Light to strong or to long?

[Trukingny]

Just started my tank in June its bare bottom and started with dry rock.. I know i have lack of nutrients Nitrates-0, Phosphates-0 BUT thats not my question here.. I'm curious if i'm blasting the few corals i do have with 1 to much light and 2 to long.. my tank is 36x24x12.. I have first gen aquatic life hybrid fixture (4 T5 bulbs, 3 Blue Plus and 1 Purple Plus) with 2 Hydra 26 hd. They are mounted 7 Inches from the water.. LEDs come on at 10:30am with 3 hour ramp time then they are full peak from 12:30pm till 8:30pm;then another 3 hour ramp down time till 11:30pm... T5s turn on from 3:30pm till 6:30pm... my goal is sps but right now all i have is 2 zoas, a scoly, yuma, candy cane, small hammer, blue pavona and a grinch one..... i know theres no perfect answer to this but wanted some input. I will attach a picture of what my LED channels are at at MAX PEAK time. My end goal is for this to be a sps tank

 

[michael giordano]

First off got to say I love the tank. I am a shallow tank fan myself, they are great for sps because they make fragging and placement easy. With that I would say yes on the lights. I have same tank dimensions on my current water box and what I can tell you is that you have two options. Option one use the t5’s as main light source. You can keep the fixture at that height and run t5’s for 6 or 7 hours and ramp down leds to 20%. Option two raise the fixture to 15” off the water ramp up the leds and run the t5’s four hours a day. I went with option A and had better growth and same color. My tank is mostly sps and everything is really thriving. Oh and I had the first generation aquatic life fixture as well but with Radion on my tank, I speak from tons of experience in your situation.once you get the lights dialed in and everything going the only true issue I have is keeping a constant alk and calcium dosing amount. My tank grows and with such a small water volume I am constiently adjusting my dosing amounts. I have to check my alk almost daily some weeks to keep my parameters in line.

 

[Trukingny]

Thank you so much for the reply.. i might try option B just bc i feel i spent that money on 2 hydra 26 and would i be getting the use outta them just having at 20%? And also afraid of the heat the t5s being on for that long.. what do you think?.. i have a trident n i LOVE it been keeping a steady 8.5 alk, 450 ca, and 1450 mg.. its amazing having it

 

[michael giordano]

That’s awesome about the trident, I want the mind stream once the bugs are all worked out . yeah I think option b is the way to go if you like Heat may be an issue on A depending on how cool you tank runs. Raise the lights 15 inches off the surface crank the leds up slowly each day, not sure if they have ave an acclimation mode like Radions. And see how everything adapts once your tank matures a little throw in some tester sps