PAR VS Photoperiod Question

[nate's reef]

Hey guys, long story short.

I had a 165w Chinese black box on my 10g tank running around 80% blue, 30% white, pounding the tank with light, all my sps looked great. Got a LITTLE bit of water on it and it light on fire.

Just hooked up an ai prime hd +, obv much less par than before, but used the BRS settings so maybe closer on PUR than expected.

No par meter but based on other peoples readings, I was probably at about 500-600 par 6" under water before, now I'm likely about 200 which should be usable.

My corals look to be adjusting well, if I am struggling to get color back could I try increasing the photoperiod or just get a second prime ? I would rather not buy a second light, but will an increased photoperiod increase coloration or only effect growth?

Bonus question: I will upgrade to a larger tank at some point and have a horticultural 400w MH light. No control, either it's on or off. I was thinking about a 120 down the road, but would I really need to stick with the "less than 20w/g" and look at 200+?

 

[Hitman]

Specteral speaking the Prime is a much better light. I think it’s just going to take time for everything to adjust to your new light. As long as you don’t have any dark locations or shaded areas 1 should be ok but 2 may be perfect. As for photo period most run our dawn to dusk blue for 12 hours and full spectrum is a big gap with some low as 4 hours others 10. I run full spectrum for 8 with 3 hours on each end just Blues ramping up or down during those 3 hours. Hope that helps.

 

[nate's reef]

Specteral speaking the Prime is a much better light. I think it’s just going to take time for everything to adjust to your new light. As long as you don’t have any dark locations or shaded areas 1 should be ok but 2 may be perfect. As for photo period most run our dawn to dusk blue for 12 hours and full spectrum is a big gap with some low as 4 hours others 10. I run full spectrum for 8 with 3 hours on each end just Blues ramping up or down during those 3 hours. Hope that helps.

Good to hear, I guess I'll see how the one light does and maybe upgrade in a few months if it's not cutting it

 

[Graffiti Spot]

That's what I would do, I would bet another light would make things grow much better and color better too. Adding a longer photo period won't do much ime.
I am curious as to what is different about the spectrum of the prime and a black box. Serious question I don't know much about LEDs.

 

[Hitman]

AI, Kessil, Radions, etc have R&D behind their color choices and spectrum where as the black box’s are just colors thrown in. BRS did a video on it and yes they had high par but when it came to the correct spectrum they were off enough that I personally wouldn’t use them.

 

[nate's reef]

AI, Kessil, Radions, etc have R&D behind their color choices and spectrum where as the black box’s are just colors thrown in. BRS did a video on it and yes they had high par but when it came to the correct spectrum they were off enough that I personally wouldn’t use them.

Add the fact that any water causes them to light on fire and I definitely wouldn't recommend. The black box also had no lights under probably 450nm, and having the SemiLED 405's is a really nice visual touch, i definitely like the more purple night lights than the really heavy blue