Elricsfate
New member
Briefly,
I have a number of small frags. Several are mushrooms. In addition I have GSP, Pulsing Xenia, 1 Stylophora, and a Purple Gorgonian. Basically, low-med light corals with the exception of the Stylophora.
While picking up a couple of fish and a coral or two recently at a marine specialty store I was speaking to the owner and asked him for specific PAR recommendations. He told me if I got my par to 200-250 at the top and ~100 on the bottom, I should be good.
So I whipped out my Seneye and started tweaking the lights. I got the levels he recommended and then placed the corals bottom-middle-top depending on their recommended light levels (via LA and other sites). For the record, all the corals appear to be doing well (though not a lot of noticeable growth except for the mushrooms). So I believe I have the lights about right for my setup. I'm just trying to square my perception of the light level in my tank versus the many other tanks I've seen.
To achieve 200-250 PAR at the top of the tank I have my blues set at ~40% and my whites at about 15-20% (using LEDGLE fixtures bought on Amazon). So, of course I see pictures of folks with tanks covered by all manner of metal halides, T5's, and such...that look like they are lit up like the sun. Mine looks more dim (not unpleasant though).
I get that many of the SPS require much higher light, but even if you tripled my output to around 700 PAR it still wouldn't be as bright and intense as a couple of 400w Metal Halides. So what am I missing?
I have a number of small frags. Several are mushrooms. In addition I have GSP, Pulsing Xenia, 1 Stylophora, and a Purple Gorgonian. Basically, low-med light corals with the exception of the Stylophora.
While picking up a couple of fish and a coral or two recently at a marine specialty store I was speaking to the owner and asked him for specific PAR recommendations. He told me if I got my par to 200-250 at the top and ~100 on the bottom, I should be good.
So I whipped out my Seneye and started tweaking the lights. I got the levels he recommended and then placed the corals bottom-middle-top depending on their recommended light levels (via LA and other sites). For the record, all the corals appear to be doing well (though not a lot of noticeable growth except for the mushrooms). So I believe I have the lights about right for my setup. I'm just trying to square my perception of the light level in my tank versus the many other tanks I've seen.
To achieve 200-250 PAR at the top of the tank I have my blues set at ~40% and my whites at about 15-20% (using LEDGLE fixtures bought on Amazon). So, of course I see pictures of folks with tanks covered by all manner of metal halides, T5's, and such...that look like they are lit up like the sun. Mine looks more dim (not unpleasant though).
I get that many of the SPS require much higher light, but even if you tripled my output to around 700 PAR it still wouldn't be as bright and intense as a couple of 400w Metal Halides. So what am I missing?
