Ai Prime Lighting schedule

Aimic · Aug 17, 2020

Hello, I am a newer reefer, started this year. I am on my second tank already.. I have a 85.3 Waterbox Frag lowboy, it came with two 32 HD Ai Prime lights. I do know how to set up a lighting schedule.... but clearly not one that my corals (soft and lps) desire. My tank parameters have been stable... took me a bit to get the calcium and mg to desired levels... but that is behind me now...(I did have a recent spike in nitrates due to clogging in the overflow, but I am rectifying that) Just trying to give full disclosure... I am making my own water RODI system. So I know its decent quality. My question.... I have tried multiple lighting schedules on the AI Prime site. (Saxby and the like). But my corals are bleaching.... Torches and now my beautiful Trachyphyllia... The Trachy was stable for weeks.. great volume... and beautiful... now she is slowing become white and translucent:'(... She is in low flow... at the bottom....

my schedule is not at full light.. I have it in acclimation since I started having issues with Torches.

Salinity 1.025-26
Temp 78 degrees
Alk 8.1
CA 420
mg 1380
ph 8.0
nitrites 0
nitrates (normally <2 ppm)
phosphate <0.5

I have tried multiple lighting schedules, 3 hour ramp... I'm an early bird, and I leave early for work. so I feed fish early. I typically have a lot of UV and blues for 8hours but on acclimation, very little whites. No green or red.

Any help is appreciated... Thanks AimiC

PatW · Aug 17, 2020

Generally soft corals are hetero tropic. They get their food from filter feeding and do not care about light. So any lighting that is adequate for viewing the aquarium is fine For them. You do not need much power.

Large Polyp Corals are photosynthetic but they do not require high PAR values (high intensity).

I have 3 AI Hydra 32s and 3 AI Hydra 64s. They are over a tank that is 36” deep, 72” long and 27” high (vertical dimension). I run them near max on Blue and UV and just high enough for nice viewing with white, red and green. I have 90 minute ramp times and about 13 hours of total light. My lights are about 8” above the surface and my shallowest coral (a pocillipora colony) is about 6” below the surface. I have acropora and birds nests that are just a bit deeper than that.

I have some LPS corals in the deeper and dimmer parts of the tank. The lighting seems to work.

In your case, I would try running the lights about 12 hours with ramp times with about. 50% blues and UV light and the other spectra to get a pleasing effect. But that is just a guess.

Aimic · Aug 17, 2020

I'm wondering if mine is more of a flow issue?

Ive moved the Trachy to a lower flow... Water change this week too.... still rectifying a nitrate boost last week.