easyautocare18
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I'm looking for recommendations for setting my height on my 48 inch 6 bulb t5 light fixture above my 75 gallon reef tank. I have had it at 6 inches above the water since November of 2022
48 inch 6 bulb t5 ati dimmable over my 75
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I got a 60 frag 48x24 x12 I keep my 8 bulb 12 inches off my water , due to the shallowness of my tank , I think your in the good range since your tank is taller , but can’t hurt to check with a par meter
My 6-bulb T5 ATI Sunpower is 5 inches above the rim of my 90-gallon tank, so 6-1/2 inches above the actual water level.
With both channels at 100% and no top on the tank, I have a PAR value of 230 at a depth of 7 inches in the center of one half of the tank (top of my live rock, so there is no shadowing there). I have a PAR of 50 on the top of the sand bed in the front corners, but that's close to a stack of live rock.
I tested the PAR values with white egg crate on top and the 230 PAR dropped to 200 PAR, a loss of 15%, which is close to the 12% that @Dana Riddle reported in this thread. I'm going to drop the light closer to the tank and see how much the PAR value raises, but I'm afraid of the effect that will have on my water temperature this summer.
I tested the egg crate because I have a new six-line wrasse in quarantine and my last one did a fatal high dive onto the hardwood floor after several years contented confinement. I also had a brittle star decide to climb out one time - he survived, minus a couple of limbs that eventually re-grew. So, I know I need a top, but I don't like the loss of light that comes with them.
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easyautocare18
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Can you give me your light schedule
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easyautocare18
Community Member
Can you give me your light scheduleMy 6-bulb T5 ATI Sunpower is 5 inches above the rim of my 90-gallon tank, so 6-1/2 inches above the actual water level.
With both channels at 100% and no top on the tank, I have a PAR value of 230 at a depth of 7 inches in the center of one half of the tank (top of my live rock, so there is no shadowing there). I have a PAR of 50 on the top of the sand bed in the front corners, but that's close to a stack of live rock.
I tested the PAR values with white egg crate on top and the 230 PAR dropped to 200 PAR, a loss of 15%, which is close to the 12% that @Dana Riddle reported in this thread. I'm going to drop the light closer to the tank and see how much the PAR value raises, but I'm afraid of the effect that will have on my water temperature this summer.
I tested the egg crate because I have a new six-line wrasse in quarantine and my last one did a fatal high dive onto the hardwood floor after several years contented confinement. I also had a brittle star decide to climb out one time - he survived, minus a couple of limbs that eventually re-grew. So, I know I need a top, but I don't like the loss of light that comes with them.
Sabellafella
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I run 3 different ati fixtures on 3 of my setups.
Here's two for reference, always run it about 28 to 34 inches off the bottom of the tank. 8 to 12 inches up always peaks 300 to 400 par for me.
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easyautocare18
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28 inches from the sand bed?I run 3 different ati fixtures on 3 of my setups.
Here's two for reference, always run it about 28 to 34 inches off the bottom of the tank. 8 to 12 inches up always peaks 300 to 400 par for me.
I use the "8-Hour Sample Program w/ 2 Hour Offset Between Channels" schedule in ATI's blog post How to Approximate the Sun with a Dimmable SunPower, but I bumped the start time to later in the day so that I had more light in evenings when I'm around to view the tank, and extended the morning Channel 1 offset to an earlier start time to have some low-level blue light for viewing in the morning and later in the evening. The result is that I have the amount of Channel 2 time recommended in the ATI post, plus extra Channel 1 time in the morning before Channel 2 kicks in.
I have an 8X over my 90. It is about 8" above the water level.
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