Lighting advise

[Bakki]

Hi everyone,

About two months ago I switched to a new light set up:
- from 2x Hydra 52 HD + 1x Hydra 32 HD
- to 1x Hydra 52 HD + 1x hydra 32HD + ATI Straton Pro 204.

I have struggled and still struggle with finding a good lighting spread. One acro died due to under-lighting I think, while another seemed close to bleaching.

On top of that have had some chemistry swings (Alk, calc, nitrates and phosphates)

Needless to say some of my acro’s are not looking great. They have lost colour and are moving towards a brownish red.

As I am still relatively new to acro’s I find it difficult to say whether it is just a matter of swings or whether its also a matter of over/underlighting.

Please find below some example photos. Apologies for the quality of the photo’s. The ATI straton flickers when I try to take photos which makes taking photos difficult.

 

[twentyleagues]

Do you own or can you rent a par meter?
I see some of the swings, may be test errors as it seems they were handled very quickly (not good if so). Phosphate and nitrate being ones that looks the most suspect. I dont know how you dropped phosphate that quickly or how it got there that quickly.
What are you testing with?

 

[esquare]

A par meter would help a lot in dialing in your lighting. If you don't have access to a par meter, search for people with similar setups that have posted their par. Another option would be to check out the BRS Investigates series to see if they have done any testing on your lights. I know they have tested Hydra's but not sure about the ATI Straton.

 

[Bakki]

Do you own or can you rent a par meter?
I see some of the swings, may be test errors as it seems they were handled very quickly (not good if so). Phosphate and nitrate being ones that looks the most suspect. I dont know how you dropped phosphate that quickly or how it got there that quickly.
What are you testing with?

Thanks for the response. I don’t own a Par reader. I have used the photone app on the iphone but I have no clue how reliable it is. So I am planning on renting a par meter when I have the opportunity.

My phosphate and nitrate jumped because I tried an NPS gorgonian in my tank that required extra feeding. Pretty stupid idea with an immature sps tank, I know …

I use the hanna checkers for nitrate and phosphate. I have both a chaeto refugium and carbon dose (nopox) for nutrient control. I had increased the photo-period of refuge light to bring the phosphates down but I did not expect it to drop this fast. (Again obvious newbie mistakes ).

I am honestly not surprised that my acro’s aren’t doing well given the parameter swings. I’m just not sure if I am making it worse by over/underlighting. I guess the only way to get better answers is renting a par meter.

 

[Bakki]

I rented a par meter (apogee mq 510). Below is a photo with readings and the ones circled in red are doing the worst.

Too much light?

 

[esquare]

From what I have read, 300 is a good range to be in for acropora

 

[twentyleagues]

I rented a par meter (apogee mq 510). Below is a photo with readings and the ones circled in red are doing the worst.

Too much light?

Browning out doesnt usually happen from too much light. Maybe not enough. But, I would think 300 is plenty. I am not an sps genius, currently I have 2 they look good and are growing. I had a 125 sps dom years ago. My corals would grow fine and most looked ok but at one point some turned brown still alive and still growing just kind of ugly. My issue was nitrate and phosphate were too high. That took months to happen though. So could it be nutrient based yes but yours dont look high and were not high for long. How is the flow around them maybe its being blocked a bit?

 

[Bakki]

Browning out doesnt usually happen from too much light. Maybe not enough. But, I would think 300 is plenty. I am not an sps genius, currently I have 2 they look good and are growing. I had a 125 sps dom years ago. My corals would grow fine and most looked ok but at one point some turned brown still alive and still growing just kind of ugly. My issue was nitrate and phosphate were too high. That took months to happen though. So could it be nutrient based yes but yours dont look high and were not high for long. How is the flow around them maybe its being blocked a bit?

Thanks, appreciate the thoughts. I agree that with these measurements (under)lighting is not likely the issue. Not sure if flow is the issue, could be. My guess now is that it’s the parameter swings, the damage is done and I guess I’ll just have to wait with fingers crossed.

 

[twentyleagues]

Thanks, appreciate the thoughts. I agree that with these measurements (under)lighting is not likely the issue. Not sure if flow is the issue, could be. My guess now is that it’s the parameter swings, the damage is done and I guess I’ll just have to wait with fingers crossed.

Luckily browning out is not usually terminal to the coral. Just doesnt look as pretty as we like.