Sps

[Mik_101]

I have 2x 175w 10k metal halides and 2x 39w actinics and all togeter I have 428w witch is 9 watts per gallon. My question is can I keep sps corals and get the color out of them ok I know that I wont get the hole coral to have color but will I at least get the tips - 1/2 the coral to have color?

[MikeP]

How deep is the tank? I would think you will be ok if the corals are placed near the top.

[Mik_101]

How deep is the tank? I would think you will be ok if the corals are placed near the top.

The tank is 20" deep

[vanreefer]

Should be fine start with a more hearty coral like a monti cap and go from there... 175W MH is ample for a 20" high tank

[Snappy]

I would venture to say yes you can do quite well with that lighting depending on the coral......It depends on the types of sps you want to keep. There are so many variables.
I used to have 175W mh and had some pretty reasonable results, so for the most part you should be fine. I would however warn you that if you start growing sps under 175's an upgrade is eventually inevitable as you will start to want the harder to keep species to get more colour. Well maybe that was just me.:wink:

[Mik_101]

Ha ha i bet that will happen 110%:lol:

[michika]

I'd say your probably okay to start with something harder and move on up gradually. I keep my SPS under 175w in an 18" deep tank, and they are doing quite well. I admit it takes a bit longer for color to recover, but so far I'm pleased with my 175w.

[DanG]

just don't go with too high of a k bulb, try to stay arount 10,000k as they will have a higher par output than a 20,000k bulb. get some decent actinic bulbs and you should be good. 39w leads me to believe they're T5's and if so, URI and ATI both make great HO T5 actinic bulbs.