T5 Lighting Schedule for SPS Tank

[eho72]

I have an 8 bulbs ATI Power Module 6" above the water in my 120g SPS dominated tank. I've been tweaking around with the lighting schedule, but I am not sure if I have it right. There is growth, but not as much as I like to see. Some of the corals are coloring up, but I still have problem with some of the blue and purple corals. They are more brown and only have color at the tips. Here's my current lighting schedule. Can I get some recommendation on some better alternatives?

calcium:1420
alkalinity: 8 dkh
magnesium: 1300

Front:
ATI blue plus
KZ Fiji Purple
ATI blue plus
GE 6500 daylight
ATI blue plus
UVL acitinic white
ATI aquablue special
ATI blue plus

Schedule:
Dusk/dawn (position 3 and 6) 8:00-10:00, 14:00-21:00
Full lighting: 15:00 - 20:00

 

[dixiedog]

So you run two bulbs for 13 hours, and all bulbs for 5 hours, correct?

 

[InsaneClownFish]

For growth, I would bump up your full lighting to at least 7 hours. 8-9 hours would be preferable.

Also, I hope you Calcium is at 420, and not 1420? If so try bumping it up to 460.

Bump your Alk to 9 and your Magnesium to 1400.

 

[eho72]

So you run two bulbs for 13 hours, and all bulbs for 5 hours, correct?

I run the 2 bulbs for 9 hours and all bulbs for 5 hours each day.

The calcium is 420 not 1420. Typo.

 

[BuckeyeTodd]

I run two bulbs for 10 and all bulbs for 4 1/2. Have you burned or bleached any of your sps with that fixture, you've got a 8 bulb on a 120. I run a 6 bulb on a 180. I would't be adding photoperiod, I might try running the six bulbs without the other two(thinking you might be giving too much light)

 

[JALREEFER]

I run 8 bulbs on a 75 gal and run full spectrum for 4 1/2 hours also. I would not increase it any. My colors fade if I run it any longer than that.

 

[eho72]

I did bump up the full lighting to 8 hours. Some of the corals are bleaching. Guess it's time to bring it down to 6 hours. My new lighting schedule. How does this look?

2 bulbs: 11 AM - 9 PM (10 hrs)
All bulbs: 2 PM - 8 PM (6 hrs)

 

[CMcNeil]

i have an ATI 6x39 sunpower,here is my lighting schedule.
2pm-10pm actinic(8 hr)2 bulbs
3pm-9pm all bulbs(6 hr)all 6 bulbs
my growth is great(some corals growing almost 1"/month)and colors are insane.i think alot of people run the lights longer than needed and give the corals too much light,slowing growth instead of speeding it up.

 

[Tank2379]

I run 10hrs on my Dusk to Dawn and my Daylights I run 8hrs.

 

[solitude127]

I'd raise the fixture another couple of inches. I was running D/D from 11 - 9 and full from 2 - 8. I got A LOT of bleaching so I raised the fixture to 8" and now I run D/D from 11 - 9 and full light from 12-8. I'm getting my colors back and the growth is to my liking. IMO, I don't think it's good to have all that PAR in a short photoperiod (6" above the tank and 6 hrs of full light). I think it's better to have less PAR with a longer photoperiod (8" above the tank with an 8 hrs of full light). JMO though.

 

[2006]

Tank: 36 x 18 x18
Fixture: ATI, 6 bulb, 39 watt

Bulbs are 10" from surface.

2 bulbs 10am - 10pm
4 bulbs 12pm - 8pm

SPS are pale but could be low nutrients?

 

[2006]

i have an ATI 6x39 sunpower,here is my lighting schedule.
2pm-10pm actinic(8 hr)2 bulbs
3pm-9pm all bulbs(6 hr)all 6 bulbs
my growth is great(some corals growing almost 1"/month)and colors are insane.i think alot of people run the lights longer than needed and give the corals too much light,slowing growth instead of speeding it up.

How far off the surface are your bulbs?

 

[CMcNeil]

How far off the surface are your bulbs?

my bulbs are about 4" off the surface of the water.

 

[2006]

Thanks for reply CMcNeil.

 

[Chris155hp]

i have an ATI 6x39 sunpower,here is my lighting schedule.
2pm-10pm actinic(8 hr)2 bulbs
3pm-9pm all bulbs(6 hr)all 6 bulbs
my growth is great(some corals growing almost 1"/month)and colors are insane.i think alot of people run the lights longer than needed and give the corals too much light,slowing growth instead of speeding it up.

What bulb combo are you using

 

[GroktheCube]

I run 2 for 12, all 8 for 5:30 (slowly working up), and 2 BML 10kish LED strips that ramp up from 0 to 50% over 5 hours, stay at 50% 2 hours, and then ramp back down to zero.

Lights about 15 inches above the water.

EDIT: This is an 8x54w over a standard 120, BML strips are about 70w each. I probably should have just run Radiums

 

[Dapg8gt]

I run a 8 x 54w powermodule on a 105g 4' x 2' =). 10hrs 2 x blue +, 7 hours 2x coral+ 4x blue +.. Colors are good to decent but the light is a par monster so I have my light about 12" from the water..

Highly reccomendation using a par meter to see what's best. I was in the low 700's under the surface with my fixture 6" above the tank with my prefered bulb combo fwiw. Now I'm close to 500 under the surface and 250ish on the sand bed dead center..

You could always mix in some true Actinic to drop the par if needed though.

Colors can be a lot more than light when it comes to sps so just some more info to confuse you =)
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2253547

 

[Chris155hp]

i have an ATI 6x39 sunpower,here is my lighting schedule.
2pm-10pm actinic(8 hr)2 bulbs
3pm-9pm all bulbs(6 hr)all 6 bulbs
my growth is great(some corals growing almost 1"/month)and colors are insane.i think alot of people run the lights longer than needed and give the corals too much light,slowing growth instead of speeding it up.

whats your bulb combo

 

[triscene]

Hello guys, to make this thread alive and not to create same one.

Do you prefer to have one long photoperiod or splitting it to two like i use in freshwater tanks.

Odoslané z D5503 pomocou Tapatalku

 

[slavetonet]

12 Hours full lighting + 1 hour of dusk and dawn ontop of that. So its 14 hours total.