Can you really use just 2x XR15 G6 to light a 4ft tank?
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Lavey29
10K Club member
Depth is not the issue because you want low par on the bottom. Spread is improved with diffusers on gen 5 but it's just the lack of power overall. I run the AB plus program. The 30s just far outperform the 15s.
@Lavey29 what’s the par w all the blues 100 red green 25 and whites 50 point intensity schedule 100% modifies ab+ w more white added.
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RGoltz
Active Member
My PAR is mainly limited by my aquascape. Consider that the left-most and right-most areas do not receive any overlapping light (from multiple lights) and that they are somewhat shielded by the peaks. PAR is limited here by my own poor design.
Reading left to right, and sort of breaking each “island” into thirds:
160, 340, 240
280, 310, 320
310, 300, 270
This gives an average PAR of 280. These numbers were running less white than I run at peak hours now so they are a smidge low. I apologize for the blue below the lights ramp up over several hours so still very blue at this point..
The top peaks are 9” below the surface.
Lavey29
10K Club member
Not sure I returned my par meter to the LFS. Of course if you set white or some of the lesser needed channels to 100 par will increase but then you create algae problems in your tank. Red green and white are not much needed in reef tanks which is why they keep those low on the pre sets.
Lavey29
10K Club member
Those are decent numbers. What percentage for white? Are you running a preset or your own program?My PAR is mainly limited by my aquascape. Consider that the left-most and right-most areas do not receive any overlapping light (from multiple lights) and that they are somewhat shielded by the peaks. PAR is limited here by my own poor design.
Reading left to right, and sort of breaking each “island” into thirds:
160, 340, 240
280, 310, 320
310, 300, 270
This gives an average PAR of 280. These numbers were running less white than I run at peak hours now so they are a smidge low. I apologize for the blue below the lights ramp up over several hours so still very blue at this point..
The top peaks are 9” below the surface.
RGoltz
Active Member
I am running my own program. I ramp something similar to AB+ in the morning and evening with 3 or 4 hours of white during the day.
The first spectrum photo is the ramp up/down. The second photo is my current white settings. Honestly, I may increase the warm white some more, we’ll see.
I don’t think that I would just run AB+ On the PRO. It leaves to much on the table.
Lavey29
10K Club member
I see where you are maxing out the cool white at 100 which is probably helping your par but I wonder how that might enable algae at some point too. I like your nice curved ramp up and down though. No diffusers right? We are running the same schedule intensity but my white is down at 24. Without diffusers I would be reasonably close to your numbers and cool white cranked to 100. I know you get better spread coverage with 3.I am running my own program. I ramp something similar to AB+ in the morning and evening with 3 or 4 hours of white during the day.
RGoltz
Active Member
The XR15 PRO has 12 cool white diodes and the Blue has 3. So - at least in my simple mind - running at 24% on the PRO is similar to the Blue at 100% . I’m speaking very generally, of course. Anyways, you have a lot of diodes committed to cool white so…
Regarding algae, I worry more about the red frequencies. That is why I keep the warm white at or under 30% and the red at or under 20%.
Lavey29
10K Club member
Ok, good info but corals don't use white spectrum. It's just for our visual preference but they certainly use blue and uv. Agree red and green cause algae to so they stay low but white is right there with them
Each tanknis unique and yours looks to be dialed in and happy so I'm glad your parameters are meeting your coral needs.
ELChingonsReef
Active Member
Yea I figured I would have to buy a 3rd light eventually. I'm getting 200 par right now 6 inches from the surface of the water. As my sps grow ill need more light for sure. But I do have plenty of lps in my tank, it being a mixed reef . I have a bunch of acans on the sand bed. Gonis on the right side , torches on the left. Im probably never going to get up into the 500 par range because of the lps in the tank. I have to find a balance to keep both sps and lps as happy as possible.
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RGoltz
Active Member
In case anyone comes across this….
I borrowed an MQ510 and did another round of PAR measurements on my 4x2x2 system with 3 XR15 G5 PRO running all blues and cool white at 100%, red and green at 20% and warm white at 50%.
All of my acropora in the middle 75% of the tank are getting 350-400 PAR. The outside edges are at 275-300 PAR. Hammers and montipora on the bottom are at 250-300 PAR.
So I would say that a modest array of XR15 can hammer with par and provide very even coverage.
Case closed.
I borrowed an MQ510 and did another round of PAR measurements on my 4x2x2 system with 3 XR15 G5 PRO running all blues and cool white at 100%, red and green at 20% and warm white at 50%.
All of my acropora in the middle 75% of the tank are getting 350-400 PAR. The outside edges are at 275-300 PAR. Hammers and montipora on the bottom are at 250-300 PAR.
So I would say that a modest array of XR15 can hammer with par and provide very even coverage.
Case closed.
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