Lighting help - LED / T5HO combo

[Slayer33]

Hello,

Needs some advice... I have a 60 gallon tank with a 20 gallon sump. It's 18" deep. I have a reef tank with fish and soft corals and LPS corals. I'm using RO water (changed from using straight tap water) and Aquaforest Reef Salt. Parameters are good..

I have been using a Current USA Orbit IC light.. not marine not pro. It's a 36" unit. I was told that I should add a T5HO light to my setup cause the Orbit IC is weak.

So I got a dual t5ho fixture and added 1x Fluval 39W atinic and 1x Fluval 39W power spectrum bulb.

I use the Orbit IC peak day setting at 100% blue 30% white 50% green and 30% red. The t5ho runs for 6 hours during the peak time..

My issue is the color of my zoas at the bottom of the tank.. they've turn brown but are still growing.. color is minimal..

Should I change the settings on the Orbit IC? Or maybe it's too much white and I should change the t5ho to 2x atinic blubs a d crank the white on the Orbit? Maybe a different t5ho bulb from a different manufacturer?

Thanks in advance

 

[Slayer33]

Oh and I have started seeing some algae growth on the live rock and glass.. bright green stuff.. just picked up a few more snails etc for the CUC to try to combat it..

 

[Ron Reefman]

The IC fixture is still a very weak fixture using leds that are less than 1/2 watt compared to even cheap Mars Aqua fixture leds that are 3 watts. But they are only driven at 1.9 watts, which is still 4 times stronger than your Current Orbit.

Your tank is 18" deep, mine is about the same (20" but not full). My fixture uses 3 watt leds driven at 2.2 watts and I run my blues channels (2) at 90% and white and violet channels at 40%. That's more than 4 times your led fixture.

Your two t5's are a big help but I don't know the output spectrum of the Fluval 39W power spectrum bulb.

I'd kill the red spectrum from the Current fixture. It's just helping the algae grow. But then algae growth has so many possibilities. Even if your nitrate and phosphate tests are good, it's probably because the algae is taking it out of the water as fast as it's introduced into the water by whatever the source (likely over feeding).