Advice on lighting schedule please

[StaySalty]

Hey guys so I'm running a 160 watt maxspect razor over my 92 mixed corner (tank is 24 in deep). I've had it for a while(approx 8 months) and I've played around with the settings quite a bit.

Link to light: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/maxspect-r420r-razor-led-lighting-fixture-16000k.html

Some of my corals have a bleached look to them and I honestly don't know if I have too much/too little light or if im running it for too short/long of a period. It's basically set to peak for 8 hours at 70% whites, 100% blues. There's about 2 hours before and after this period that it ramps up/ramps down from 30% whites, 60% blue. I'm also using the 120 degree angle lens instead of the standard 90 that it came with. Before the razor, I was using a marineland reef crappable fixture and basically found out that it was not enough light for almost everthing.

What do you guys think? How would you run this fixture over a 92 corner?

 

[StaySalty]

Anyone?

 

[Pife]

I'd you went straight for that junk fixture to this schedule then I would say to take it down to 50% and ramp it up to where you want over a month or two. I bet you just shocked your corals if all your other parameters are stable and good.

 

[mshanej]

I did this to my tank when I first switched to LED.I kept ramping the lights up thinking thee coral needed more. Someone on here told me that "LED's may not look as bright to your eyes, but they are way stronger" So, I turned my lights down to 30% (where I am still at now after about a month of new LED's) and everything has perked up. o, like Pife said, I would think start low and slow. Apparently LED's are crazy strong.


( I have 165W full spectrum over a 16 gallon.)

 

[StaySalty]

Thanks for input guys. I had a feeling I might be running them too high. Im gonna try running them at about 50 percent during ramp up and ramp down at 2 hours each and ill just peak at 70 for four hours. Do u guys thin thats still too much?

 

[agranoff]

I have the 120w and a much smaller tank so it won't be a good guide - but I started running the max at 65% and my corals didn't like that. I now run it max at 50% and things are much better. I'd recommend starting low and ramping it over time to see where the best levels are.

 

[gone fishin]

I have the similar lighting schedule as you. It took me about 3-4 months to get there. Each week I increased a couple percent. After I got there I ended up relocating some corals, kind of a trial and error thing. Good luck

By the way how do you like 120 degree optics, I have been considering them.

 

[StaySalty]

I have the similar lighting schedule as you. It took me about 3-4 months to get there. Each week I increased a couple percent. After I got there I ended up relocating some corals, kind of a trial and error thing. Good luck

By the way how do you like 120 degree optics, I have been considering them.

From what I've seen, they're mostly a hit with people including myself. The color blending is much better (takes care of that annoying pink hue), the disco effect is significantly reduced and because my tank is a corner tank, I had issues with not being able to light the whole thing evenly. This is pretty much solved with the 120 reflectors. It's not perfect but its way better than before.

I was concerned about the PAR values and coralvue said they would release some PAR plots in the maxspect forum here on RC. But the plots they released ended up being almost useless. It would have been nice to have a decent plot so that someone in my position(someone struggling to get the right values) could make better educated guesses.


I've seen someone say that it takes away the shimmer but IMO, it makes the shimmer appear more natural.

 

[gone fishin]

Thanks for the info.

 

[StaySalty]

Thanks for the info.

Sure, also check the razor threads before you buy them. I think I paid 50 bucks for mine because I bought directly from the coralvue webiste. I think I saw one or two people trying to sell theirs.

 

[Fishyoga]

+1 on the Marineland Reef Crappable lighting. I switched out mine as quick as I could.
With ramping your current LED's, I've seen a lot of talk about good setups, and most agree around 50% max on the whites. Opinions vary on the blues, but a lot go with 100%, depending on colors.

 

[StaySalty]

+1 on the Marineland Reef Crappable lighting. I switched out mine as quick as I could.
With ramping your current LED's, I've seen a lot of talk about good setups, and most agree around 50% max on the whites. Opinions vary on the blues, but a lot go with 100%, depending on colors.

I changed the photoperiod and some things already seem to have a positive response. I went from 70% for 8 hours to 70% for 4 hours with 2 hours of ramp up/ramp down to/from 40%. Maybe I'm just imagining it. Gonna run this for a while and keep params in check and see where im at in 2 months or so.