My sps corals aren't colored up.

[brownsalt92]

Yea part of me would like to upgrade lights but then again I might just upgraded protein skimmer.

 

[Sabellafella]

What kinda t5 fixture you have?

Yea part of me would like to upgrade lights but then again I might just upgraded protein skimmer.

 

[brownsalt92]

Knock off t5 fixture from eBay that I upgraded bulbs to ati I spent 165. They don't even sell it on eBay anymore...

 

[Sabellafella]

Knock off t5 fixture from eBay that I upgraded bulbs to ati I spent 165. They don't even sell it on eBay anymore...

Does it have good reflectors? Also how far is the bulbs from the sandbed

 

[ksc]

Knock off t5 fixture from eBay that I upgraded bulbs to ati I spent 165. They don't even sell it on eBay anymore...

Were those lux readings or par readings? My BIL had a no name ebay t5 fixture. He would lose over 50% of his par output over 6 months. Not sure how quickly his bulbs degraded as I only tested it at 6 months. Most of those ebay fixtures have no cooling and use the "wrong" ballasts.


His tanks sps would have very pale color and were completely different than the mc's that I fragged for him, so much so that he would ask for a piece that I'd already given him and was in his tank.

 

[brownsalt92]

Were those lux readings or par readings? My BIL had a no name ebay t5 fixture. He would lose over 50% of his par output over 6 months. Not sure how quickly his bulbs degraded as I only tested it at 6 months. Most of those ebay fixtures have no cooling and use the "wrong" ballasts.


His tanks sps would have very pale color and were completely different than the mc's that I fragged for him, so much so that he would ask for a piece that I'd already given him and was in his tank.

Lux reading. It has a couple fans built into it. I have a pc superman table coral that is lime green

 

[ksc]

I think those lux readings you posted are inncorrect. Even if you ad another zero to those lux numbers they would still be too low. From the table below 10par equals 740 lux
You want at least 3-400 par at the top of your rockwork. My BIL's Ebay light got about 500par 4-5" from the fixture which would translate into 37,000lux.
PPF to Lux Reference Table
PPF (μmol m-2 s-1)
Lux (Sunlight)
Lux (HPS)
Lux (Metal Halide)
Lux (Fluorescent)

10 540 820 710 740
10 540 820 710 740
100 5400 8200 7100 7400
200 10,800 16,400 14,200 14,800
300 16,200 24,600 21,300 22,200
600 32,400 49,200 42,600 44,400
1000 54,000 82,000 71,000 74,000
2000 108,000 164,000 142,000 148,000

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I'll have to just let it be for a bit. I was using reef crystals for a long time I only did 20 gallons worth of water change with instant ocean. Don't like the change. Gave the boxes to my dad. I'm gonna start to do around a 2 gallon water change a day. I think it will be way better for the tank instead of a 10 gall a week maybe it didn't like the change. It will give me way more steady params. I don't have a apex to watch it all the time... in the future tho! As far as bulb goes I have a fixture from eBay bought in November. But I swapped the bulbs out after 2 months n January didn't like the color. I changed over to ATI bulbs 1 coral plus 2 blue plus and 3 of the white ones.. of only I remember the k on them

how high above the water are the bulbs?

 

[brownsalt92]

I think those lux readings you posted are inncorrect. Even if you ad another zero to those lux numbers they would still be too low. From the table below 10par equals 740 lux
You want at least 3-400 par at the top of your rockwork. My BIL's Ebay light got about 500par 4-5" from the fixture which would translate into 37,000lux.
PPF to Lux Reference Table
PPF (μmol m-2 s-1)
Lux (Sunlight)
Lux (HPS)
Lux (Metal Halide)
Lux (Fluorescent)

10 540 820 710 740
10 540 820 710 740
100 5400 8200 7100 7400
200 10,800 16,400 14,200 14,800
300 16,200 24,600 21,300 22,200
600 32,400 49,200 42,600 44,400
1000 54,000 82,000 71,000 74,000
2000 108,000 164,000 142,000 148,000

Well when I clicked on my milwalkee lux meter the fist setting it read one. The next setting witch was times 10 was 300 lux at the sand bed and 550 at top of rock work. If I remeber right at the top of my glass lids the lux was 700? I can retest tommaro when I get home. The bulbs Is About 5 Inches From The Waters surface.

 

[brownsalt92]

how high above the water are the bulbs?

About 5 inches

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

a guess would tell me you should be averaging across the top of the tank water line, about 46 to 50,000 lux. the whites being brighter. the whites you have if the appear kinda blue are likely 20k ish if the are whiteer then 8k to 14k. as you have mostly white, the coral, pigments wont fluoresce as much. ie under 56k sun light a coral is mostly brown. so i could be a little trick of light. plus SPS need time. esp in a new or moved tank.

2 reasons to take top of tank readings.
@ 50,000 lux you should have 1000 par apppox. Thats a LOT of Light and Par
divide the lux by an average lamp rating. 50 is a average. sun 54, best t5 45, crap led 68
so if you went from ebay odyssea t5 (60?) it would be 800 par. even using rough numbers, going to ATI bulbs, right there is a 200 par jump even though the lux may be the same even it were only a 100 par jump thats a lot.
thus the top of tank reading importance. (averaging)
lux at the coral imo is ok but light always going to fall of a mathematical rate. (close to light far from light.) it only changes slightly from light fixture to light fixture. so top middle bottom or quarters, is good to know.
par does not fall of evenly. thus importance of par mapping.

2nd reason to know top o tank readings is thats how you track your t5 burn time. shoud be initial up spike(month or 2) then drop spike(month three to four) then long steady burn and then slow drop starting at 1 year. assuming quality bulb and fixture and excess heat.you will also see the lux drop in the individual bulbs if you write it down.

So IMO small water parameter instability and the move could be one thing then a jump in par and lighting parameters could be next as to what the corals are acclimating to. the aminos will feed every body in the tank including bacteria so nothing lost there.

Fwiw I went from a 150w Radion 2ok to a phoneix 14k MH in my tank.(similar Par/lux levels). A monti that has always been rusty red brown under a year of JBJ LED then 4 Months under a 2ok radion changed color from rust to a bright seafoam green under the 14k. o_O
This change took 40 days:eek: and growth has been amazing.

something to remember is all coral animals have thier own needs and take thier own sweet time to adjust. double check the species and make surer the are not deeper water corals, sps grow every where in inluding the deep dark.
yup I have one tri color valeda that is still brown, except where it is shaded, and glows blue green w purp.:rolleyes:

 

[brownsalt92]

Very informative I will verify par readings tommaro for better information. Thanks for your help! Looking at other refers and coral vendors Terra del fugo mine looks just about the same. I will get a better lux reading tommaro. Also purchased a tunze ato for my tank so that should help in keeping my salinity stable!