Lighting Upgrades - Word to the Wise

[bigjgmac]

Two weeks ago tomorrow I pulled two Kessil A360 WE Tuna Blues and installed two Kessil AP9X. I had been running the 360s at a max of 100% for three hours during my 12 hour lighting schedule, the rest was ramp up, ramp down. Everything was at least fine and most of the inhabitants were thriving. (I have a Waterbox FRAG 105 mixed reef - more or less equal amounts of LPS and SPS and a zoa garden.)

One AP9X is 2X the output of one 360WE so I duplicated the light schedule and cut the intensity in half throughout.. Even with that, I baked some montis and one jack-o-lantern lepto. I have a Seneye and (stupidly) waited until the damage had been done before using it to measure my new PAR levels. HOLY CRAP! Those things are emitting some serious photons (see image below), and bear in mind those PAR readings are at an intensity of 37%. I wound up making my peak intensity 22% - we'll see how that works out fpr a couple of weeks prior to making yet another change.

So word to the wise. If you're upgrading lighting, monitor PAR before removing the old lights and again when the new lights are installed. Not only is it a financial setback to replace the corals, but I killed the animals in my care, which really bugs the crap out of me.

 

[Hasted]

Luckily I did rent a par meter for when I was putting in my AP9x.

I came from 3x AI Prime 16HDs at 100% BRS. Fans would be on all day and could hear them.

Installed the AP9x and I was getting the same par levels at 55%. Bonus is that the light is completely silent at this level. No idea if it gets more noisy at higher intensity, but I doubt I will ever need it higher.

I hope you like your AP9x as much as I do! You can also connect those 360s to your AP9x and control them through that rather than using a WIFI dongle! All the lights!! (Kidding, but you can actually use the AP9xs as the brains)

 

[bigjgmac]

Yep - I like them. Dead silent as you said. I actually gave my old lights and mounting arms away to someone in need. Sure don’t need any more light anyway!

 

[rgulrich]

I empathize - went through it twice myself. Once when I first pulled my 250W halides off the 300 and replaced with my first batch of LEDs. The second when I replaced those with a new batch of LEDs and forgot what happened a few years earlier.
Sigh.
At least everything is happy and growing well now, and using a heck of a lot less power all the way around. More than enough PAR/PUR with this configuration (albeit, they're not AP9x's), but I think I can safely provide anyone in the room with a fair tan. I have retained the six A360WE's for "high noon" lighting period of about five hours, though.

Black Boxes can provide one heck of a punch as well, even with the lenses removed. These have the 90' lenses removed (now native 120') and have a diffusion lens added to each fixture (special order 95% transmissivity acrylic) to provide super color blending. At about 50% the top of the reef hits just under 400 PAR and the gravel bed about 250-300, edge-to-edge coverage - with just the Black Boxes. The Kessils add about another 100 PAR when on.
Yes, when I first installed them I set them to what the replaced fixtures were set at (I have no excuse, I've a couple PAR meters at my disposal) and proceeded to bleach a reef over the next few days.
A hard-learned lesson - use a PAR meter when replacing/adjusting/resetting lighting.
Cheers,
Ray

 

[bigjgmac]

I empathize - went through it twice myself. Once when I first pulled my 250W halides off the 300 and replaced with my first batch of LEDs. The second when I replaced those with a new batch of LEDs and forgot what happened a few years earlier.
Sigh.
At least everything is happy and growing well now, and using a heck of a lot less power all the way around. More than enough PAR/PUR with this configuration (albeit, they're not AP9x's), but I think I can safely provide anyone in the room with a fair tan. I have retained the six A360WE's for "high noon" lighting period of about five hours, though.

Black Boxes can provide one heck of a punch as well, even with the lenses removed. These have the 90' lenses removed (now native 120') and have a diffusion lens added to each fixture (special order 95% transmissivity acrylic) to provide super color blending. At about 50% the top of the reef hits just under 400 PAR and the gravel bed about 250-300, edge-to-edge coverage - with just the Black Boxes. The Kessils add about another 100 PAR when on.
Yes, when I first installed them I set them to what the replaced fixtures were set at (I have no excuse, I've a couple PAR meters at my disposal) and proceeded to bleach a reef over the next few days.
A hard-learned lesson - use a PAR meter when replacing/adjusting/resetting lighting.
Cheers,
Ray

Your tank looks beautiful. Mine was really JUST starting to grow in. I'll get there, provide I minimize the boneheaded mistakes.

 

[rgulrich]

Thank you for the compliment. I can spend hours in front of it with my nose pressed up against the glass.

As for bonehead mistakes - you and me both, brother. I was heartbroken the first time I made that PAR mistake, and angry at myself the second time. Sometimes it's the most obvious things... As long as we both keep learning from our (and others'!) mistakes and try not to repeat them.

I still haven't found a replacement for a few of my favorite corals from back then, though I'm still looking.

Cheers,
Ray

 

[bigjgmac]

Thank you for the compliment. I can spend hours in front of it with my nose pressed up against the glass.

As for bonehead mistakes - you and me both, brother. I was heartbroken the first time I made that PAR mistake, and angry at myself the second time. Sometimes it's the most obvious things... As long as we both keep learning from our (and others'!) mistakes and try not to repeat them.

I still haven't found a replacement for a few of my favorite corals from back then, though I'm still looking.

Cheers,
Ray

I know a Jack-o-Lantern leptoseris is hardly rare or particularly special, but hated losing that one. It had encrusted nicely and flouresced beautifully - maybe they're all like that...

I hear you about staring at the tank. Beats the hell out of watching TV in my book.