[Black Box LEDs] Hanging Distance, Power Settings, & Measurement

[Beepinheimer]

Hey everyone, I'm new to the forum.

I purchased 2x SunSpect 165W LED fixtures with 90 degree optics probably around 6 months ago now.
The fixtures are hung about 5-6 inches from the water's surface.

I'm having some trouble dialing these suckers in and would prefer to avoid dishing out 100+ dollars on a par meter if I can.

Tank is a 55 gallon with a 20 gallon sump
Livestock includes a Hammer, GSP, Pulsing Xenias, 2 War Corals, Mushroom, 2 Zoas, Monitpora, and a BTA.

I Accidentally bleached my xenias, GSP, and hammer when I raised the lights over 40%.

I was curious if there was a cheap way to measure spread or if we already had some readings I could utilize.

Here is the link for the fixtures I purchased: EBAY LINK

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Hi Welcome to Reef2Reef!
What you would be looking for is a lux meter. About $15 at the least and $75 for the best.
Like this
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lighting-upgrade-with-a-lux-meter-saltyfilmfolks.248417/
Not 100%sure, but it does sound like the lights are quite close to the tank to give a good even spread. And yea those are quite powerful.
a good starting point would be about 20,ooo lux and 30,ooo I'd consider med low. I run 40,ooo lux on a standard 55 gallon , and I calculate that's less par than a top of the line 4 bulb ATI t5
A t5 btw has more par than an led at the same intensity(lux).

those leds, if their like a mars aqua black box, are quite likely to be able to produce over 100,000 lux at 12 inches.

 

[redfishbluefish]

That's a whole bunch of light for a rather shallow tank. As @saltyfilmfolks states, pick up a lux meter. In the mean time, turn those lights down....raise them up if you can.....pop the lenses off. Any and all of these options are viable to reduce the amount of light you're throwing in that tank.

 

[prsnlty]

Interesting! I have upgraded my old black box led unit with sb reef retro. I am in the process of creating a canopy install over a corner 45g rebuild. The 45 is 24" tall and the surface to lens will be 5". I have been concerned about only 5" from the surface though but I already had built the canopy for 24" dual pc's. They just didn't have enough par or pur in the bottom 3rd of the tank and barely supported softies. I heard about the Sb reef retros and changed up my plan.

Rough fitting pics...

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Interesting! I have upgraded my old black box led unit with sb reef retro. I am in the process of creating a canopy install over a corner 45g rebuild. The 45 is 24" tall and the surface to lens will be 5". I have been concerned about only 5" from the surface though but I already had built the canopy for 24" dual pc's. They just didn't have enough par or pur in the bottom 3rd of the tank and barely supported softies. I heard about the Sb reef retros and changed up my plan.

Rough fitting pics...

if its not the spread you like you can pull the lenses. or most like I did. I have ai sols and an SB My SB with 1/4 of the lenses is 12in above the tank at 80% is at 40,000 lux. 20x20x18 cube

 

[Beepinheimer]

Terrific advice from all of you!
Sorry for the delayed response, I've been out of town for a couple days.
I'm ordering my lux meter now, the fixtures have been set to 10% on Blues and 5% on Whites.

I'll report back in with what my readouts are!