ATI 80x 8 fixture

[ecam]

Guys how high off the water can I mount this fixture, while still being able to grow anything on the sand (mainly just acclimating - sps)? The tank is a standard 180 (72x24x24)

I believe that par needs to be around 300 for SPS (is this correct)

 

[mnat]

How high do you want to mount it? You should be fine with a resonable hang height. ATI are powerful and thier reflectors are very good.

 

[ecam]

Between 16-18 inches off the water

How high do you want to mount it? You should be fine with a resonable hang height. ATI are powerful and thier reflectors are very good.

 

[mnat]

Was just looking at the tank build, so they will essentially be on the top of your canopy?

 

[ecam]

No actually at the bottom... the fixture sits 2 inches from the bottom of the canopy.... So the canopy will float (attached to the wall) over the tank.. So if i hang it 14 inches off the tank the fixture will be 16 inches off the water

Was just looking at the tank build, so they will essentially be on the top of your canopy?

 

[mnat]

Gotcha, I think you should be fine there. Acclimating SPS is more for LEDs, with starting them on the bottom and moving them up. With the T5s you should be able to place the coral pretty much exactly where you want it and go from there.

 

[Empire]

i disagree. always acclimate SPS, unless you have identical lighting as the seller. brown sps is better than bleached sps. consider this scenario- seller has LEDs with par rating of +/- 300 at 20" below fixture. you are not going to place that coral at 8" below a T5 fixture (in edwin's case, 800 WATTS!!!) with par rating of probably 5-600. that expensive coral will now be as white as snow.

 

[jgraz]

Edwin we spoke about this already. As a T5 user I can't stress enough to light acclimate everything. Especially when coming in from a lower light tank.