is one of the most expensive pieces of a successful reef setup, so prepare yourself! I don't know what kind of hood or canopy your tank has, so here are some options: Many people like to use Metal Halide (MH) lighting like the ones below. If you do not have a hood and would like a stand alone light source, I recommend a http://www.marinedepot.com/lighting_metal_halide_coralife_aqualight_advanced-ap.html with a 150w Double Ended (DE) Phoenix 14k bulb. If you have a canopy are are good at working with your hands, you could try getting a retrofit kit like one of these: http://www.aquacave.com/searchresult.aspx?CategoryID=439 If you do not want to go the MH route, you could supplement your 2xT5s with perhaps 2 more T5's. I am no expert on T5s though. Someone else can guide you with those. Your final option would be to reconsider keeping SPS at all. There are many beautiful species of coral that can be kept under your current lighting, and are much more hardy and resilient to a beginner! Good luck with everything! Ryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimberlee Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 I've got T-5s, and love them. I started adding sps'es of all types 6 months ago, and they're doing great. You will want to add at least another 2 bulbs to what you have though. Most sps'es need a lot of light, but under the right T-5 lighting you can keep them and I personally have seen better color under T-5's. (that's my opinion). If you feel like making the trip I have a birds nest I've had under 2 T-5 bulbs, doesn't seen too like as much light as most sps, I give a frag up cheap. Emerald is right about the birds nest being easier to keep than the rest of the sps'es. My set up is 4 36watt T-5s. 2 blue plus, 1 purple 454 and a 6,700 k daylight. This is over a 40B and I do keep most my sps up mid to top of the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yrevanth Posted September 28, 2011 Author Share Posted September 28, 2011 Hmm.. I need to check out T5 hoods then.. I have one with 2 bulbs in it... and i cant add one more, as it wont fit on my tank.. and the 4 X T5 hoods are really expensive, i would rather go the LED lights way than the 4X T5... but wouldnt mind checking if someone wants to let go of their T5 hood which is 30 inches long... with 4 bulbs... :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drunkreefer Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 AquaticEngineer has two 400 watt MH ballast and two radium bulbs... all you would need is a cord and reflector. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yrevanth Posted September 28, 2011 Author Share Posted September 28, 2011 hmm... will that be overkill for my 29G? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 AquaticEngineer has two 400 watt MH ballast and two radium bulbs... all you would need is a cord and reflector. wow...80 watts on a 29? kinda ridiculous, isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVPaquatics Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 I have some pavona you could try out. Pretty much bulletproof sps. The one i start all my customers out on. It may dim in green a little but shouldnt die. That is enough light for this coral, i have had it under dual t5 many times. I just wouldnt venture too far into acropora. Sometimes i think people assume acros when you talk sps. But there are many "sps" you could keep. Try it out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandinga Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 switch to 150 watt halides, or 175 watt...or t-5...or both! easy beginner corals would include orange montipora cap, green slimer acro. Technically there really arent any easy sps...just cheaper ones that if they die will hurt the pocketbook less. Some people like kim and beth do awesome with birdsnest, while I cant keep any alive at all! On the other hand people struggle with other sps that grow like weeds in my tanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 switch to 150 watt halides, or 175 watt...or t-5...or both! easy beginner corals would include orange montipora cap, green slimer acro. Technically there really arent any easy sps...just cheaper ones that if they die will hurt the pocketbook less. Some people like kim and beth do awesome with birdsnest, while I cant keep any alive at all! On the other hand people struggle with other sps that grow like weeds in my tanks. That is true Isaac. I can't ever get tricolors to hold their color in the sps tank and can't figure out why. My first sps was a green birdnest and I was so proud of myself when it grew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 switch to 150 watt halides, or 175 watt...or t-5...or both! easy beginner corals would include orange montipora cap, green slimer acro. Technically there really arent any easy sps...just cheaper ones that if they die will hurt the pocketbook less. Some people like kim and beth do awesome with birdsnest, while I cant keep any alive at all! On the other hand people struggle with other sps that grow like weeds in my tanks. That is true Isaac. I can't ever get tricolors to hold their color in the sps tank and can't figure out why. My first sps was a green birdnest and I was so proud of myself when it grew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-Dog Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 switch to 150 watt halides, or 175 watt...or t-5...or both! easy beginner corals would include orange montipora cap, green slimer acro. Technically there really arent any easy sps...just cheaper ones that if they die will hurt the pocketbook less. Some people like kim and beth do awesome with birdsnest, while I cant keep any alive at all! On the other hand people struggle with other sps that grow like weeds in my tanks. Isaac, are u saying the birdsnest I gave u died? Say it ain't so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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