Lighting Questions

Darth Wader

Darth Wader

New member
Hey everybody. I'm have some light questions and would love peoples recommendations.

Here is some background about my tank.
60 gallon 24" cubed tank
15 gallon sump with refugium
Bubble magus nac3.5 skimmer
run gfo and carbon in BRS carbon reactor
return pump is tunze 1073.05
MP10 (want to add another for more flow)
Tunze osmolator ATO
dosing cal/alk/mag with BRS dosing pumps and levels are 400 cal 9.2 alk 1400 mag and all very stable. (PO4 is 0)
Weekly water changes of 10 gallons.

Now for the question. I'm currently using one Aqua Illumination Sol Blue led and to be honest my sps color is so washed out and my sps growth is barely detectable. Nothing seems to really die, but only my montipora's grow. My acro's don't seem to grow at all. I'm wondering what I should do. I've been reading and have figured out that I probably need to add another AI light for better coverage and was thinking about adding the AI hydra, but i'm just not sure how successful LED's are. So Ive been thinking about either adding that AI or maybe selling the AI Sol I have and switching over to ATI t5's (for roughly the same price as the LED) because I know they can grow and color up sps. I love the controllability of LED's and that bulbs don't need to be replaced like in t5's but I just don't know what to do.

Any recommendations for me or any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
Hi Darth Wader,

Hope all is well!

A couple of pointers before I get into the lighting advice. Keep some phosphate in your water. Target between .01 and .03 with a hanna checker. Avoid going overboard with the carbon. You can absorb too much of the good stuff (trace elements) along with the bad (dissolved organics). When I overdo it with the carbon, I get some pale coloration and slower growth. I use 1/3 cup on 150 gallons just to keep the water clear.

Now for the lighting advice. I experimented with two Kessils A350W and A150. I use the A150 to as a temporary holding area for frags. The A350W can grow SPS, but the color dulls out or turns green in some cases (Some corals do look very good under my Kessil though). The change is very noticeable when placing under my normal lights... an 8x80 ATI Sunpower. I get the best color and growth under the ATI. If you have the cash, get the new ATI LED Powermodule. The Sunpower is always a solid choice if you want to minimize expense. 8 bulb for all SPS and 6 bulb if you would like to keep a mixed reef.

Warmest Regards,
James

Darth Wader said:
Hey everybody. I'm have some light questions and would love peoples recommendations.

Here is some background about my tank.
60 gallon 24" cubed tank
15 gallon sump with refugium
Bubble magus nac3.5 skimmer
run gfo and carbon in BRS carbon reactor
return pump is tunze 1073.05
MP10 (want to add another for more flow)
Tunze osmolator ATO
dosing cal/alk/mag with BRS dosing pumps and levels are 400 cal 9.2 alk 1400 mag and all very stable. (PO4 is 0)
Weekly water changes of 10 gallons.

Now for the question. I'm currently using one Aqua Illumination Sol Blue led and to be honest my sps color is so washed out and my sps growth is barely detectable. Nothing seems to really die, but only my montipora's grow. My acro's don't seem to grow at all. I'm wondering what I should do. I've been reading and have figured out that I probably need to add another AI light for better coverage and was thinking about adding the AI hydra, but i'm just not sure how successful LED's are. So Ive been thinking about either adding that AI or maybe selling the AI Sol I have and switching over to ATI t5's (for roughly the same price as the LED) because I know they can grow and color up sps. I love the controllability of LED's and that bulbs don't need to be replaced like in t5's but I just don't know what to do.

Any recommendations for me or any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks CUNAReefer. I know my phosphate is on the low side and I have been overfeeding a bit to compensate. I will lower the amount of carbon I'm running when I change out the filter next week.
As for the lighting if I add the AI hydra it's $399 plus $50 for wireless controller for my Sol and $75 for the wireless controller, or $499 for the ATI Sunpower, so its pretty much the same price...... I love the shimmer of the LED's tho, thats I really want to still have.
Ugh, what to do....
 
You probably just want to get led fixture but if you want to stay old school, consider the following. I have 2 reef tanks one with ai sol's and one with t5 halide. The ai sol tank barely grows acros or anything else, things seem to exist. The one with the Hamilton cebu sun, halide-t5 works great for me. Cebu also has a nice reflector. Even better would be halide t 12 combo with electronic or pulse start ballast so you can run radium halide. t12's are still better than t5 for actinic light. Giesemann t5 are the best actinic bulb.
 
Thanks Toothman, that's what my acro's are doing. None are growing they are just "existing".
Anybody with acro growth and the AI hydra that can make a recommendation or suggestions?
 
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