Reef Brite Lumi Lite question

[Nano30]

I posted this in the lighting forum but there is like 1 active member so I'm reposting.

I currently have an Innovative Marine 30 gallon long tank. I have 2 AI Primes running AB+ with great results. However, I love the look that T5's give on some tanks. After looking at the Reef Brite Lumi Lite's, they may be the look (Plus filling in shaded areas) that I'm looking for. I think I'd be looking at 1 50/50 and 1 Blue Actinic to supplement my Primes. Just the regular versions and not the Pro.

My question is, how much will I have to reduce the strength of my current AB+ schedule to accommodate the Lumi Lites? I know I can put the Lumi Lites at partial power so I would guess that I would have to experiment but probably to the detriment of my corals. I'm hoping someone has a similar experience and can steer me in the right direction.

Thanks

 

[naked_dog_reefer]

I put a 72 lumilight blue on my tank to supplement blues with halides and didnt change anything. From the research i did the lumilight is basically just for adding blue vs the xho which is more powerful and can be used for growth

 

[Nano30]

Thanks. Do you have it on 100%?

 

[naked_dog_reefer]

Yes its not hooked to my controller just a timer to go on and of

 

[Dkmoo]

Lol I have literally the same situation in my thread a few days ago.

Thread 'Thoughts on new light for 29G Mixed Reef' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/thoughts-on-new-light-for-29g-mixed-reef.790354/

Ended up ordering the lumi light pro. I plan to put the lumi on full blast and do a 3 week "acclimation mode" at 50%

My AIs run at 100% peak and I regularly dial it down to the 50% acclimated mode when I add sensitive low light corals so I know the sudden decrease doesn't harm corals. 50% is probably a bit of over kill bc I know there's no way that the lumi is the same intensity as 1 AI so it should be safe. (unless i guess you are getting a big strip? I'm getting the 8 inch pro to put between the 2 AIs)

My lumi arrives tomorrow. So I'll see if there's really a noticeable difference in intensity i might test the PAR to be sure.

 

[Nano30]

Lol I have literally the same situation in my thread a few days ago.

Thread 'Thoughts on new light for 29G Mixed Reef' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/thoughts-on-new-light-for-29g-mixed-reef.790354/

Ended up ordering the lumi light pro. I plan to put the lumi on full blast and do a 3 week "acclimation mode" at 50%

My AIs run at 100% peak and I regularly dial it down to the 50% acclimated mode when I add sensitive low light corals so I know the sudden decrease doesn't harm corals. 50% is probably a bit of over kill bc I know there's no way that the lumi is the same intensity as 1 AI so it should be safe. (unless i guess you are getting a big strip? I'm getting the 8 inch pro to put between the 2 AIs)

My lumi arrives tomorrow. So I'll see if there's really a noticeable difference in intensity i might test the PAR to be sure.

Great, what are your thoughts so far? Mine arrive on Wednesday. I ended up ordering 2 actinic blues.

I spoke with someone from Reefbrite who told me that I shouldn't have to modify my light schedule at all. I'm not sure if the regular lumilite (no-pro) comes with a dimmable switch, if so then I'll set them to 80% and see how it looks.

 

[Dkmoo]

Great, what are your thoughts so far? Mine arrive on Wednesday. I ended up ordering 2 actinic blues.

I spoke with someone from Reefbrite who told me that I shouldn't have to modify my light schedule at all. I'm not sure if the regular lumilite (no-pro) comes with a dimmable switch, if so then I'll set them to 80% and see how it looks.

I posted an update on my thread too but basically - I like it. Since my primes were the older gens, I don't have the function to "overdrive" the blue channels above 100% so the UV, Purple, Blue, RB were just maxed out at 100%. So originally, my problem was that if i just leave those channels max, it made colors "pop" but also made everything too blue, when I dial up the CW spectrum, it brought out more of the red/yellow/green colors but also turned everything to this dull brown color. the older prime's blues were also the 450 - 485nm variety so adding the Lumi's 420 - 440nm definitely helped adding more pop w/o too much added blue (lower wavelength = less blue) while allowing me to keep the CW higher.

for my tank the bigger benefit is actually the improved spread - since with only 2 AIs I needed to put the lights higher to make sure i don't have too much spread differences. Now i put the lumi between the AIs, it allows me to move the lights closer to the water (it was at 10 - 11in, now it's at 8)
The closer lights mean more par on the corals which by itself made colors pop more as well.

Since I ended up ordering just 1 8in version, and i moved the light about 2 inches closer, i estimated that's about a total of 30% more par on the blue channels and 10% more Par on the other channels, so I set my AIs acclimation mode for those %s to avoid burning any corals. Since you ordered 2, i think you will see a more pronounced difference than me so you probably want to play around with your Prime channels to get to the desired look. I would still suggest reduce ur lighting a bit b/c it will add more par to your tank. AI primes has a very easy acclimation mode set up so why risk it? at a minimum i would do like a 30% reduction acclimation on your 2 blue channels.

 

[Dkmoo]

if so then I'll set them to 80% and see how it looks.

also - since your primes is fully individually customizable across each spectrum, it's probably easier to just have the lumi strips at 100% since it'll be easier to adjust the Prime channels to counteract/complement the added blues to get to your desired look.