AI Blade with Aqua Medic MH

[kloverguy]

Amigos y Amigas - I've been running an Aqua Medic MH with a Phoenix 14k bulb along side a 12" AI Blade Grow over a 25g Waterbox Peninsula. The Blade has been on since day 1 (14 months) ago. The MH was turned on about 60 days later, with a very slow ramp in period starting with 1 hour a day for the first 2 months and then I've added another hour every 2 months after. As of today, it's been on for about a year and I'm still only running the MH 6 hours a day.

When I put the Blade on, I used the High Output Growth since the blade was the main light source at the time, and I've just never made any changes. Now that I've got the MH doing the heavy lifting, I want to change up the settings on the blade to get a little blues into the tank. I tried LPS/Softie template that's supposed to have more blues, but didn't really see a difference. I know now that the Glow would have been the better choice, but the Grow is what I have to work with and I'm wondering if anyone has any similar experience with an MH and a blade that might have suggestions for custom settings.

Pics for attention.

 

[oreo54]

Amigos y Amigas - I've been running an Aqua Medic MH with a Phoenix 14k bulb along side a 12" AI Blade Grow over a 25g Waterbox Peninsula. The Blade has been on since day 1 (14 months) ago. The MH was turned on about 60 days later, with a very slow ramp in period starting with 1 hour a day for the first 2 months and then I've added another hour every 2 months after. As of today, it's been on for about a year and I'm still only running the MH 6 hours a day.

When I put the Blade on, I used the High Output Growth since the blade was the main light source at the time, and I've just never made any changes. Now that I've got the MH doing the heavy lifting, I want to change up the settings on the blade to get a little blues into the tank. I tried LPS/Softie template that's supposed to have more blues, but didn't really see a difference. I know now that the Glow would have been the better choice, but the Grow is what I have to work with and I'm wondering if anyone has any similar experience with an MH and a blade that might have suggestions for custom settings.

Your blade has a total of 20 watts to fight against the color of what ? 250watt bulb?
and 25% of that (assuming equal output which is questionable but assumed for the sake of argument ) is whites.
Though they contain a lot of blue their look is generally a weak blue. No actual nm but described as "cool blue" so 6500k or greater is likely
And your really deep blue is only 10 watts.
You seem to be swimming upstream here.
For looks best would be just to shut the white channel off. See what happens.
Not sure the glow would have even gave you what you want.

• Royal Blue: Drives primary photosynthesis and deep coral response with peak wavelengths around 448nm.
• Blue: Fills out the broader blue spectrum (including 430nm diodes) to support balanced coral growth and color rendering.
• Cool White: Adds necessary spectrum for a crisp, natural visual appearance and daylight balance.