Need help with my lighting situation

[Dr. Joe]

Alright so I need some help with my lighting situation. I got a 125 gal (72W x 21H x 18D) with 3 Viparspectra 165s. My guy at the LFS set up the lighting for me at 7in above the water. He wasnt thrilled with that placement, but he said that with my canopy it was the highest he could put them. I know from reading this forum that these lights are powerful. I currently have them set to 1% White and 5% Blue. I run the blues 8:30am-5pm and the whites from 9:15am-4pm. I currently have a Hammer, Frogspawn, Duncan, Leather, Monti, Acan, Mushroom, Lobo, GSP, Ricordea, and Paly. All the corals have been in the tank for 8 weeks or longer. The softies seem to be doing well. The Monti, Acan, and Lobo are not. They haven't really blossomed out like they should. I circled in the picture where I have them in the tank along with pictures of them closer up. The guy who takes care of my tank checked the parameters and said they are great and where they should be. I target feed the corals reef roids on M W F and dose phyto every day. He thinks the lighting is the issue and that I should either move them up, increase the intensity of the white lights, or both. What are your thoughts?

 

[Bpb]

If raising them higher is not an option, take them down, remove the individual lenses over each led, and turn the intensity up. Go slow on that though. 1% or so a day

 

[Wallace11]

Maybe worth borrowing or renting a PAR meter to figure out what your PAR values are before making adjustments.

 

[tbrown]

White lights are great for you. Corals don't get much of anything from whites. With a 125 I'm guessing 5% is fairly low par. The montis tend to like light whereas the Acans (depending on species) and lobo tend to prefer lower light. Feeding Reef Roids regularly can lead to higher phosphates as well. What are your Phosphates and Nitrates at? Does your tank maintenance person give you your numbers when he tests the parameters? Those can be very helpful. I'm guessing the lights, if the issue, are too dim but it could be a combination of things.

 

[Dr. Joe]

White lights are great for you. Corals don't get much of anything from whites. With a 125 I'm guessing 5% is fairly low par. The montis tend to like light whereas the Acans (depending on species) and lobo tend to prefer lower light. Feeding Reef Roids regularly can lead to higher phosphates as well. What are your Phosphates and Nitrates at? Does your tank maintenance person give you your numbers when he tests the parameters? Those can be very helpful. I'm guessing the lights, if the issue, are too dim but it could be a combination of things.

I thought the white lights were where the coral got what it needed and the blues didn't do anything?

 

[tbrown]

I thought the white lights were where the coral got what it needed and the blues didn't do anything?

No. White lights are for our viewing pleasure. With that said, the blue does need to be I. A specific spectrum to do the corals any good. Viparspectra are supposed to be decent.