Acropora under PCs

[FinzAquatics]

Hey guys,
My tank only has power compacts, 130 watts on a 40g. Water quality is maintained very well.I know hard corals like montipora and acroproa are supposed to be under hallides. but i heard they can go under pcs but they will look alittle dull or and grow at a slower rate.

what do you guys think. can it be done, or should i bring those guys back.

again i like these corals alot, wont have a hallide till christmas

 

[meemoo]

I have a digi that grew under my 2x65w PC's and it was peach in my tank with Mh's and just turned more orange with my PC's. As for other SPS don't know.

 

[Scott G]

i have pc's on my 75, ive never grown any stony corals because i dont want them to turn brown , im hoping to get MH's soon though

 

[smcnally]

I wouldn't waste your money on them until you get halides. PC's don't throw off much light at all. If you had 2x80W T-5 I think you would be fine until you got hilides, but IMO the PC's aren't going to do much for acros. I think digis would be fine up top though.

 

[FinzAquatics]

money wise im not worried about it. i am getting hallides towards christmas... present for myself. i just figured id give it a shot. what do you guys think about other SPS?

 

[RobboT]

I kept green slimer acro, orange monti cap and pocillopora damicornus in a 75g under 4x65W PCs for about 2-3 months before upgrading to MH. Thye didnt grow at all but survived just fine. The coloration was different than the people I got them from and changed when the halides went in as you would expect.

Just make sure to slowly ramp up when you put halides in otherwise you will kill the SPS.

 

[FinzAquatics]

what do you mean by slowly ramp up, just so i know when i get the hallides

 

[Rays]

They have to be acclimated to the extreme change from PC's. When you get the halides, move all your corals to the bottom of the tank. Over a few weeks you can gradually move them towards the top again. It's like going out on the first warm day and sunbathing for a few of hours, ouch!

 

[wrassefan]

some lower light sps might do okay...if you want to try them, try digi, caps or monti spongodes up high with good flow

 

[RobboT]

Like Ray says, move them lower in the tank if you can. If you cant move them because they encrusted (which mine had done) just reduce the light period for a little while. You probably should be doing that anyway for the tanks overall health in general. How much you cut back depends on what you're getting for MH.

I went from 260W of light to 1200W so I started by first keeping the fixture far off the tank and cut to only 6 hours for the first week, then I dropped the light to final height and added an hour to the light period every few days until I got to 10 hours.

 

[APISTOBORELLI]

I have digi and monti in mine. 2x96W PC. Birdsnest is still growing too. There's blasto and candy cane as well. Upgrading soon, but for now, they are all happy.

 

[FinzAquatics]

awesome, so it can be done. just be careful when upgrading. i went out n bought sum birdsnest monti and some digi
they look good for now