Hello everyone,
I was wondering if anyone had any advice or experience going from LED only to Hybrid lighting. I know to go slow, and careful of high PAR.
Since I can't dim the T5's, should I just turn them on for a little longer each day. I was thinking of starting in 15 min intervals and running them for max of 6 hours a day, while running the LEDs 10 hours, ending with blues. I was thinking of keeping my LED schedule the exact same and using the T5 to boost PAR and cover new wavelengths.
I rented a PAR meter and it looks like on average the jump is about 100 par.
[with only LEDS] bottom 80, 120 middle, 180 top
[with the hybrid] 150 bottom, 200 middle, 300 top
I know some people run tanks with as high as 400 PAR, but I am worried that because my tank has been running for two years at these lower levels, a boost of 100 par will cause die off. I have a very mixed reef tank and am nervous the high 180-200 par will fry my gonis, favia, and psammacora. (although my sps will probably love it).
Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.
Tank info:
I have a 170 liter tank, 24 inch across, 18 deep, 20 width.
Previously I ran two AI primes peaking at 22% clear white and 50% blues for about 6 hours, with 2 hour ramp up times.
The hybrid is two AI primes, 2 ATI Actinic, 1 Purple Plus, 1 Coral Plus.
(I chose this selection to really cover the higher wavelengths that AI primes lack.)
I was wondering if anyone had any advice or experience going from LED only to Hybrid lighting. I know to go slow, and careful of high PAR.
Since I can't dim the T5's, should I just turn them on for a little longer each day. I was thinking of starting in 15 min intervals and running them for max of 6 hours a day, while running the LEDs 10 hours, ending with blues. I was thinking of keeping my LED schedule the exact same and using the T5 to boost PAR and cover new wavelengths.
I rented a PAR meter and it looks like on average the jump is about 100 par.
[with only LEDS] bottom 80, 120 middle, 180 top
[with the hybrid] 150 bottom, 200 middle, 300 top
I know some people run tanks with as high as 400 PAR, but I am worried that because my tank has been running for two years at these lower levels, a boost of 100 par will cause die off. I have a very mixed reef tank and am nervous the high 180-200 par will fry my gonis, favia, and psammacora. (although my sps will probably love it).
Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.
Tank info:
I have a 170 liter tank, 24 inch across, 18 deep, 20 width.
Previously I ran two AI primes peaking at 22% clear white and 50% blues for about 6 hours, with 2 hour ramp up times.
The hybrid is two AI primes, 2 ATI Actinic, 1 Purple Plus, 1 Coral Plus.
(I chose this selection to really cover the higher wavelengths that AI primes lack.)