Lighting schedule

[Treefer32]

I have a 3 foot deep, by 6 ft long and 31" tall 340 gallon mixed reef. My Acros are doing awesome, My Stylopora have lost color since adjusting my lighting schedule a few months ago.

My current lighting setup is 3 AI 52s in a Aquatic life 4 bulb 60" T5 fixture. I run 4 coral special bulbs (80 Watt each).

So, here's the schedule:

All 3 AI 52's set to 3 hour ramp up and 3 hour ramp down:

ramp up starts from 9 am to noon
full from noon to 5 pm
ramp down from 5pm to 8 pm.

Here's my settings at full:

Lunar start from 8:00pm - 10:30pm

T5s are set to:

noon to 8 pm.

What would you change if anything to ensure corals are the best colors and have the best lighting schedule to grow? Or is there a reference for what to run depending on the lighting setup?

 

[Ron Reefman]

What was your old schedule... back when you did have good color?

My only suggestion would be, maybe a bit more red spectrum, but not too much.

Also noon to 5 pm isn't a long day. It depends on how fast the PAR builds up and falls off on either side of the midday schedule. Coral's zooxanthellae can do photosynthesis for up to 7 or 8 hours if the light is strong enough.

Good luck

 

[Treefer32]

What was your old schedule... back when you did have good color?

My only suggestion would be, maybe a bit more red spectrum, but not too much.

Also noon to 5 pm isn't a long day. It depends on how fast the PAR builds up and falls off on either side of the midday schedule. Coral's zooxanthellae can do photosynthesis for up to 7 or 8 hours if the light is strong enough.

Good luck

Ron, great questions. The colors were better when I had a whiter spectrum and slightly less blue and the schedule was shorter by over an hour. I had a 2 hour ramp up from 10-noon then on at max from noon to 5 then ramp down from 5-7.

When I increased the lighting schedule and the blue spectrum slightly by 2 hours I lost a 10" styla pora and a 6 inch birdsnest almost overnight, and the lime green greenish red stylapora is still growing but is a whiteish yellow. So strange that two hours and adding in more blue would make that much of a difference.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

This is the schedule I have been running for close to two years now on 4 Hydra 26's (no T5's) mounted perpendicular to the tank for better light spread front/back and reduced shadowing. They are mounted at 11.5" above the water line over a 75 gallon. It's very similar to the BRS recommended spectrum settings for the Hydras. I don't run the green channel at all though. Prior to the Hydras I had a Reef Breeders Photon V2 and it uses the same exact LEDs as the Hydras. I spent some time working with Logan and found that the white LED channel produces enough in the green spectrum that the separate green is not needed for anything other than aesthetics. And these settings are a about as direct carry over from that light as I could get.

PAR numbers when are in the 350-400 at the top of the rockwork about 6" below the water supporting acros and other sps. Then falls to a fairly even 125 PAR across the entire sand bed. I have had very nice steady coral growth and color pop and get great polyp extension as well. The blues start a 10% gradual decline starting at 4 pm to 6 pm and whites and reds follow suit. The schedule then aggressively drops in power over the next two hours to 8 and then a slow drop till 10, this is mostly for evening viewing where color pop is enhanced, but the PAR is a fraction of daytime hours.

I'll send you the schedule file if you want, but if you decide to use it, I'd highly recommend measuring the PAR at normal setting then use the acclimation mode and reducing the power by at least 20-30% over at lease a two week period for your corals to adjust to she shift in spectrum.

 

[Treefer32]

This is the schedule I have been running for close to two years now on 4 Hydra 26's (no T5's) mounted perpendicular to the tank for better light spread front/back and reduced shadowing. They are mounted at 11.5" above the water line over a 75 gallon. It's very similar to the BRS recommended spectrum settings for the Hydras. I don't run the green channel at all though. Prior to the Hydras I had a Reef Breeders Photon V2 and it uses the same exact LEDs as the Hydras. I spent some time working with Logan and found that the white LED channel produces enough in the green spectrum that the separate green is not needed for anything other than aesthetics. And these settings are a about as direct carry over from that light as I could get.

PAR numbers when are in the 350-400 at the top of the rockwork about 6" below the water supporting acros and other sps. Then falls to a fairly even 125 PAR across the entire sand bed. I have had very nice steady coral growth and color pop and get great polyp extension as well. The blues start a 10% gradual decline starting at 4 pm to 6 pm and whites and reds follow suit. The schedule then aggressively drops in power over the next two hours to 8 and then a slow drop till 10, this is mostly for evening viewing where color pop is enhanced, but the PAR is a fraction of daytime hours.

I'll send you the schedule file if you want, but if you decide to use it, I'd highly recommend measuring the PAR at normal setting then use the acclimation mode and reducing the power by at least 20-30% over at lease a two week period for your corals to adjust to she shift in spectrum.

Yes, this would be great! this is what I was looking for. How should these lights be used. My lights are about 8" above the water column and the tank is 31" tall, so, I may need greater power to hit the bottom, but, seeing that you're at 90% max, vs. my 125% would be really nice to save electricity and nice and gradual drops throughout the day. I love it.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Sent you a google drive link with the settings.

How these lights should be used all boils down to what corals you are trying to keep. How large of an area are you trying to light up, and how much PAR is needed.

I'm only running the 4 Hydra 26's on a 4' tank with no additional lighting. And at 11.5" they are more than powerful enough to generate plenty of PAR needed to easily hit 120+ PAR at 21" Well above the range for most softies and LPS. The distribution and color blending is really good at that height as well. There is minimal disco effect at that height as well.

Depending on what all you are keeping, for a 6' tank, 3 Hydra 52's should have enough hp on their own to light that tank if they are set correctly. This is mostly dependent on what you have and where it's placed. If all your SPS are at the top of the rock work and getting at least 350-450 PAR with the lights raised to 10-11" and power settings adjusted then you may not need to run the T5's for as long. You can also shift the time they're on to the morning while keeping the the output on the Hydras lower so the PAR is where it needs to be. Then at mid-day when the T5's are shutting down, bring the Hydras up to the setting needed to produce the right PAR. They can then be set to better enjoy the evening viewing at the end of the day.

Another option if you want to get away from the T5/LED Hybrid setup and find that the PAR is a little low with just three Hydras and you try to find a 4th one, or a pair of 26's, or even some Prime HD's and add them to the array. Many LFS have used lights as well as local saltwater club members or even on here that are looking to sell at a discount. Depending on the mounting setup you can get creative with how you arrange them so the PAR is where it needs to be and evenly distributed.

 

[John.remy]

Sent you a google drive link with the settings.

How these lights should be used all boils down to what corals you are trying to keep. How large of an area are you trying to light up, and how much PAR is needed.

I'm only running the 4 Hydra 26's on a 4' tank with no additional lighting. And at 11.5" they are more than powerful enough to generate plenty of PAR needed to easily hit 120+ PAR at 21" Well above the range for most softies and LPS. The distribution and color blending is really good at that height as well. There is minimal disco effect at that height as well.

Depending on what all you are keeping, for a 6' tank, 3 Hydra 52's should have enough hp on their own to light that tank if they are set correctly. This is mostly dependent on what you have and where it's placed. If all your SPS are at the top of the rock work and getting at least 350-450 PAR with the lights raised to 10-11" and power settings adjusted then you may not need to run the T5's for as long. You can also shift the time they're on to the morning while keeping the the output on the Hydras lower so the PAR is where it needs to be. Then at mid-day when the T5's are shutting down, bring the Hydras up to the setting needed to produce the right PAR. They can then be set to better enjoy the evening viewing at the end of the day.

Another option if you want to get away from the T5/LED Hybrid setup and find that the PAR is a little low with just three Hydras and you try to find a 4th one, or a pair of 26's, or even some Prime HD's and add them to the array. Many LFS have used lights as well as local saltwater club members or even on here that are looking to sell at a discount. Depending on the mounting setup you can get creative with how you arrange them so the PAR is where it needs to be and evenly distributed.

Me too please!

 

[John.remy]

Sent you a google drive link with the settings.

How these lights should be used all boils down to what corals you are trying to keep. How large of an area are you trying to light up, and how much PAR is needed.

I'm only running the 4 Hydra 26's on a 4' tank with no additional lighting. And at 11.5" they are more than powerful enough to generate plenty of PAR needed to easily hit 120+ PAR at 21" Well above the range for most softies and LPS. The distribution and color blending is really good at that height as well. There is minimal disco effect at that height as well.

Depending on what all you are keeping, for a 6' tank, 3 Hydra 52's should have enough hp on their own to light that tank if they are set correctly. This is mostly dependent on what you have and where it's placed. If all your SPS are at the top of the rock work and getting at least 350-450 PAR with the lights raised to 10-11" and power settings adjusted then you may not need to run the T5's for as long. You can also shift the time they're on to the morning while keeping the the output on the Hydras lower so the PAR is where it needs to be. Then at mid-day when the T5's are shutting down, bring the Hydras up to the setting needed to produce the right PAR. They can then be set to better enjoy the evening viewing at the end of the day.

Another option if you want to get away from the T5/LED Hybrid setup and find that the PAR is a little low with just three Hydras and you try to find a 4th one, or a pair of 26's, or even some Prime HD's and add them to the array. Many LFS have used lights as well as local saltwater club members or even on here that are looking to sell at a discount. Depending on the mounting setup you can get creative with how you arrange them so the PAR is where it needs to be and evenly distributed.

I'd love to get this schedule as well!