Philips CoralCare Gen 2 - my tank journal

pharazon

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Hello!

With the highly anticipated release of this new light, I figured I would start a thread chronicling my experiences with it. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to test this light and look forward to providing y’all with some honest feedback. I will be updating this thread with info such as light schedule, PAR map, coral progression, and general feedback.

My tank is just over two years old and is SPS dominant. Dimensions are 20x20x20” - a little overkill for a nano, but it will soon be going on my 50 gallon upgrade. My previous light was a XR30 G4 Pro, which I enjoyed very much. The CoralCare G2 has big shoes to fill, but so far I am very impressed.

My initial impressions:
- Very well built. This thing is a TANK. All metal body with a glass panel.
- Excellent coverage/spread. Getting much more PAR in the corners of the tank versus the Radion.
- Awesome color rendering. The coral do not appear “washed out” even under full blues.

I’ve only had the light over the tank for three days, so you’ll have to stick around to see how well it grows and colors coral. For now, here are some quick pics I’ve snapped since I got the light mounted.

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Please feel free to ask any questions you have and I will answer them to the best of my ability!
 

StatelineReefer

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I'd like to see whether or not this diffused light can produce a visible and attractive caustic network, or if I would be better off with T5's and supplementing with my current custom CBBs.
 
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pharazon

pharazon

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I'd like to see whether or not this diffused light can produce a visible and attractive caustic network, or if I would be better off with T5's and supplementing with my current custom CBBs.

It is definitely more on the subtle side, but not completely “flat” like T5’s. I’ll take some videos to show what it looks like.
 
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pharazon

pharazon

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I know you posted about the light, but WOW probably one of the best corral arraignments I’ve seen. Your tank looks like a poster!

That’s very kind, thank you! It’s looked better but I’ve started moving coral for the upgrade. The gaping hole in the middle used to be filled by a monstrous, murderous frogspawn, and I just broke off a large piece from the Starburst cap.

Here’s a shot from April - you might notice that shadowing has been a huge issue for me.
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I can definitely see where shadowing is going to be (Has been) a chore, but the color and contrast (with the shadowing) is truly breathtaking
 

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As a newer member I’ve always questioned the need or cost for some of the lighting options available, but it just goes to show if you apply it properly the results speak for themselves...worth every penny in my opinion
 
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pharazon

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Here’s a quick PAR map I put together during the blue part of my schedule. Measurements were taken with the light 8” from the water surface

When I set the light up, I essentially aimed to “mimic” my Radion schedule. Since I don’t have a spectrometer, I used an Apogee 210 and eye-balled it. The result: the top 1/3 of the tank is receiving a very slight bump in PAR, while the lower 2/3 received a significant boost.

Please note that I am aware the 210 is not the best tool for the job, but it’s what I have. I used the same device to measure PAR from my previous light, so the comparison should be pretty fair.









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Seems like if you really want to hang out in the 300-400 range you have to run them at full daylight “0%” color setting at 100% intensity, and hang them pretty low
 
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pharazon

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Seems like if you really want to hang out in the 300-400 range you have to run them at full daylight “0%” color setting at 100% intensity, and hang them pretty low

We’ll find out! I’ll be taking a bunch more measurements shortly.
 
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pharazon

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I'd like to see whether or not this diffused light can produce a visible and attractive caustic network, or if I would be better off with T5's and supplementing with my current custom CBBs.

Here‘s a quick video of a new coral acquisition that shows a little bit of shimmer.

Please excuse the valonia infested merletti - my frogspawn roughed it up pretty good and the bubble algae quickly settled in the skeleton. Performing surgery this weekend.

 
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pharazon

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Here’s a shot during the whiter spectrum of the schedule. Please note that some of my coral are recovering from paling and brown out, due to low nutrients and some fluctuations over the past few months. How they look a few weeks/months from now will really solidify how I feel about the Coral Care.

E767F8CC-E405-4349-A323-9144FF991FFF.jpeg
 

mitten_reef

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Here’s a shot during the whiter spectrum of the schedule. Please note that some of my coral are recovering from paling and brown out, due to low nutrients and some fluctuations over the past few months. How they look a few weeks/months from now will really solidify how I feel about the Coral Care.

E767F8CC-E405-4349-A323-9144FF991FFF.jpeg
what's the right yellow at the corner of the rack?
 

NeverlosT

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It appears that folks will just have to be honest with themselves about the spectrum/PAR they will be ok with (or if they are ok with a whiter tank for a few hours a day to get the PAR needed).

Then again, Dana had a good article a few years ago discussing photo inhibition, and the fact that most corals start experiencing it at quite low PAR numbers. So maybe not hitting 500 PAR is just fine? Maybe great blending and spectrum with a max of 300PAR is just fine?

I am interested with a similar form factor how the ATI straton compares PAR/Spectrum wise, it is 230W max as opposed to the CCG2 170W.

@pharazon your tank is beautiful! Great work growing those colonies and thank you for rolling the dice on a new light for our benefit. Could you give us a real quick rundown of your system (filtration and water parameters) please?

Thanks, excited to see more posts. Losing the noise of the fan must be great!
 
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pharazon

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It appears that folks will just have to be honest with themselves about the spectrum/PAR they will be ok with (or if they are ok with a whiter tank for a few hours a day to get the PAR needed).

Then again, Dana had a good article a few years ago discussing photo inhibition, and the fact that most corals start experiencing it at quite low PAR numbers. So maybe not hitting 500 PAR is just fine? Maybe great blending and spectrum with a max of 300PAR is just fine?

I am interested with a similar form factor how the ATI straton compares PAR/Spectrum wise, it is 230W max as opposed to the CCG2 170W.

@pharazon your tank is beautiful! Great work growing those colonies and thank you for rolling the dice on a new light for our benefit. Could you give us a real quick rundown of your system (filtration and water parameters) please?

Thanks, excited to see more posts. Losing the noise of the fan must be great!

Thank you for the compliments!

I have definitely learned with this tank that “PAR isn’t everything.” It’s definitely something, but it’s not the end-all-be-all to coral coloration that some tout it as.

The coral in my tank are currently receiving more PAR than they did under the Radion. The Radion was capable of more par, but I never had good results pushing it any higher. Max par prior to the change was 280. I was still able to achieve excellent coloration from most of my SPS coral. I think where I will see the biggest difference is in the areas the Radion couldnt really “reach” without giving me 500+ PAR hotspots at the top.

My system is pretty simple. Here’s a breakdown:

Salinity - 35 PPT
Alk - 6.5 - 7.1 dkh
Calcium - 425 - 450
Mag - 1300-1500
NO3 - 0 until recently I had a spike that brought it to 15. I am not super thrilled about it but I’ll give it time to see how the coral react before attempting to lower it.
PO4 - 0.01-0.04

I use ESV B-Ionic, Tropic Marin Pro salt, KZ flatworm stop, and Brightwell aminos.

Filtration is a a Nyos 120 skimmer that I run intermittently, and a carbon reactor that I pack with filter floss. That is all.

Flow is handled by two MP10’s, two Sicce Xstreams, and a Sicce 3.0 return. Quite a bit of flow for a little tank.
 

NeverlosT

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Excellent, thanks for the additional info!

You are right, the days are gone when we all think "more is better" with light. It depends entirely on your reef and your goals.

Most SPS tanks with the best color I have seen have lower PAR than I run, not all, but most.

I used to have vivid colors, and then my nutrients changed a bunch, and the tank has been in a tailspin with no changes to the lighting. It is such a complex balance!
 
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