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Solved Advice? PAR and photoperiod

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by nrenn, Dec 12, 2018.

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  1. Dec 12, 2018 #1
    nrenn Waverly, Iowa

    nrenn Well-Known ReefKeeper

    311
    Waverly, Iowa
    Ratings:
    +29 / 0 / -0
    Looking for advice on what people do for lighting. I'm running a StevesLED setup on my BioCube14, mixed reef: 1 hr blue ramp up->1 hr white ramp up->8 hr 3:2 blue/white->1 hr white ramp down->1 hr blue ramp down=12 hr total.

    More blue looks better, but is it a good color mix for the corals? I will be borrowing the club PAR meter shortly, what values should I be looking for? Do you test each channel separately?

    Livestock:
    Stylocoeniella
    Blastomussa
    Montipora (plating, branching, and encrusting)
    Lithophyllon
    Psammocora
    Leptoseris
    Euphyllia
    Zoanthids
    Mushroom
    Rock Flower Nem
     
  2. Dec 12, 2018 #2
    Cameron Urbandale, IA

    Cameron

    93
    Urbandale, IA
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    This is off topic, but I'm also running a 14g biocube. If you could post pictures of your tank, i'd really like to see what is possible with this setup.


     
  3. Dec 12, 2018 #3
    nrenn Waverly, Iowa

    nrenn Well-Known ReefKeeper

    311
    Waverly, Iowa
    Ratings:
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    Possible as far as...? What the kit looks like and can output? Or growth of corals? Install is pretty easy with minor modification to the hood, and its advertised to be more than strong enough for SPS. It looks stock from the outside, and visually the lighting looks awesome. I think I'm running around 25% of max capacity so far, and nothing has died. As far as growth...nothing in my tank has had time to show growth yet, so it is hard to say. That is why I want the PAR meter, to determine how high I can dial the intensity
     
  4. Dec 12, 2018 #4
    blackx-runner Cedar Rapids, IA

    blackx-runner Administrator Website Team Leadership Team

    6,044
    Cedar Rapids, IA
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    +738 / 5 / -0
    Your schedule looks fine. It's similar time wise to what I ran on my big tank, and similar to what I have seen posted by other people. Are you ramping up to max intensity with your lights, or do you have more power available? If the corals are looking good and you aren't getting any bleaching or hot spots I would stick with what is working, and what is most visually pleasing to you. Mine was always maxing out the blue channel, filling in the white and other colors for visual appeal.

    For the par I would say the most useful info would be as you normally run it. That is at your peak intensity and both channels. This will be what the coral will be seeing for your 8 hour lighting period.
     
  5. Dec 13, 2018 #5
    nrenn Waverly, Iowa

    nrenn Well-Known ReefKeeper

    311
    Waverly, Iowa
    Ratings:
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    I guess my question is, I'm running my blues at about 38% and whites about 15%. Supposedly max output is high enough to scorch anything, but the unit didn't come with any guidelines other than ~30% as a start point for acclimation. I don't want to wait until my corals start receding before I realize I should have been running them much higher, I also don't want to bleach them out. My SPS hasn't been in the tank long enough to know if the lighting is too low, I'm certain I'm not too high though. I was hoping to use the par meter verify a target % and start working towards that
     
  6. Dec 13, 2018 #6
    blackx-runner Cedar Rapids, IA

    blackx-runner Administrator Website Team Leadership Team

    6,044
    Cedar Rapids, IA
    Ratings:
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    Corals are pretty adaptable, and as long as you don't have any super focus areas blasting light you can probably slowly work up quite a bit higher. Acclimation to the lighting I think is key.

    I would think something in the 150-250 range would be adequate for most of the sps and lps corals. SPS being able to handle the higher end and above if available. LPS would probably be more happy on the lower end of that. Softies even lower yet typically.

    A lot of the fun and sometimes frustration in this hobby is trying different things and seeing how the tank reacts. Just take changes slow and steady and only change one thing at a time.
    In a reef tank nothing good ever happens fast.
     
  7. Dec 13, 2018 #7
    Pygmey Cedar Rapids, IA

    Pygmey Well-Known ReefKeeper

    751
    Cedar Rapids, IA
    Ratings:
    +119 / 1 / -0
    Steve's LEDs are great. Did you get the sps growing upgraded ones or regular? What were you using before over these corals?
     
  8. Dec 14, 2018 #8
    nrenn Waverly, Iowa

    nrenn Well-Known ReefKeeper

    311
    Waverly, Iowa
    Ratings:
    +29 / 0 / -0
    That's the information I was looking for, thank you!

    Yep, so far I really like the look and operation. This is a new startup, the tank sat empty for a few years and I decided to get back into it, but knew I didn't want to deal with the CFLs it had the last go around, so I made some upgrades before getting started
     

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