Lighting

[Nate5154]

So I use orphek light bars only on my aquarium and am starting to think maybe my lights are the reason i get no growth or color. I do get very tiny growth out of my hammer coral but still very dull colors. I have 3 12 inch bars over a 15 gallon cube running at around 40% each. Does anyone know what might be wrong or what signs I should know if my lighting is right? for example every how many days should my glass be covered with algae. Thank you and i’d appreciate any comments!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Orpheks are good lights, but I'm not familiar with this size, I just googled it, they are 15 watts each, and you have 3, so 45 watts total. Turn your lights up. I have AI Prime on my 15 gallon which is 55 watts and I have it at 80%, so IMO you should be at 85%-90%- ish or so.

EDIT: but do it slowly

 

[Peace River]

It is also worth understanding your water parameters

 

[bobnicaragua]

Are you running any whites or only blue?

 

[Nate5154]

Orpheks are good lights, but I'm not familiar with this size, I just googled it, they are 15 watts each, and you have 3, so 45 watts total. Turn your lights up. I have AI Prime on my 15 gallon which is 55 watts and I have it at 80%, so IMO you should be at 85%-90%- ish or so.

EDIT: but do it slowly

Got it, I appreciate the help

 

[Nate5154]

Are you running any whites or only blue?

I have 2 reef day plus and 1 blue plus bar from orphek, reef days are around 40% and blue plus around 50. Here’s the spectrum charts, the top one is reef day and bottom blue plus.

 

[Nate5154]

Orpheks are good lights, but I'm not familiar with this size, I just googled it, they are 15 watts each, and you have 3, so 45 watts total. Turn your lights up. I have AI Prime on my 15 gallon which is 55 watts and I have it at 80%, so IMO you should be at 85%-90%- ish or so.

EDIT: but do it slowly

Another thing is that I thought if i’m running little amounts of light my corals would reach or extend a lot? Mine seem to be dull and retract a lot and just aren’t very fluffy and bit

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Another thing is that I thought if i’m running little amounts of light my corals would reach or extend a lot? Mine seem to be dull and retract a lot and just aren’t very fluffy and bit

I don't know,. I've seen corals both stretch and survive by stretching and I've seen corals recede and melt away from low light.

Up to now the discussion is solely about lighting and I do think your light were set low. But we haven't seen pictures or parameters or no other info, so I can't assume the corals receding is due to the light, know what I mean, so is it just lighting or perhaps something else in conjunction with the light?

 

[X-37B]

I would put all to 100%.
15 watts at 40% = 9 watts, so 27 watts total.
A par meter would give you a better idea going forward.
Mounting height will give you different values also.

 

[Nate5154]

Another thing is that I thought if i’m running little amounts of light my corals would reach or extend a lot? Mine seem to be dull and retract a lot and just aren’t very fluffy and bit

I don't know,. I've seen corals both stretch and survive by stretching and I've seen corals recede and melt away from low light.

Up to now the discussion is solely about lighting and I do think your light were set low. But we haven't seen pictures or parameters or no other info, so I can't assume the corals receding is due to the light, know what I mean, so is it just lighting or perhaps something else in conjunction with the light?

Salinity - 1.026
Nitrates - 15
Nitrite - 0
Alkalinity - 7.4
Magnesium - 1300
Calcium - 400
Ammonia - 0

 

[Nate5154]

I would put all to 100%.
15 watts at 40% = 9 watts, so 27 watts total.
A par meter would give you a better idea going forward.
Mounting height will give you different values also.

I just live pretty far from accessible par meters, I have a cheap amazon one that gives me good par but i don’t know wether to believe what it tells me, because it gives me 150 average on 40% lighting. Mounting height is around 10 inches above surface.

 

[X-37B]

I just live pretty far from accessible par meters, I have a cheap amazon one that gives me good par but i don’t know wether to believe what it tells me, because it gives me 150 average on 40% lighting. Mounting height is around 10 inches above surface.

If you put all at 100%,what is the par reading?
BRS rents a par meter.
My 15" nano cube running 1 xr15 gen 5 blue.
I run ab+ at 100%.
200+ par at the bottom and 250 to 300 further up.
Your system needs more light if everything else is inline.