After reading some other threads it looks like they sacrificed depth to have more spread on the XR15's... sigh...Take a look at my tank puc above. 90% schedule at the highest rock point in my tank barely touched 200 par.
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
After reading some other threads it looks like they sacrificed depth to have more spread on the XR15's... sigh...Take a look at my tank puc above. 90% schedule at the highest rock point in my tank barely touched 200 par.
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.After reading some other threads it looks like they sacrificed depth to have more spread on the XR15's... sigh...
I use gen 5 XR30's on a 5 foot tank - and it's fine.The gen 5 XR30s are on clearance. Get 2 of those and call it a day.
Wall to Wall? You mean your top level rocks 5 inches below the surface?
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 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.
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.
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.Those are decent numbers. What percentage for white? Are you running a preset or your own program?
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.
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.
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 themThe 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%.
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.I have same size tank and lights. Par meter them yesterday and was shocked at how low the par was. Fine for LPS and softs but SPS will require 100% on the AB setting just to get 250 at the top rocks.
How tall is your tank? Do you have any par readings? Doing some research on what I want to use on my 180I'm running 2 xr15 pros over a 5ft. tank mixed reef with acros also 2 big maxima clams. I bought a new rs reefer 625xxl about a year ago. I already had the radions from another system. It was only going to be temporary but everything was doing fine and growing well. I don't see a reason to overspend on lighting at this point. I'm running ab+ at 70% with whites turned down a bit.Of course placement is key and proper spacing to get the most out each light. It can be done. I don't need 300 par on my walls and floor..lol. I decided to give it a try because a very popular shop in my area was running the same setup on their frag tanks All 5ft water box frag tanks. I replicated it as best I could and it worked for me.
It’s 330 am and I read that as 5 XR30s and **** my pantsI use gen 5 XR30's on a 5 foot tank - and it's fine.
Thanks for sharing this information!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.
Woah really? How do you even fit them over 5 foot tank? I can't imagine much space between them. What are you running them at?I use gen 5 XR30's on a 5 foot tank - and it's fine.
LoL I did the same....hahahah. thanks for clarifying for meIt’s 330 am and I read that as 5 XR30s and **** my pants