Two questions about Kessil A360WE

[Nicolayo]

Greetings to all.
Although I am not an active participant in the forum, I read a lot of interesting posts on the site with great pleasure.
I have a tank in the form of a cube 26 "x 26" x 26 " + 20 gallon sump.
I have right now fixture with 8 X T5 X 24 ". Also I added DIY LED at 20 watts.
Despite the fact that I have all the parameters in order
Phosphate 0 (Hannah)
Nitrite 0
Nitrate is close to zero
KH 8
Ca 424
Mg 1320 (All tests from Tropic Marine)
Salinity 1.0252 cg (Tropic Marine Salt )
Pumps 2 X Tunes 6055 and 2 X MP10
Skimmer - Korallenzucht

I don't like the colors of my corals, even new corals lose their bright colors in 2 - 3 weeks.
The bright blue Acropora Gomezi turned gray-blue, the bright pink Birdnest turned brown, the bright pink Millepora is also gray-brown e.t.c.
I think that I have not enough lighting.
I decided to completely renew my light.
I ordered the Aquaticlife fixture with 4 T5 lamps and Kessil A360WE.
In this regard, I have 2 questions.
1. How much time do you recommend for acclimatization with Kessil?
2. I still haven't found a PAR meter from any of my friends.
I understand that you will have to increase the intensity of lighting gradually, but I do not want to harm the coral with excessive light. How to find this same balance without instruments?
The fact is that symptoms will appear only after 10 - 15 days.
Thank you in advance and I'm sorry for Google translator.
Nick

 

[mcgyvr]

I think you arent giving your corals enough nutrients.. Nitrate and phosphate are both beneficial nutrients needed by marine life..
Just like fertilizer for grass..(which is also n,p,k ) too little and your grass loses color and doesnt grow well....too much and you burn it out..

IMO light is NOT your problem... 8x24 T5's are (were) more than sufficient for your tank...

Try feeding your corals and fish even a bit more to see if you can get measurable nutrient levels... Nitrate of 2-3 and phosphate of .02-.04 is a good start...see how that goes..

 

[slief]

You coloration issues might have nothing to do with the lights. Your nearly devoid of nutrients with 0 nitrate and 0 phosphate and corals need nutrients for coloration.

That said, the Kessils are deceptively strong. I’d set the color at about 60-65% max. Start with in intensity of around 50% and increase the intensity about 2% per week max. Once you see the corals respond negatively, back the intensity off 4% and leave it there for a couple weeks before you attempt to increase anymore. I’ve found that under most circumstances, the max intensity needed from the Kessils is around 75-80%. In a low nutrient tank like yours, that may be too much intensity and it’s been my experience that a higher nutrient tank can tolerate greater intensity than a low nutrient tank.

 

[slief]

I think you arent giving your corals enough nutrients.. Nitrate and phosphate are both beneficial nutrients needed by marine life..
Just like fertilizer for grass..(which is also n,p,k ) too little and your grass loses color and doesnt grow well....too much and you burn it out..

IMO light is NOT your problem... T5's are more than sufficient for your tank...

Try feeding your corals and fish even a bit more to see if you can get measurable nutrient levels... Nitrate of 2-3 and phosphate of .02-.04 8s a good start...see how that goes..

Damn. I think we both replied at the same time with the same exact thought on nutrients being the issue.

 

[mcgyvr]

Great minds .......nah.... Typical issue..

 

[Nicolayo]

Thanks for the quick response.
Then it turns out that the ULNS is bad?
I add amino acids every day. One day is Amino SPS, the other is Amino LPS (both from Korallenzucht), plus Zootonic from Tropic Marine every day. and once a week, Reef Roids. In addition, a few more additives from Korallenzucht.
I was just impressed by the coral colors of my hobby friends, I also wanted to try the ULNS system in my tank.

 

[Nicolayo]

A few photos for example
My tank front view

Tank left side view

Tank right side view

 

[Nicolayo]

Here are examples of how corals looked at the beginning and how now
Australian acropora
Before

Now

Blue Acropora
Before
After month

 

[Nicolayo]

Pink Acropora millepora before and now


Pink Birdnest (Hystrix)

Acropora Florida

 

[Nicolayo]

Why I think the problem is possibly due to light.
I got two small frags of acropora hyacinthus, which I glued with cyanoacrylic glue from Seachem. After a couple of weeks, they lost their bright pink color. Then, most likely, the serpent star threw them from the stone and I re-glued them and put them on the shelf for frags. I raised the shelf to the very top close to the lamps. Colors have improved a lot.

 

[Nicolayo]

And, probably, the best example, two frags from one bush of a deep water acropora.

At first I put them next, then accidentally hit the right fragment and re-glued it a little higher.

But Ofiura dropped it too, then I stuck it even higher.
The difference, I think, you saw.