Disappointing PAR Readings - New Lights Needed?

[dmw913]

Hi all -

Reefer 250 has been set up for a little while now with decent (by all accounts LED lights). Params are in order. Fish doing well. Soft and LPS coral doing ok at first but not thriving. Upped lights to higher intensity. Coral immediately started doing better. Lost some SPS (most do to my fault but the ones I didn't screw up started to slowly fade and not hold a lot of color). I got worried about the actual output of my lights. Got a Seneye to check PAR.

Imagine my surprise when I get par readings of roughly 175 at 1/3 way down the tank, 110 at mid tank and about 80 at bottom...no wonder things aren't thriving...

Question #1: I think I need new lights. Do you all concur? It is my understanding I am shooting for 250-350 PAR at the top of the tank for SPS.

Question #2: Recommendations? I am considering two Hydra 52s or Kessil AP700. Other thoughts? I had a Radion Pro on my nano tank and just wasn't in love with it.

I really want to learn to keep SPS and keep them well so you can imagine my disappointment here. I had meticulously planned this build and may now need to go another direction at considerable expense. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Mal11224]

AP700 is great. I replaced my a160s with it. Wasn't happy with them as far as growth is concerned. I had the AP700 for two weeks and starting to see good growth on my across and new heads on many of my LPS corals. The par is great even under minimum intensity. The important factor is PUR, which is pretty good with this light.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Way lights are you running? There is no set number of x PAR = x growth. High PAR for short duration or low PAR for longer duration. Both can work. If you think you don't have enough light increase duration before you go spending a bunch of money.

 

[madweazl]

Highest PAR in my tank right now (in areas with corals) was measured at 106. You aren't going to have acros die with 175 PAR hitting them unless there was a sudden change in intensity or something else happened; I'd look elsewhere for potential issues at this point.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

What light are you using?
How high is it mounted?
What are the color settings you are using.
A R2r friend says the seneye is a bit tricky to work sometimes. Did you retest to confirm?

 

[cmcoker]

How long the tank been running?

 

[Torqued]

SPS do not typically die from low light, they often turn brown/dark. More than likely your tank is either not stable enough, or one of your primary params are out of whack (Alk, Calc, Mag)

 

[dmw913]

@Torqued , @cmcoker , @saltyfilmfolks , @madweazl , @Robin Haselden , @Mal11224 -

Thank you ALL so much for your input! Let me answer all of the questions posed here:

1. Type of light: Nanobox Quad Plus. Bluefish controller. Light purchased new <4 months ago. Light is mounted 6" above water line. Color settings at this point are blues/UV at 100% with white/green at 40%.
2. I have now upped the photoperiod to help compensate for low par readings.
3. I absolutely agree the acros did not die from light alone as I mentioned above. They got too hot in transport (totally my fault). It's the ones that made it and are now fading that I'm wondering if the light is playing a part. The other reason I question the light is that as soon as I upped the intensity, I almost immediately saw increased coloration in the LPS/softies as well as increased growth specifically in zoas.
4. Tested with Seneye twice and got readings +/- 10 points.
5. Params have not changed. DKH = 9.2. Nitrate = undetectable on Red Sea Pro test. Phos = .06. Ca and Mg in acceptable ranges. 10 gallon water changes done weekly with Red Sea Coral Pro. RO/DI made at home with 5 stage BRS filter showing 0 TDS on output. Right now, I am dosing 2 ml Fuel every other day and 25 ml Algae Barn Ocean Magic every two days. Food for fish = rotation of flake, PEMysis, ReefFrenzy. Tank is run on Apex classic controller, Deltec skimmer, and Tunze ATO for stability discussion. Flow is generated by MP40 and Broadfield split return powered by Varios 6 on setting 3.
6. Tank has been up a little over 90 days at this point. Was an upgrade from stable 20 gallon Nuvo Fusion. All rock had been cured, etc for 90 days prior to setup. My build thread gives more detail if needed.

Again, thank you all for your previous and future help! I'm not new to the tank world but very new to the SPS game so the assistance is invaluable!

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Sounds like you're doing everything right, that tank is still a baby tho. Consider switching to the blue bucket RS salt instead of the black bucket. The alk is way high in that stuff(around 11.5-12dKH) and can easily alk burn your SPS.(I did that) LPS and softies won't be effected as much. Give the tank some time to mature, put some money aside and in six months or so if you still aren't happy with your lights you can purchase new ones. I have SBReef lights and all I can keep happy under them is LPS and pallys right now. I'll probably just leave them on that tank and upgrade when I upgrade tanks.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I would test par with the whites at 100%.
If it's not unpleasant to look at and your par numbers are a bit better you may be just fine without upgrading.

 

[dmw913]

@Robin Haselden Thanks! I spent months planning this build and I'm pretty bummed about the lighting at this point. Your reminder to be patient is a good one though! It's the hallmark of this hobby, right?

 

[dmw913]

@saltyfilmfolks Thanks! I can totally do that this evening. Also, most of that photoperiod would be while I'm away from the tank anyway so that might work. I'll report back.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Ps, those lights are a favorite of folks doing t5 led hybreds. So that's may be a thought for later.

 

[Velcro]

You alk is borderline high for that low of nutrients. I'd lower to 7.5dkh and start feeding more or dosing potassium nitrate to maintain nitrates of 3-5ppm.

Do you have the ability to add a couple t5 retrofit bulbs to your setup?

 

[Scott.h]

A few things. You need to get your no3 up. Thats a problem. Second, using that N kit, and showing nothing means its nothing. With that being the case your alk is too high. Most likely that's the biggest problem. I'm not familiar with that light but I'd be more concerned with spectrum more then 175 par with leds. Also I wouldn't be surprised if that par meter wasn't reading a bit low. You might just supplement what you have too.

BTW my highest lit sps is getting no more then 250 par right now..

 

[ReefersDirect]

I would pick up some more radions and you wont have any further issues.
Just use one of the provided schedules and everything in there should do fine. Most people have issues with the set-up as far as schedules etc but we run approx 40 at the store and everything is nicely colored

 

[Velcro]

I would pick up some more radions and you wont have any further issues.
Just use one of the provided schedules and everything in there should do fine. Most people have issues with the set-up as far as schedules etc but we run approx 40 at the store and everything is nicely colored

Devils advocate, I prefer the look of my tank with reefbreeder photon v2 over radions.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

http://nanoboxreef.com/quad.html

 

[ReefersDirect]

Devils advocate, I prefer the look of my tank with reefbreeder photon v2 over radions.

Those are great lights but IMO you have more control and more power in Radions. That being said, I've seen some really nice black box tanks

 

[dmw913]

@Scott.h and @Velcro Thanks for the heads up on the nitrate. The fish will be very happy to hear they get more food! . I'm finding some irony in going from battling high nitrates in my nano to needing to bump them up now. The vagaries of this hobby, right?! I'll also start lowering the dKh and report back.