Question about lighting

[dym]

hello. I'm wondering if this lighting would work for the corals I have: GSP, duncan, blastos, and zoanthids. it peaks for 5-6 hours and gradually goes down im not sure if thats correct. I have a fluval sea marine 3.0 light, 48 inches. how can i get it right? i got the duncan and blastos yesterday

 

[dym]

also my tanks been running for 2.5-3 months and it hasnt grown any algae at all except tiny spots of diatoms im starting to think the lights weak. my gsp is happy and grew a bit thats the first thing i added

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

What size is your tank? How many gallons?
My lights peak for 10 hours

 

[dym]

What size is your tank? How many gallons?
My lights peak for 10 hours

its 125 gallons and 72 long, 21-24 inches tall. I have everything towards the center where there's light

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

its 125 gallons and 72 long, 21-24 inches tall. I have everything towards the center where there's light

is that the 60 watt light? To give you some perspective, I have a 55 watt light on my 15 gallon, I have a 100 watt light on my 32 gallon, and 150 watt light on my 40 gallon. I don't know how many watts you need for 125 gallons, but that one fluval bar unfortunately won't penetrate too far down into the water. I would suggest to keep the corals as close to the lights as possible for now until you upgrade. Sorry to give you bad news and good luck

 

[Uncle99]

The spectrum is good, the photoperiod is good but the intensity from that light is weak in a 125.

That being said, your corals are not high light so, that might work.

You could raise the intensity of blue for a few more hours, a.k.a. A faster ramp if you want to maximize available light.

 

[Bbio]

I agree, I don’t think that light is enough. I would aim for 150w lights, or 200 and get multiple of them. My 150 gallon has 400w of lights and it barely cuts it. On my old 90, I had 2 metal halides and 2 T5 bulbs.

That lighting schedule also looks a little chaotic. I didn’t have much success with LEDs until I followed the 1:8:1 rule. 1 hour ramp up/down and 8 hours of peak brightness. EZPZ. Also rent a PAR meter to see exactly what kind of PAR you’re getting when at your max brightness for 8 hours a day.

 

[dym]

is that the 60 watt light? To give you some perspective, I have a 55 watt light on my 15 gallon, I have a 100 watt light on my 32 gallon, and 150 watt light on my 40 gallon. I don't know how many watts you need for 125 gallons, but that one fluval bar unfortunately won't penetrate too far down into the water. I would suggest to keep the corals as close to the lights as possible for now until you upgrade. Sorry to give you bad news and good luck

That lighting schedule also looks a little chaotic. I didn’t have much success with LEDs until I followed the 1:8:1 rule. 1 hour ramp up/down and 8 hours of peak brightness. EZPZ. Also rent a PAR meter to see exactly what kind of PAR you’re getting when at your max brightness for 8 hours a day.

okay thx it came with the tank so i can replace it soon. do corals need pink/red light at all?

 

[dym]

also i looked it up apparently its 90 par at 18 inches deep, so im gonna move them up later

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

okay thx it came with the tank so i can replace it soon. do corals need pink/red light at all?

Yes corals need small amount of red and green light.

This is a good article that explains how the different colors benefit the corals, skip to the "Corals responses to spectrum and light intensity" section.

Light and the Marine Aquarium

By Tim Wijgerde, Ph.D. Light is one of the most discussed topics in the marine aquarium hobby. It is also amongst the most dreaded, due to its complicated na

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