How did you transition to Meridians?

[IPT]

I'll be upgrading a Hodge podge of lights (Kessil, Radion, and AI Blade to 3 Meridian 11's. I have a good PAR metter and will probably try to start a little lower. I still have a lot to learn about programs. I think these have more UV so how does one account for that, or do they? Is there a "favorite" program a lot of people are using or are you all making your own?

Open to ad looking for any recommendation, suggestions, or shared experiences you all have had.

 

[exnisstech]

What I would do since you have a meter is set the light to match the par of the old lights. I have a meridian 11 over my IM20 but started with it. I don't set my lights to a specific spectrum. I set them so the tank looks how I want it to look then I adjust the intensity of each channel to reach the par I desire. I do it this way because I like a different look depending on the tank inhabitants and I don't really care for a neon look.
There are a lot of user schedules shared in the community section of the app that you can download and try. Off the top of my head I remember seeing @Troylee SPS schedule and also @VintageReefer who keeps more LPS available. You may be able to get some members to share images of their tanks and see if there's a look you like.
This is where the shared schedules are located in the app.

There is supposed to be an acclimation mode being added but haven't seen it yet.

PS::This is my tank which is the one on top with the check mark.
Pardon the GHA back wall it's a work in progress but at least it's not growing on the rocks and coral lol.

 

[IPT]

What I would do since you have a meter is set the light to match the par of the old lights. I have a meridian 11 over my IM20 but started with it. I don't set my lights to a specific spectrum. I set them so the tank looks how I want it to look then I adjust the intensity of each channel to reach the par I desire.

Thanks - I think thats a decent approach. I might just start with less UV and ramp it up over time.

What PAR are you hitting in your tank? Nice clams :).

 

[exnisstech]

I'm getting 300 par on the clams down on the sand. I didn't bother to map the rest of tank.

 

[Science/G]

I run a crazy schedule on my meridian's. They are in a hybrid fixture with fully adjustable T5s- 2 blue plus, 1 purple plus, and an actinic bulb. I go from a very white 10,000K look early in the day, to deep blue/violet in the evening. The T5's add fill and are tuned in to blend in with my meridians throughout my light cycle.

Corals in my mixed reef are happy and growing

 

[Troylee]

I run mine at 100% nowadays cause I acclimated all my corals to them over the last year. New editions struggle a little bit but I move them around accordingly. Being that you’re already led I’d set them close or just above what you’re currently at for par.

 

[IPT]

Okay, I plugged her in and fired her up today. Manual mode 100% all channels. I noticed two things, PAR was very center weighted (only 8" off surface) so I'll need the Encompass lens (which I bought expecting to need). I also noticed that it seemed to have a strong pink undertone. I'm not sure which channel(s) is directly causing that.

I didn't see a master slider to change power output (at least I didn't see one)? So that leaves me with a lot of questions.

Some channels put out more PAR than others. I don't think I can "blend the colors" to my visual liking and then adjust the output in that specific color ratio to ramp the PAR up then down during the day, or am I missing something?

I appreciate Kessil now in that no matter what you set the visual appearance to it is still optimized for good PUR. I feel like I will have to set colors (more blue) for the am and pm, and use a PAR meter to get the proper settings and then use the PAR meter again to set outputs with whiter light in the target PAR ranges for midday.