How to Keep SPS Coral Part 1: Testing, Lighting, and Flow

In part one of a series of tips for SPS care I cover water parameters, what kind of lighting works best, and the ideal water flow.

If you are interested in some home grown, pest free and colorful SPS frags then please visit my online coral store:

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---------Camera Used To Shoot This Video-------

Sony A7 iii

-----Gimbal-----

Zhiyun Crane

-------Lenses Used to Shoot Video------

Sony FE 90mm F2.8 Macro Lens

Sony FE 24-70mm F4

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This VIDEO was EDITED with Adobe Premiere Elements on a Mac.

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[the.humble.reefer]

Always great videos and a big follower of your channel. Love the book too and thank you for your knowledge

[davidreef]

great video i'm just starting my tank and i'm following your tips
Thank you👍👍👍

[billray]

hi nice video what number do you run for alk on your display tank ???

[NickRosePhotos]

What settings do you have on your Vortech pumps?

[Elevminh]

@reefbum Hi Keith. I have a 6 foot Waterbox peninsula with 2 mp60’s and I plan on running a sps dominant reef tank. Do you think with your experience sir I’ll be able to get away with just the mp60’s on one side? I really don’t want to attach any wave makers the the other end. My aquascape is lifted so there will be no corals towards the bottom of the tank. Thank you so much in advance sir!

[Alex_Correa]

PAR isn't everything. Quality of lighting involves reflection, total spectrum, coverage, blending, etc..
Metal halides and/or T5s have QUALITIES that LEDs don't.
LEDs can grow corals "just fine", we hear that all the time, but halides and/or T5s will grow them profusely, very similar to what happens in the ocean!
Coral health isn't only related to PAR and measuring PAR from any light source won't tell you all the qualities that light will offer to your corals.
Many halide users and even scientists don't know exactly what happen and what is the real magic of metal halides, but results won't lie! The main differences is the emission of ultra violet and infra red. Those are offered in the right amount from the bulbs, just like the sun over the reef! They must be great part of the magic!
To change color spectrum of LEDs is actually the biggest mistake one can do. It's worse when they play with that all the time, so it's not an advantage, but a negative quality of most LEDs IMO. That is one of the reasons why so many corals die every day in newbies' hands.
Coral Box makes a better pump than Ecotech. You can change it's direction in the tank. The motor is inside of the tank. I like the random flow too! Cheers!