Advice on LED setting for mixed reef

[Marco333]

I have the Reef Breeders Aquasanrise Plus R60 over my 40 breeder. It is about 6 inches from the water surface using the supplied tank mounting legs. I am looking to keep a mixed reef. Right now I have a few LPS and soft corals and one Hydnophora. I am trying to figure out the best light settings for my 6 channels. Please see the image below showing what I am currently running. Can anyone recommend any changes to best support a mixed reef?

http://i.imgur.com/TvBP7I5.jpg

Thank you!

 

[Ron Reefman]

It's just my opinion, but I think your light schedule is OK.

I have the RB Photon V2 over a 20" deep tank full of sps and some lps corals. So not the exact same fixture as yours, but pretty close. I run a long sunrise, a 4 hour midday that is constant and a long sunset. But there is nothing wrong with just doing the sunrise/sunset without the flat midday like I do.

I think the key is to have 'enough' light for the coral's zooxanthellae to do photosynthesis for at least 4 to 6 hours. And that requires more than just a little light. I have heard some reefers claim that doing much longer full daylight time, like 10 to 12 hours, makes corals grow faster. But I don't think the scientific evidence backs that claim up. I read somewhere (don't ask for a link, I don't have it) that coral zooxanthellae will only do photosynthesis for 4 to 6 hours once the light is bright enough for it to start. For hundreds of thousands of years coral have been getting enough daylight to do photosynthesis for about 4 to 6 hours and that is what the zooxanthellae is genetically designed to do. Extra hours of bright light doesn't hurt the coral or the zooxanthellae, but it doesn't really help either.

Here is the schedule I run. BTW, I took my time getting to these levels and I do have a PAR meter so I know pretty well how much light they are getting.

 

[Marco333]

Thanks for the reply! Very helpful. What is the reason you don't use the red and green channels?


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[Ron Reefman]

The Photon V2 is different from your Aquasanrise in one important way. The Photon has the leds in spread out array with lots of room between the red and green leds and all the others. The Aquasanrise uses pucks which put leds close together in groups.

The Photon will have red and green shadow edges under overhangs and ledges and the shimmer will also have red and green lines. This is due to the spacing between the leds. The Aquasanrise and other puck style fixtures put the red and green leds so close to all the other leds that they 'blend' much better. So you shouldn't have colorful shadow edges or 'disco' shimmer.

That's why I don't run the reds or greens. Besides, there is more than enough red and green in the white to keep the coral happy IMHO. You shouldn't have colored shadow edges or disco effect, and you should be able to run the red and green channels without these issues. I have to deal with them, so I don't run the red or green channels.

And your fixture has lots of pucks compared to most other puck fixtures. So you have your light spread around more than say a Kessil or Radion. So you should have shadows that aren't a deep and dark as other single point or puck fixtures. I wish I had paid more attention to the Aquasanrise when I was buying. It's not a huge improvement over the Photon V2, but if I had it to do over again, I'd choose the Aquasanrise. Don't get me wrong, I love my Photon V2's, but the Aquasanrise is just one stepp better IMHO.

 

[Marco333]

Thanks for the detailed reply! Makes sense.


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