24" is a medium depth tank. Anything over is considered fairly deep. For 24" VHO would be fine for anything but SPS and certain clams. But, in your original post you mentioned wanting to be able to "keep any type of coral thriving, not just surviving". IMO the only way to do this is to go with MH's. For 24" you would be fine with 250 watts. If you really want to be able to keep anything, you could go with 400. But 250 should be plenty. With halides typically you want one bulb per 24" of tank length. So for a 6' tank you would want 3 bulbs. HTH
Advice from everybody would be great!!
- Thread starter dnorton1978
- Start date
I was thinking of doing around 770 watts which would be about 6.16 watts per gallon. Everything I currently have is thriving off of 3.9 watts per gallon.
I have green star polyp, xenia, gree hairy mushroom, galaxia, clam. I know I cant keep everything yet, but I do want the new tank to be set up for everything..
I have green star polyp, xenia, gree hairy mushroom, galaxia, clam. I know I cant keep everything yet, but I do want the new tank to be set up for everything..
I have had the absolute worst experiences with Rio. I'd personally avoid at all costs. A Maxijet or Mag isn't much more but is a lot better.
24" tank is relatively deep. The VHO will be okay for most corals except the really light-demanding SPS specimens which you will only be able to keep at the top. If you're planning on keeping more soft corals and LPS like you have now, you'll be perfectly fine.
24" tank is relatively deep. The VHO will be okay for most corals except the really light-demanding SPS specimens which you will only be able to keep at the top. If you're planning on keeping more soft corals and LPS like you have now, you'll be perfectly fine.
It's not a clear terminology, but in general, SPS are for corals with very small polyps (under 5mm for sure, but usually under 2-3mm). LPS have bigger polyps. Examples of SPS are Acropora, Montipora, Stylophora, Seriatopora. etc. Examples of LPS are Bubble corals, Brain Corals, Elegance Corals, Hammers, etc. There are some ambiously categorized corals like cup corals (Tubinaria sp.) or arguably even Micromussa, though most would consider the latter a LPS because it's a smaller cousin of Acans and Blastomussas (both LPS).
Hope that wasn't more confusing
Hope that wasn't more confusing
In addition to what Len said, SPS is short for "small polyped stoney" corals, or "small polyped scleractinian". LPS is large instead of small. These are all stoney or hard corals with a calcarious base skeleton of some type, as opposed to soft corals which are largely water and small spicules.
agree.. stay away from rios, go with MJ's. You MAY consider a TUNZE Stream if you want really good circulation. I don't really think a few mj1200's and some 9's will do the trick. I have 2mj1200 and 1 Mag 9.5 in my 65g cube and it is only 24X24.
You could accomplish a lot more with a Tunze, but then again they are a little $$.
Overall though it sounds like a decent deal. Make sure your floor will be ok with it BEFORE you set it up and fill it with water
B
You could accomplish a lot more with a Tunze, but then again they are a little $$.
Overall though it sounds like a decent deal. Make sure your floor will be ok with it BEFORE you set it up and fill it with water
B
DNORTON,
I ran 6 110Watt VHO's over my 75 gallon. I believe that is somewhere around 8 watts per gallon and I think a 75 is 20" deep . (someone can correct me).
Anyway, I was keeping the best looking Orange Montipora Digitata that I have ever seen and it grew from about 4" to 12" in the tank, It was beautiful until I had a run in with STN.
I was also keeping a Crocea clam and a couple of LPS. An open brain and some bubble. I didn't have any problems with anything thriving in that environment. I did feed B-ionic and DT's heavily, but the light was fine.
I do not see any reason you couldn't do just as well with VHO.
I personally think it gives the most vibrant colors to most corals even though it does look artificial... I think it's just a matter of preference.
I have to say I like my MH now too though.
I ran 6 110Watt VHO's over my 75 gallon. I believe that is somewhere around 8 watts per gallon and I think a 75 is 20" deep . (someone can correct me).
Anyway, I was keeping the best looking Orange Montipora Digitata that I have ever seen and it grew from about 4" to 12" in the tank, It was beautiful until I had a run in with STN.
I was also keeping a Crocea clam and a couple of LPS. An open brain and some bubble. I didn't have any problems with anything thriving in that environment. I did feed B-ionic and DT's heavily, but the light was fine.
I do not see any reason you couldn't do just as well with VHO.
I personally think it gives the most vibrant colors to most corals even though it does look artificial... I think it's just a matter of preference.
I have to say I like my MH now too though.
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