Looking for some experts on Radion intensity settings.

[JoelA7]

Hi.

My tank is 26.25" deep. 48x24". Variable sand bed which averages about 2-3" so let's say 22" of water to the bottom. 2 radion G3 pros about 9-10" above the tank at 16" centers.

Still seems like I'm at trial and error for light intensity. Currently trying 14000k at 48% as maximum. I've been a little higher, as in 50-55% and also 60% but for a shorter time. The latter was the most recent and a Favites started to bleach. A trachypyllia has lightened and lost some purple but retained fluorescent green. A Caulastrea bleached and even under an overhang continues to decline. But other items seem to be doing well. Some short stem blue polyps doing great. GSP healthy slowly expanding. Blue palythoas doing well as are yellow polyps and Xenia frag. Have been hesitant to try some SPS.

H2O params excellent. pH 8, Ca 420, dKH 10. NO3 is 0, PO4 perhaps .016.

Appreciate your thoughts!!

 

[myram]

It's doesn't sound like your lighting is the problem......Your water is too sterile for the corals to thrive. You want a little bit of nitrate and phosphate in the water for them to use as food.

 

[Fishmommy]

Looking for some experts on Radion intensity settings.

I fought with bleaching and paleness for a year with LEDs. My best advice based on my research is to keep down the intensity and add some 460nm T5 supplement lamps. I ditched the LEDs completely but many people have success with the hybrid system. I agree with the idea that your nutrients are low. I have observed that only very mature reefs can get away with LED only, and to run an ULNS you need supplementation.

 

[ghostman]

What was your previous lighting? If it was T5, maybe start with a 20K lighting coloration at 40% max intensity. My reasoning is that the white LEDS really pack a punch and that could cause some bleaching in corals. That is my experience with LEDs. As mentioned above, feeding more is always appreciated by your corals.

 

[JoelA7]

Taking this all in. I can customize the lights and drop the white. I've worked hard to keep phosphate very low to prevent algae growth and still get enough on the glass that it's quite noticeable after 3-5 days. Tank is still young.

 

[Fishmommy]

Can you mimic 460nm? You could try running a deep blue medium intensity for 8 hours a day and then add 20,000k for 4 hours at a higher intensity. Try to mimic what these T5 + halide setups do. I have come to realize that I ran way too white and bright with LEDs.

 

[JoelA7]

I've just set 14000 k then cut the white back to 40%. Do you think it needs to be lower?

 

[DonaldLL]

First let me say, I am no expert...
I have a tank the same 'age' of 7 months; 72" x 30" w 4 Gen 1 Radions. Lights are 10" above water and water to sand is 17". I am now running mine at 25% for 9 hours per day but after a bit of 'experimenting'. I've had algae problems and tried to manage that by reducing nitrates and phosphates to zero but once I achieved that goal I noticed that my softies suffered. I was running my lights at 30% for 11 hours per day. I changed my intensity to 25%, and decreased my photo period to 9 hours, and I cut back a bit on the feedings ( I am sure I was overfeeding); I saw an improvement (reduction) in the algae growth but softies still didn't look robust so I let my nitrates come up above 0 but never more than 1ppm; I also let some phosphates come into play... about ~0.03 (double yours). Within a matter of days the corals perked up.

So in a roundabout way and in the pursuit of managing my algae issues I discovered that I didn't need as much light as I had originally "guessed" to keep my corals happy

 

[fishguy597]

I think you should be fine at your present settings. I think as others have said your tank is to sterile. Couple that with high alk can be a problem. Try feeding more often. How many fish?

 

[JoelA7]

Hi. dKH holding 10-10.5 now. Just back from trip will update tests soon. 7 fish. Going to add more. Good sized CUC now so maybe remove phosban from system so PO4 will rise a bit? Feeding heavier already. Think I'll try reducing intensity a bit more too. But one at a time.