Making changes to a hybrid lighting strategy - need advice please

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

I need to do some maintenance on my T5s and I am I am replacing my XR30s.

I have been fighting very mild but annoying STN. Between regular ICPMS and Aquabiomics tests, it’s very likely I was stressing something’s out. So I backed a bunch of stuff out, which you will notice that theme some here with my lighting. I do think I shocked my system accidentally when I did something that will explain with my Halide system.

Pics below of my lights and PAR. There is 1 light out in that video.

My T5 bulbs (ATI Blue and KZ New Gen) are 16-17 months old. I am running them at 10.5 hours down from 12 hours a day.

My halides are running M80s with Radium’s for 6.5 hours a day. Down from 9. But when I was running 9 hours a day I simply switched the Reefbrite ballasts and Reefbrite 20k bulbs out for magnetic M80s that are overdriving my Radium’s. Bulbs are putting out what my Apex says is around 400W. I think that coupled with (at the time) blasting ozone for clarity was part cause of the stress.

My XR30s are running 14 hours. 10 in full spectrum. Full spectrum and blue is really a copy of Sanjay. Which makes it sound like a I have a single engine Cessna headed for V1 in my living room. Currently I am down to 93% all channels in FS and 93%/20% when I’m blue mode.

My XR30s are G5s and they are failing pretty regularly now. Running them at 100% for as long as I have has pushed them past their limits at times. Plus, I firhfindicn#*%*{¥] hate Mobius. So, I bought 8 Reefi Uno 2.1 Pro to replace the XR30s.

Danielle told me, along with some other instructions, “just initially match 100% PAR but then use acclimation mode start at 80% for 45 days.”

Should I simply ignore my T5’s maintenance schedule for 3 months? At that point, I think I would change 2 bulbs every 2 weeks until I replaced all 8?

Anyone see anything I should do, do differently or avoid as I do this?

Thanks in advance!

 

[mcarroll]

It seems like you have at least a couple of separate issues...

• Extreme lighting.
• Lighting changes.
• Experimenting with ozone.
• more?

It may not be an issue in your system, but just in case I will mention that you should be keeping higher rather than lower nutrient levels so your corals are able to tolerate light levels and changes like this better. Phosphates in particular are crucial to corals in these areas. STN may have been unavoidable, depending on what actually happened, but higher nutrients will make it less bad and lower nutrients will make it worse.

It seems like getting things back to stability would be key… I would get the T5 system on its regular rotation of bulb replacements.

 

[rtparty]

Just the change from RB ballasts and RB bulbs to M80s and Radiums would be enough to shock the system IMO

 

[Reefing addict Clay]

I just got a new tank innovative marine 100ext and I was going to buy used gen6 xr30 pro off a buddy for 700 a piece but I see most people saying the new reefis uno 2.1 pro is better to go with. My tank is 48x24x20 and said to get 3 and get helix bars 1 meso blue 1 reef crest. Does everyone here agree? I had gen4 xr30 pro on last reef tank handful of years ago and liked them but not so much so that I don’t think other lights can’t be better. Not worried about money as much as the coral growth and color pop.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

Just the change from RB ballasts and RB bulbs to M80s and Radiums would be enough to shock the system IMO

Yeah, that what I was thinking I did. I did not account for such a radical change.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

It seems like you have at least a couple of separate issues...

• Extreme lighting.
• Lighting changes.
• Experimenting with ozone.
• more?

It may not be an issue in your system, but just in case I will mention that you should be keeping higher rather than lower nutrient levels so your corals are able to tolerate light levels and changes like this better. Phosphates in particular are crucial to corals in these areas. STN may have been unavoidable, depending on what actually happened, but higher nutrients will make it less bad and lower nutrients will make it worse.

It seems like getting things back to stability would be key… I would get the T5 system on its regular rotation of bulb replacements.

My nutrients have been holding solid at .10/10. I feed 5 times a day frozen via my aF4 and 5 times a day with my plank. I also put out 1.5 sheets of nori a day.

I was dosing 220 ML of ammonia and urea for the last 6 months or so. My No3 was getting hard to raise. Over the last 3 weeks I have eliminated that and I also had been dosing Aminos but it ran out and I intentionally did not get more.

I wouldn’t say experiment with ozone. I have been running it since shortly after I had set this tank up. I was using Ozone to help with chemical warfare. Maybe that was an experiment after all.

My PO4 has really never been below .08. I normally let it float to about .18-.2 before I address it with LC over several days.

I’ve been working very hard towards stability.
- DKH has been holding about a .2 variance
- I am not adjust Kalk to chase evap. I found that 14k ML over night coupled with shutting my feed pump to my CARX off for that same period has been magical. PH starts the morning at 8.1. My CARX can kill my PH if I don’t manage my Kalk. My CARX is running 100 ML/Min @ 6.36-6.42 >30 dKH. I found using my AquaWiz to control the CARX exceptionally beneficial.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

I just got a new tank innovative marine 100ext and I was going to buy used gen6 xr30 pro off a buddy for 700 a piece but I see most people saying the new reefis uno 2.1 pro is better to go with. My tank is 48x24x20 and said to get 3 and get helix bars 1 meso blue 1 reef crest. Does everyone here agree? I had gen4 xr30 pro on last reef tank handful of years ago and liked them but not so much so that I don’t think other lights can’t be better. Not worried about money as much as the coral growth and color pop.

Everyone’s mileage will vary. I just put two Helix RC over my frag (plumbed to the tank in question) with 2 6k SE MH’s. I’m going to add back the blue XHOs from the pendants for that blue pop.

I studied all the reviews that people did with spectrometers and par meters. I also talked to the folks who did the actual reviews. I’m going to repurpose these XR30s, but, I would never buy these again.

I’m sitting 20 feet from my tank right now. The (8) XR30s are currently running around 95%. It honestly sounds like I have a Cessna taxiing down the runway in my living room.

 

[Reefing addict Clay]

I just got a new tank innovative marine 100ext and I was going to buy used gen6 xr30 pro off a buddy for 700 a piece but I see most people saying the new reefis uno 2.1 pro is better to go with. My tank is 48x24x20 and said to get 3 and get helix bars 1 meso blue 1 reef crest. Does everyone here agree? I had gen4 xr30 pro on last reef tank handful of years ago and liked them but not so much so that I don’t think other lights can’t be better. Not worried about money as much as the coral growth and color pop.

Everyone’s mileage will vary. I just put two Helix RC over my frag (plumbed to the tank in question) with 2 6k SE MH’s. I’m going to add back the blue XHOs from the pendants for that blue pop.

I studied all the reviews that people did with spectrometers and par meters. I also talked to the folks who did the actual reviews. I’m going to repurpose these XR30s, but, I would never buy these again.

I’m sitting 20 feet from my tank right now. The (8) XR30s are currently running around 95%. It honestly sounds like I have a Cessna taxiing down the runway in my living room.

Cessna taxiing down the runway in my living room.

 

[bobnicaragua]

With such strong light, the flow should be really churning.

I’m running 400 par on the sand in a halide/T5/LED system and my flow looks like a washing machine.