New here, new to reefing, need help with lighting

[makin gainz]

I’m kinda lost and can’t find the info I need online! Just bought the smatfarm G5 light for my aquarium and can’t find any information on what I should run my lighting at. I had the coral life 50w led on my tank before and my corals were showing good growth with only a on/off switch. I do know I will have to turn the intensity down. Can someone give me a idea of where I should run this light? Btw this is a 20g long!

 

[Ron Reefman]

Is it this fixture?

I'd start with 4 to 6 hours of midday light at about 50% power. Then add as much sunrise and sunset time as you want.

Can you control white vs blue in this fixture? If so, run the blue at a higher level and the white at a correspondingly lower level; like 65% for blue and 35% for white.

You can easily increase the levels if your corals start to look unhappy. But running it too high may cause irreversible damage to some of the coral.

The zooxanthellae in your coral can only do photosynthesis for 6 to 8 hours during full midday light. That takes care of feeding the coral as best you can using photosynthesis. Strong light during longer hours may or may not be useful. It could help with pigment and other internal chemistries, but it may also do harm to the coral animal itself.

 

[makin gainz]

Is it this fixture?

I'd start with 4 to 6 hours of midday light at about 50% power. Then add as much sunrise and sunset time as you want.

Can you control white vs blue in this fixture? If so, run the blue at a higher level and the white at a correspondingly lower level; like 65% for blue and 35% for white.

You can easily increase the levels if your corals start to look unhappy. But running it too high may cause irreversible damage to some of the coral.

The zooxanthellae in your coral can only do photosynthesis for 6 to 8 hours during full midday light. That takes care of feeding the coral as best you can using photosynthesis. Strong light during longer hours may or may not be useful. It could help with pigment and other internal chemistries, but it may also do harm to the coral animal itself.

Yes this is the light I have just put on my tank!

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[DE FISH]

Hello

 

[makin gainz]

I have turned everything down because it seems to be too much for the tank but I am running my blues much higher than the others. I’ve set it up as starts low with the whites and ramps up for blues and then back down. I’m figuring this will take some time to get the lighting where the corals are happy.

 

[Big Smelly fish]

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Hello and welcome to the channel

 

[blaxsun]

 

[reaper93]

Welcome!!

 

[Fish Think Pink]

I’m kinda lost and can’t find the info I need online! Just bought the smatfarm G5 light for my aquarium and can’t find any information on what I should run my lighting at. I had the coral life 50w led on my tank before and my corals were showing good growth with only a on/off switch. I do know I will have to turn the intensity down. Can someone give me a idea of where I should run this light? Btw this is a 20g long!

Welcome! Glad you joined. I'm glad they moved your post over here so you could get good info, as above seem like GREAT info. I defer to them!

Have you considered starting your build thread? I found its a great place to document my tank's evolution for myself. I started tank first then joined, so I'm still finding myself going back collecting pictures & updating historically as well as current state. Once you create your first post in your thread and link it to your account, they will give you build badge (look left, under my ID)

This might help you find people local to you:
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/local-reef-club-discussion.516/
This is a good reference book type online article I still review:
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.84/