ATI T5 8 bulb 48 Height after Par meter

[LAX Noob Reef]

So I rented my LFS par meter, and came out a bit surprising. Light fixture is about 9 inch above water, and I would suggest those of you who will get a 8 bulb T5 to go maybe 12 inch, or 15 inch. Bottom sand Par is at 180, Middle tank is between 250 from corner side to 400 Par. Highest Par of my rock is about 560. Top of water is about 720-760. Guess I'll be raising my tank light to remeasure again.

 

[A. grandis]

PAR is just part of the equation.
Adapt your corals carefully and they will be fine!!
I have zoanthids coming out of the water on the back of my tank and on the top of the overflow!!
10 inches is more than fine for a 4, 6 or 8 bulb fixtures.

6 T5s over a 75gal.:

This is how I had my 6 bulbs over my planted tank:

Now, that zoa system has halides/ T5s.
2 X 250W MH and 4 X 54W T5s at 12inches.

2 X 250W 20K MH+ 4 X ATI Blue Plus 54W t5s:


3 X 600W HQI:

 

[Koigula]

WOW Great zooanthid tank.

I wold do 7 hours a day. I think most have dimmable model so 9" over tank at 50% output for 7 hours is a great start. With LCD control you can take months to bring up and observe. I use same 8 lb fixture on mostly SPS tank. Lifting it makes result more even almost always. I have 10" height trying to reduce hot spots. Actinic bulbs have 25% less PAR and look much dimmer though. Thye can be used as a tool to lower PAR as well. I do that with 8 bulb fixture.

 

[A. grandis]

WOW Great zooanthid tank.

I wold do 7 hours a day. I think most have dimmable model so 9" over tank at 50% output for 7 hours is a great start. With LCD control you can take months to bring up and observe. I use same 8 lb fixture on mostly SPS tank. Lifting it makes result more even almost always. I have 10" height trying to reduce hot spots. Actinic bulbs have 25% less PAR and look much dimmer though. Thye can be used as a tool to lower PAR as well. I do that with 8 bulb fixture.

Thanks, iggy!
It's impotant to mention that PAR is only a measure of intensity. The spectrum is very important to define the quality of light. It's a balance throughout the fixture that will determinate what's going to be delivered. I'm just saying that because the concept of of a "tool to lower PAR" shouldn't be something we should focus on too much. My 14K metal halide system with all those "high PAR" 4 T5s isn't anything close to the sun outside on the reef here. The adaptation of the corals make the balance we need possible in a close system. I do get your point though, if PAR is still what they look for, that is a geat way to play with the bulbs.

What Acros do you have?
What are the bulbs?
Pics, please!

 

[Koigula]

Maturity of Zoanthids almost looks like an established public aquarium. I am doing a build thread soon. I really need to get a Canon T7 or something better. I just have a work cell phone these days. I will update though.

Even intense lighting to create a glowbox effect is important to me. Right now I do 8 bulb ATI dimmable 4'. I just use all ATI bulbs and hope they are around a lot longer. Four blue Plue two coral plus, two ati actinic I can certainly blast them but not sure going over 400 PAR for 12 hours is beneficial. I could be wrong. Corals grow in dusk and dawn phase and protect themselves mid day by established research. What we own is nothing like what is in wild though.

What do you recommend? I do have bug to find a compact 150 watt DE ficture to run 2 to 3 of them. They are available but selection is limited. I would think someone would remake the old Luminarc reflectors. It should not be that hard to do. Hamilton appears to be slowly phasing out fixures.

For SPS I use my fav local fish store that can actually grow sps and I also use Battle Corals. That is it pretty much it. I rarely loose fish. Local store has a magic tank that grows anything. I take a few pictures and come back in a month and buy what is growing or healthy. I have Alevopora and red goniopora from this tank doing well. My best SPS growth is from him.

Battle Corals are more challenging for me but do grow. I lose nothing from this store and maybe 20% from Battle corals but like challenge. New light might help that.

 

[rtparty]

8-10" is the sweet spot for ATI fixtures. Your PAR levels aren't too high

 

[A. grandis]

Maturity of Zoanthids almost looks like an established public aquarium. I am doing a build thread soon. I really need to get a Canon T7 or something better. I just have a work cell phone these days. I will update though.

Even intense lighting to create a glowbox effect is important to me. Right now I do 8 bulb ATI dimmable 4'. I just use all ATI bulbs and hope they are around a lot longer. Four blue Plue two coral plus, two ati actinic I can certainly blast them but not sure going over 400 PAR for 12 hours is beneficial. I could be wrong. Corals grow in dusk and dawn phase and protect themselves mid day by established research. What we own is nothing like what is in wild though.

What do you recommend? I do have bug to find a compact 150 watt DE ficture to run 2 to 3 of them. They are available but selection is limited. I would think someone would remake the old Luminarc reflectors. It should not be that hard to do. Hamilton appears to be slowly phasing out fixures.

For SPS I use my fav local fish store that can actually grow sps and I also use Battle Corals. That is it pretty much it. I rarely loose fish. Local store has a magic tank that grows anything. I take a few pictures and come back in a month and buy what is growing or healthy. I have Alevopora and red goniopora from this tank doing well. My best SPS growth is from him.

Battle Corals are more challenging for me but do grow. I lose nothing from this store and maybe 20% from Battle corals but like challenge. New light might help that.

My video was recorded with an Apple 5 phone. Haha!!

Yes, photoperiod and intensity need to work together. Less intensity will allow a longer photoperiod. The lower intensity won't always produce the same type of pigments, even though it is used for a longer period of time. I found that when I use shorter periods with more PAR/intensity from MHs I have results very close to what I find in nature. And that is because in nature the sun will provide way more intensity to be able to provide such results. I use strong intensity for a shorter period to avoid photoinhibition! IMO health, growth, reproduction and coloration are qualities that we should look for the majority of organisms coming from shallow water. I change my T5s every 12 months and halides will last longer cause I use 5 hours/day max.

I hope Hamilton is discontinuing those fixtures to bring new ones!

Yes, please take pictures of the corals in your store!

 

[Koigula]

I will. I am growing stuff out successfully and tracking alkalinity daily. My rainbow anemonies are like a plaque and sell them off for supplies.

 

[sfin52]

So I rented my LFS par meter, and came out a bit surprising. Light fixture is about 9 inch above water, and I would suggest those of you who will get a 8 bulb T5 to go maybe 12 inch, or 15 inch. Bottom sand Par is at 180, Middle tank is between 250 from corner side to 400 Par. Highest Par of my rock is about 560. Top of water is about 720-760. Guess I'll be raising my tank light to remeasure again.

Or cut out 2 bulbs