hitawaah
Member
Yes I forgot to mention most of the back of the canopy is open and I have 4 Ice cap fans that have temp. guages to kick them on and off. Thanks for the input.
Kessil AP 700 Owners Gather Here!
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Yes I forgot to mention most of the back of the canopy is open and I have 4 Ice cap fans that have temp. guages to kick them on and off. Thanks for the input.
hitawaah
Member
Apogee SQ-500/520 right now is the best one that doesn't cost a fortune (LiCor LI-192).
SQ-500 requires a control box or a multimeter. Theatrus sells a cheap circuit board that attaches to a cheap multimeter that does the conversion for you.
SQ-520 is the same as the 500 but it has a USB connector at the end to connect to your computer. With this one you need to have a computer with you at all times to get a reading or a cheap windows tablet.
It really depends on what you want to spend. If you want to drop under $200 I would go for either the Apogee SQ-420 or the Seneye. Both of these options require a computer though.
Enterprise7
New member
I have the seneye and set 200-300 PAR and that is when things went bad. I have had the lights at 28-30% for months now trying to let them recover. I added a couple of new corals early in the summer and they lost color within a week, and I had them on the sand bed for a few days to let them acclimate.
I will check the water today or tomorrow. Alk was high at first with using Red Sea pro salt, but I switched to lower alk salt mixes.
The Reefer 450 is a 60"x21x22" I believe. I think I will get a set of the slight diffusers and try to set the lights up to around 200 PAR slowly and see how that does.
Do I need to add in some red and green with the iphone app? I am can fully believe my issues are user error. Being a early adopter had some issues and seeing this was my first use of LED, I can believe I made mistakes which is why I have been hands off for a few months to let the coral recover. I was successful last time in the hobby with MH and T5.
I will check the water today or tomorrow. Alk was high at first with using Red Sea pro salt, but I switched to lower alk salt mixes.
The Reefer 450 is a 60"x21x22" I believe. I think I will get a set of the slight diffusers and try to set the lights up to around 200 PAR slowly and see how that does.
Do I need to add in some red and green with the iphone app? I am can fully believe my issues are user error. Being a early adopter had some issues and seeing this was my first use of LED, I can believe I made mistakes which is why I have been hands off for a few months to let the coral recover. I was successful last time in the hobby with MH and T5.
vhuang168
New member
When you say loose color, do they go pale or brown? You mentioned both.
It can take weeks to almost a month before corals get used to the light n start to recover. Do not keep changing settings, every time you do, the corals have to acclimate again and stresses them out.
Find a schedule you like color wise and set the highest intensity at 30% to start (depending on how many lights you have for the tank size). When your sps start to settle (full polyp extension, base starting to encrust), start bumping up the lights a few % at a time letting your corals adjust before going higher.
If all/most are still brown, bump it higher more. It depends on your water parameters as well.
As I asked earlier, what are your numbers exactly!?! How old is the tank? How are you supplementing for elemental uptake?
You are not an early adopter. Lights have been out almost a year now. I've been using them since Feb.
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It can take weeks to almost a month before corals get used to the light n start to recover. Do not keep changing settings, every time you do, the corals have to acclimate again and stresses them out.
Find a schedule you like color wise and set the highest intensity at 30% to start (depending on how many lights you have for the tank size). When your sps start to settle (full polyp extension, base starting to encrust), start bumping up the lights a few % at a time letting your corals adjust before going higher.
If all/most are still brown, bump it higher more. It depends on your water parameters as well.
As I asked earlier, what are your numbers exactly!?! How old is the tank? How are you supplementing for elemental uptake?
You are not an early adopter. Lights have been out almost a year now. I've been using them since Feb.
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Enterprise7
New member
I started using them in January and I bought them on Black Friday last year. This has been going for 10 months. I will do water testing tonight and report back. I stopped doing dosing when the alk spiked and have just been doing 25% water changes every 2 weeks since then.
vhuang168
New member
If you've been using them this long and the corals are not colored up. Something is wrong.
Again, are they pale or brown?
Introduced into my tank July 14 from a fellow reefer running MH
Same frag. Picture taken Aug 3. So a little over 3 weeks.
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Again, are they pale or brown?
Introduced into my tank July 14 from a fellow reefer running MH
Same frag. Picture taken Aug 3. So a little over 3 weeks.
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Enterprise7
New member
They are pale. A few look good, but most do not.
bif24701
New member
I have had a friend take reading with a seneye when I set up my lights. The readings where exactly what I expected plus some better. I would say it is great for the money
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vhuang168
New member
hitawaah
Member
Im going to get one after I do more research into the best one for the price. I also plan on once I set my tank up make sure it's plumbed right and no leaks, draining it and taking readings in the empty tank in a lot of spots making sure I mark spot, led level, and par readings. Then when I fill it back up with saltwater doing the same tests and seeing exactly how the water refracts the light due to clarity and turbidity. I think this will be an interesting test on my particular tank.
Enterprise7
New member
I just did the basic tests.
DKH is 10
Nitrate is 0. Did both red sea and NYOS tests
Calcium is 380-400 done with red sea titration
I have a Potassium kit, so I will do that next.
DKH is 10
Nitrate is 0. Did both red sea and NYOS tests
Calcium is 380-400 done with red sea titration
I have a Potassium kit, so I will do that next.
bif24701
New member
Phosphate?
Zero nitrates could be a cause for pale colors. Corals need nutrients, do you feed the corals well? Zero nitrates are fine as long as you are inputting enough food for them on a regular basis. I also have a problem with zero nitrate and pale colors. They are improving because I started feeding more. AAs and micronutrients. Also added more fish. My colors have improved dramatically in a month. I also bleached some green montis myself, moved them further down in lower light and they are also improving.
Having a reef tank is very dynamic and you need to learn to watch for signs of stress and know how to react. Things don't always go as planned and learning to make fine adjustments is really the key. Changing your entire lighting system would just further the period for your corals to acclimate, adjust, and get settled.
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Enterprise7
New member
Ok, That Potassium kit is a PIA. 380-390. I will do the Phosphate and go to bed. I feed 10ml of reef energy A and B every other day and dose 100ml of Phyto on the other day to feed the pods for my Mandarin. Only have a few fish, but I was going to ramp the number back up in the next few weeks as I get past all the fall projects.
Enterprise7
New member
As best I can tell from the Red Sea kit, Phosphate is between .02 and .04 ppm. Very subtle shades from 0 to .04.
bif24701
New member
Ok, so your nutrients are low. Which is great for a SPS tank, but you still need to supply that nutrition to the corals for them to thrive.
Doesn't mean you need higher amount of inorganic nutrients but that you need to feed. Try feeding the fish more. And lower the ALK some, slowly.
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Doesn't mean you need higher amount of inorganic nutrients but that you need to feed. Try feeding the fish more. And lower the ALK some, slowly.
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