Help with Kessil lighting

[arking_mark]

Hello all. I'm looking for some lighting help.

Tank is a Reefer 525xl so roughly 60' x 22" x 22".

Lighting is 2 x A360x w/ narrow reflectors and 1 x AP9x. They sit ~8" off the water.

Lighting schedule is:

PAR measured by Seneye with all flow off:

50-150 on sand (depends on shading by reefscape)

200-250 mid tank

350-400 top of tank aquascaping

Tank is 5 months old and all other parameters are solid.

I'm having difficulty keeping corals and I suspect lighting and flow.

A couple of questions:
1. Is my lighting schedule good?
2. My max intensity is 25%. I see most others using these lights at much higher intensity. What am I missing?
3. I'm using the UV channel and feel like this might be having a negative effect. Anyone else have concerns with that channel?

I can get into specifics with the corals, but figure I'd start with the basics 1st.

 

[AutumnReefs]

I think you could have your peak intensity running for a longer duration.

Also the violet is not going to cause issues (rather, it should help with coral growth in terms of spectrum and output).

It might be handy to list all of your numbers.

 

[arking_mark]

I think you could have your peak intensity running for a longer duration.

Also the violet is not going to cause issues (rather, it should help with coral growth in terms of spectrum and output).

It might be handy to list all of your numbers.

I'm assuming all my parameter numbers:
Salinity: 1.025
Temp: 77ish
pH: 8.33 - 8.37
Alk: 8ish
Ca: 450ish
Mg: 1420ish
NO3: 2ish
PO4: .03ish

Daily dosing:
1% AWC
1dKH 3ml/min Kalk drip
16ml Reef Energy AB+
2ml ChaetoGro

 

[Tcook]

What corals are you having trouble with? Your intensity seems low. Is the Seneye accurate? I would measure your par with everything running. That will show you what the corals are actually receiving. What do you use for flow?

 

[ReefBeta]

25% to give 250 par 12" down is a bit unbelievable. I run Radion XR30 at 80% and only getting 300 par at that depth. You should probably get a Apogee par meter to confirm.

Also the length of the time period is kinda short. Usually 6~8 hours at peak, 12 hours with ramp up and down.

 

[arking_mark]

What corals are you having trouble with? Your intensity seems low. Is the Seneye accurate? I would measure your par with everything running. That will show you what the corals are actually receiving. What do you use for flow?

The expensive corals that I moved from my old tank:
- Jellybean Chalice - never had an issue and is beautiful and growing
- WD Tenius - never really had an issue and is slightly less puffy but has grown. Still a small frag and never had color.
- Kung pow - browned out and died
- Hallucination Zoas - shrunk to nothing and never open
- Jawbreaker Mushroom - Lost the mother, but have 2 babies that seem to be doing well
- SR Crazy Bounce Mushroom - doing great

Other coral I moved from my old tank:
- Grandi Palys - Doing great
- Utter Chaos - Open, but looks like crap
- Rasta - finally coming around
- Mandarin Orange Zoa - barely opening, but alive
- Vampires in Drag - not looking great
- ASD - All but gone
- Ultra Yuma - gone
- 2 unidentified shrooms - coming back and now starting to color up

New additions have not done well:
- Pink Floyd mini colony - dead
- Bubble Gum Digi mini colony - browned out maybe half dead maybe half coming back
- Fireworks Polyps #1 - all but dead
- Fireworks Polyps #2 - not great
- Sunset Monti - bleached, may be dying
- Forest Fire Digi - ok
- Green Slimer - ok
- Paletta Pink Tip - browned out
- Blue Poki - not blue anymore

 

[minus9]

Turning your flow off doesn't help the real numbers here. Also, 25% seems low to me. Honestly, I would remove the narrow reflector and utilize the spread between all of your lights. Place the 360's in a spot that overlaps the AP9X a little. I would have a peak time of no less than 6hrs and a max time of 8hrs. You need to take par measurements with flow on to get your range. I have the Seneye, but have borrowed a friends Apogee 510 to verify my numbers, so borrow or rent one to be sure your Seneye is within range. The narrow reflectors will increase the par, but only in a smaller area, so if your sps are out of that area, they're not getting enough light. If your sps are dulling up or turning brown with your number, they're not getting enough light. You have plenty on tap, but you need to utilize them properly. Narrow reflectors off, increase intensity 2% - 5% a week, wait a week, then increase another 2% - 5%. Increase peak time to 6hrs to start, violet at 100% during peak hrs (if you're not using violet, then start at 50% and increase by 10% each week). Remember, your flow is on during light hours, so you need to find the real numbers.
Also, if you're not feeding your fish multiple times a day, start. Your corals will thank you for it. Just make sure you keep your skimmer in tip-top shape and monitor your PO4. Don't be afraid of letting PO4 rise a little.

 

[arking_mark]

So advice so far:
1. Increase peak photo-period to provide more light to coral. So go from 13-19 to say 12 to 20.
2. Take PAR measurements with all flow on to get more accurate PAR measurements.
3. Remove narrow reflectors to get more even light distribution.
4. Based on 2&3 increase intensity to get desired levels.

So I'm not sure about #3 as with current setup, I do have pretty consistent PAR levels in the tank with some hotter spots for SPS. Lights bleed over the aquarium top by an inch or two.

 

[minus9]

So advice so far:
1. Increase peak photo-period to provide more light to coral. So go from 13-19 to say 12 to 20.
2. Take PAR measurements with all flow on to get more accurate PAR measurements.
3. Remove narrow reflectors to get more even light distribution.
4. Based on 2&3 increase intensity to get desired levels.

So I'm not sure about #3 as with current setup, I do have pretty consistent PAR levels in the tank with some hotter spots for SPS. Lights bleed over the aquarium top by an inch or two.

If you feel the narrow reflectors work, then leave them on, but getting more bounce from the glass with the reflectors off will probably help. I would like to see a FTS to see how your lighting and coral placement looks. The key with these lights and sps is using multiple fixtures, creating intersecting points of light.

 

[Jekyl]

I use 2 360we on my 90 gallon. 85% intensity with peak for 5 hours on a 12 hour schedule. As far as dialing in the spectrums, that is why I stayed away from the wifi option. Kessil come optimal and the extra control allows us to mess things up.

 

[arking_mark]

If you feel the narrow reflectors work, then leave them on, but getting more bounce from the glass with the reflectors off will probably help. I would like to see a FTS to see how your lighting and coral placement looks. The key with these lights and sps is using multiple fixtures, creating intersecting points of light.

I'll post some pictures when the lights come more full-on.

 

[Kessil]

Your intensity definitely seems a little bit low. I have 2 AP9X units (similar wattage to your setup) on a 4' tank, they peak out at about 50% intensity.

I'd slowly bring the intensity up over the course of a month or so.

 

[Pistondog]

Have you had success with ab+?
I stopped as it close up the polyps
More light, check with another meter.

 

[arking_mark]

Pictures...

 

[Kessil]

Pictures...

That's an awesome rock-scape.

The tank does look decently new - are you seeing levels of corraline growth yet?

I'd run the lamps at a bit higher intensity as previously mentioned, and ramp it up slowly over the course of a month.

 

[arking_mark]

That's an awesome rock-scape.

The tank does look decently new - are you seeing levels of corraline growth yet?

I'd run the lamps at a bit higher intensity as previously mentioned, and ramp it up slowly over the course of a month.

Thanks.

Tank is 5 months old. I'm not seeing any new coralline algae...other than what was on the two pieces of old rock that can from the old tank. I am seeing bright green algae on the rock that the CUC keeps to a film on the rock. It can be seen when the light is whiter.

I'll try rising the lights intensity...but PAR seems good based on my Seneye readings.