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dolpator

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I am really at a loss. And starting to feel like I am not providing the reef what it needs. I bought a Par meter about a year ago, and either I do not have it set up right or it is just not working. My specs are as follows, 5' 150g reef. 2 radion xr30gen3 pros with a xr 15 gen4pro between them. I also have 4 t5's all blue +. These run at peak hours. I am current running the WWC AB+ modified schedule with peak at 70%power, all blues and uv at 100%, and rwg at 10%. At peak times I am getting at best 250 par. This is with no water movement. Lights are 10" AWL, and top of the reef is about 10" BWL. Does these par values add up to what other may have similar to my set up. I cant believe with the success I am seeing with others only running radions, why I am not achieving the same results. I run a calcium reactor on the tank, and the system stays pretty stable. At least it has for the last 6months. I also run the reef anabolics trace elements system, and an algae scrubber

Ph 8.2
N03 10
P04 .08
Alk 8.2
Calcium - 440
Mag - 1500
Salinity - 1.025
 

Billldg

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First things, how do your corals look? Are they browning out?

I have a 120 4ft tank. I run a hybrid with 2 XR15 G4 pros. I just installed diffusers and had to bump my intensity up. My lights are 7 in's above tank, they are low because of the hood hence me installing the diffusers. At peak, with T5's and Leds running I get 350 to 400 par on the top of my rock at 80 percent intensisty on the LED's. What type of par meter did you buy. I have a Apogee 210 and found that the sun setting gives me more accurate readings.
 
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dolpator

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It is the bioreef BMT3000. The one you hook up to a usb on your computer. Corals are not browning out, have ok color. But many locals are out growing my corals 2 to 1 easily. I have WD that is 2 1/2 years old and dont have the growth to show for it. I'll try to post a pic. I will try the sun settings tomorrow instead of the electric.

20200117_171028.jpg
 

Billldg

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Sun Settings have the par a top of the reef from 285 - 325 with current settings.
So they have definitely gone up from the elec setting. Their are so many things that effect growth its crazy. It could be parameters, nutrients, lighting, and such. How long do you run your intensity for. I have mine running from 10 am to 5 pm, both leds and T5's with ramp up and down from the led's on both ends.
 

Zach W

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Why not bump up your Radion power past 70%? Seems like an easy way to up your par if that’s what you’re concerned about
 
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Thank you for the reply, I am not concerned about par, I am more concerned about growth or lack there of. I am just trying to figure out why others are growing massive colonies in a year or two and I cant grow same species. Just havent been able to put my finger on the issue. I feed once a day, a frozen mush food. Reef Roids once a week. I am keeping all stable at @8. Calcium stays around 440. I am dosing trace elements, and aminos. I feel I have enough flow, 2 MP40's, and I am using a algae scrubber for export. With a things withing parameters the only thing I can think of is lighting, but that isnt even a given right now.

Billdg I will screen shot my schedule. My t5's come on during peak hours. All blue +

Screenshot_20200120-105959_Apex Fusion.jpg
 

Billldg

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Seeing the picture of your Walt Disney, though it may not be massive, it does look happy. Looking over your parameters and lighting I really don't see much of an issue. I would ask how old is the tank, that maybe tank needs some more time to mature, but if your Walt Disney is 2.5 years old then the tank should have had more than enough time to mature. My only other suggestion would be to bump up your lighting intensity to get a little more par. With a N03 level of 10 you should be able to run a par level of 300-340. If you decide to go higher than 300-340 then you can run your N03 a little higher, maybe 15 ppm. Your P04 is fine for a little higher par as well. How is the disco ball effect of your radions? I just installed diffusors on my XR15 G4 pros, and though its only been a week, my corals seem to really like the blended spectrum. I have mine only 7 in's above as I have a canopy and thus had a hard time blending the light spectrum. @ReefSquad, do you see anything that could be causing slower growth in the SPS?

Oh, I also run 2 Blue +, 1 Coral +, 1 Purple + bulbs
 

DarthSimon

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There are so many different variables. Everyone's tank is different. I agree with the above, slowly raise your intensity on Radion's over time and watch par.

Question, how powerful do you run your Vortech's and what flow patterns? What kind of turn over rate do you think your getting with them?? Acro's need super flow....
 
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Thank you all again for the reply's...
I do not mind the disco ball effect on the tank and I think the rock work kind of diffuses the effect more so than tanks that have a more minimal approach to aqua-scapping. I did consider the diffusers for a more blended look, but since I seem to be having a little difficulty in the tank, I postponed that for a future upgrade. I was also considering changing my T5's out for 2 blue+, 1 coral+, and one purple+ when my bulbs are due to be replaced in a month. Thought maybe the coral+ would add a little more spectrum and par. The tank was set up in 2009, I had my ups and downs with it learning, and the tank went SPS dominate mixed reef about 3 years ago. Of course starting with monti's and birdnest and then venturing into acro's. I will post some other pics of some of the other corals in the tank... I have 2 MP40's on ReefCrest @100%(just letting them do what they do during the day with ramping up and down), and a few times a week I turn on an RW20 to get the tank turning over and moving some detritus around and the MP40's are run on Nutrient Export.. I want to add to small power heads on the bottom of the tank on each side to keep detritus moving around and not settling, just haven't got to that point as it will be yet another expense...
 
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So red plant has been in the tank for about 4 months, the tricolor is about a year. Strawberr Shortcake is two years old. Pinky the best is the youngest coral of the bunch at two months, and the last coral is pink caddy which I got back in March. As you can see a fell a have pretty good color
20200120_193801.jpg
20200120_193733.jpg 20200120_193725.jpg 20200120_193714.jpg 20200120_193702.jpg
 
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Pink Caddy has been the best out of all the corals I have ever put in the tank. Retained great color and has significant growth being only since March that he has been in the tank. Would say the Red Planet also has fared well, may have been better off, but he was in poor shape when I got him so there was some recovery time for him....
 

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