thanks @ReeferCraze If I start to see cyano will lower them. Upped them a bit and lowered white a bit from other advice and will watch things.
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Chlorophyll definitely benefits from the red light. It also helps the coral fluoresce. Unfortunately, phycocyanin loves 600-640nm which is exactly where the red is at on these orbit LEDs.thanks @ReeferCraze If I start to see cyano will lower them. Upped them a bit and lowered white a bit from other advice and will watch things.
I have the current ic marine pro, 72 inchs and love the programing and the loop system. My wallet was my deciding factor. Right now they are on brackets 7 inches above and I'll be dropping them down to either the 5 or the 3 inch levels.
I've got them set at
blue 100
white 40
green and red 50-55
Question: is it better for corals to have more white or less? Is it mainly just what you like the looks of? That they'll get what they need from the other colors?
I have to disagree. Coral growth is dependant on the stimulation of specific chlorophyll within the corals zooxanthellae. When is comes to photosynthesis of these algaes, red from 600-660 is most efficient. Peaking at 631, 657 and 640 respectively.So there's a few things I think are important here.
Be careful when lowering you're lights. Leds are particularly prone to shading and 3-5 inches seems pretty close to the surface in my opinion. I would turn the lights up more if you are concerned about light intensity. I'm sure you'll be able to play around with it and see for yourself though.
Also, white light provides far higher par numbers than any other. It will enhance the growth of your coral more than any other spectrum. The blue and uv spectrum enhance the color of your corals more than growth. Green and red have little to no effect on coral growth and only provide a more pleasing look to the eye. With all of this being said, when all setting are at 100%, the light emitted will be what the manufacturer considers to be the "optimum" spectrum. You can tell what colors are more important by looking at the number of LEDs of that color. There are far less green and red leds as there are blue and white.
The current system is a pretty sweet package for the price. Especially when you are lighting a 6 foot tank. What I did and always recommend to people, is try acclimating your tank to full 100% for 6-8 hours a day for best results. Bluer light can be used before and after to simulate your dawn/dusk.
I should also note that it's equally important for you to enjoy the look of the tank, so make sure it's pleasing to your eye as well.
Thank you so much, yea I have decided to give it a try and be patient. After all, patience is the most important aspect of reefing.Hello all,
I have extensive knowledge and use with the current products. In the research I have done even the lower powered ic lights will be much better than the ai primes. Your corals are adjusting right now, I would actually set the lights to cloud coverage instead. I would use the cloud coverage maybe for a week. If you look at their presents, they should have one or two designed just for coral and fish acclimatation.
I would also mount these lights right on top of the tank. Since your not running sps, these lights are way more than you will ever need. They also will give you better coverage, (more consistent) yet will give you a much better spectrum. Becareful not to use too much green, and red, since it will enhance the growth of algae.
Both of the lights you mentioned are good lights, but from the research I have done with both of them, (at different aquariums, the current lights are better for what your using them for). I know everyone has their opinions, and nobody is wrong, but I have compared both lights on almost identical systems, with the same corals. (This is at local aquariums I did some of my research at). In analyzing both tanks, the coral with the ic lights grew much faster, had better color, and were less prone to bleaching.
I wouldn’t give up hope yet, and I would set your lights to cloudy, or set to acclimatation.
Sarah
I was just reading this old forum and wanted to ask a few questions if your still active.Simply put:
Blue is best bet for growth as it has the correct spectrum for photosynthesis with little concern for nuisance algae.
Red can be used sparingly to greatly increase growth and fluoresce.
Whites should be used sparingly to complete the missing spectrums for healthier better looking corals and aesthetics.
Green can be used to help balance the color to the viewers eye.
My IC is set as follows for daylight.
Blue 70% (reduced from 100, see below)
Red 35%
White 35%
Green 5%
I also have the older orbit Marine pro which has higher PAR output and different blue spectrum plus UV. I run these at 40% blue/uv and 10% white/magenta. I don't need this but like the additional color spectrum and the UV it provides. Everything grew just fine before I added this with the IC blue set at 100%.
I keep a mixed reef with lots of LPS, shrooms, zoa's and SPS.
I was just reading this old forum and wanted to ask a few questions if your still active.
I have the Current IC Dual Pro. Would you recommend using both lights on a 40g? I’ve been using one but think I may get better response from both.
I currently have it set at
sunrise - about 2 hours
54-blue
48-white
15-red
5-green
daylight - 6 hours
100-blue
15-white
15-green
15-red
sunset- 2 hours
100-blue
0-white
45-red
25-green.
What would you change after adding the second light?
lol, that's exactly what my wife thinks. the only problem I had with black boxes were the light spill on to the entire living room.
how is your growth after supplementing the lights?