Setting Par Levels in a new mixed reef tank

[DiscoStuart]

Hi all,

I'm part way through my setup of my mixed reef tank. Planning mostly softies and LPS, though I'm guessing the SPS bug will get me eventually. I've got 100 gal DT, and am getting ready to move my first corals from my QT to my DT after sorting out hitchhikers.

I have a par meter, but have yet to set my lighting for steady state. I'm writing this to ask about the best way to figure out the 'right' par level for my tank.

My lights (Reefi Uno Pro x 2) come with some pre-configured settings (including a 'default LPS' and 'default SPS') setup. First corals in are mushrooms, zoas, GSP, a Yellow Star Polyp (hitchhiker) and a toadstool. Torches, Hammers, Montis, Chalice, etc will come eventually.

Here's how I'm thinking of setting up the lights:
1. Start with the LPS default (?)
2. add whites/lime till I get to the visual I like
3. tweak the overall Master bar until the tops of my rock work are 300-400 Par
4. and the sandbed is (hopefully) 50-100 par
5. Then mirror that across each of the other phases of the day, keeping the relative output the same (e.g., Day is ~15-18% less than peak, etc)

Thoughts?

Rockwork below as well.

 

[Peace River]

One approach is to map the tank based on PAR levels and then to match the needs to the corals to the PAR levels (and vice versa). This may even require aquascaping changes or moving/shading the lights. Good luck on your adventure!