ORA raised SPS coral

[mandarinlove]

Hi all. I have 96 watts of T5 lighting on a 29 gallon bio cube. I also have an Ecoxotic panorama LED module on it. I have an ORA raised green birds nest and Pink Birds nest. I have really good growth, especially with the ORA raised birds nest. Do a lot of the ORA raised SPS acros not require as much light as other acros? Even on the website liveaquaria.com they say moderate to high lighting for the ORA raised. If I'm having solid growth with my green birds nest, do you think I could try and get an acro? The tank has been up and running for 2 years now, everything is VERY VERY healthy.

Something like this?

Saltwater Aquarium Corals for Marine Reef Aquariums: Hawkin's Blue Echinata, Aquacultured, ORA

Thanks!

 

[slitherbomb]

Acropora and most SPS coral can be grown even under compact fluorescents, depending on the placement, but they turn an ugly color.

 

[mandarinlove]

Yea, I understand that but I am getting great color and growth on my birdsnest corals. Some people tell me that they need more lighting then some acros. So, what should I do?

 

[slitherbomb]

Yes definitely. But by t5 lighting on your biocube, did you upgrade the lights? Because biocubes come with power compacts.

 

[mandarinlove]

Yes, I upgraded to T5 lighting. The PC on the biocube were terrible. Eventually I am thinking about upgrading to the Acan LED lighting, but I am waiting until I get a house and upgrade to a much bigger reef system.

 

[slitherbomb]

Then yeah you can get the acro.

 

[ccCapt]

Do a lot of the ORA raised SPS acros not require as much light as other acros?

No, but not all acros needs the same amount of light since they all don't live at the same water depth. ORA corals are grown in a greenhouse using natural sunlight and supplemented by metal halides. They, naturally, originated in the ocean on a reef somewhere, but have been raised in aquariums so they are usually more forgiving than corals fresh off the reef.
The Echinata is a deeper water SPS and doesn't need quite as much light as some others. It should do fine in your system

 

[Gti_Leo]

i had a friend that grew acros in his jbj nano 12g that was using power compacts. when i asked him how they did he told me they were jus ta low light regular acropora and hits a relitivly shallow tank. i don't know how SPS would do under a PC in a 29g system

 

[mandarinlove]

I don't have PC in my tank, I have 96 watts of T5 and ecoxotic LED modules as well.

I'm going to try an acro, see what happens. I'm hoping I'll have success.!

 

[Fishguy2727]

With enough compacts you can keep acro thriving. One of the best looking acros I have seen in any tank was in a 34 gallon Red Sea Max that had factory compacts. He also had clams thriving.

My tank had compacts and had SPS and clams doing well.

It is not the type of light but the amount that matters.

 

[mandarinlove]

Some of these acros ive been reading need 3 watts per gallon to be successful. I have about 110 watts of light for a 29 gallon tank. That's 4.1 watts per gallon, so I assume if I place it high enough in the tank it should thrive.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Not just the amount, it is the PAR, or the spectrum of the light that will promote coral growth. Huge amount of information on this available thru this forum. If the spectrum and intensity are both there, the coral grows regardless of the technology producing the light. Heat build up, cost to relamp, and total light output should be what you use when considering proper lighting for your setup. I am a fan of LEDs, but even with this you need to be careful what you are buying.