T5 lighting - What's your winning combo and schedule??

[CanadianReefer]

@Dana Riddle can you help us understand how much par a true actinic T5 bulb puts out? There seems to be varying opinions on the matter.

 

[Dana Riddle]

@Dana Riddle can you help us understand how much par a true actinic T5 bulb puts out? There seems to be varying opinions on the matter.

Yes, T5 actinics produce PAR, not as much as lower Kelvin lamps. It's PUR (photosynthetically usable radiation) that counts. If you have seen this article, look it over.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/3/review
Give me a shout with any questions.

 

[Luke Schnabel]

From what I know using my $400.00 PAR meter, it doesn’t look like actinic puts out much par. With One Actinic and One Blue+ run in a ATI Fixture, brand new bulbs 2 weeks ago I’m getting around 140 PAR 6-7” under water. The only other thing I could do is block out the light from my Blue Plus and take only the par of my Actinic but it’s a pain to get to my lights. That’s why I change them out only twice a year.
I’ve always read and have been told that a photo period of 10-12 hrs tops is best. A ramp up and down in PAR is also best that’s why I have the Blue+ and Actinic running 10a-10p and the other four bulbs running 12a-7p with a max PAR >400

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

From what I know using my $400.00 PAR meter, it doesn’t look like actinic puts out much par. With One Actinic and One Blue+ run in a ATI Fixture, brand new bulbs 2 weeks ago I’m getting around 140 PAR 6-7” under water. The only other thing I could do is block out the light from my Blue Plus and take only the par of my Actinic but it’s a pain to get to my lights. That’s why I change them out only twice a year.
I’ve always read and have been told that a photo period of 10-12 hrs tops is best. A ramp up and down in PAR is also best that’s why I have the Blue+ and Actinic running 10a-10p and the other four bulbs running 12a-7p with a max PAR >400

Luke, could you take a pice of tape and make a cone around the sensor
And take the reading at the light, literally almost on the tube?

From what I see in the charts, most all the tubes have a very close par rating , but this is due to width of the spectral range it puts out (like a c+) or the narrower range one that has a larger spike in the specific NM range (as an actinic does).
A B+ is an example of doing both.
(Note , it does cover less of the actinic range, and the red range)

 

[Miles Laughton]

Just my two pence worth..I found the gyres too much on random on higher settings as when the flow clashes it causes a flow which was too strongly directed directly at my SPS causing them to get a battering.....I found the OGC setting much more forgiving as it alternates more so and increased my Polyp Extensions and more natural...Also if you haven't done a firmware upgrade on the controller, that will be well worth doing as the settings upgrade are much improved.
I used to use the AquaForest components 1, 2 and 3 which i'm assuming you do? but found the inclusion of the trace elements to be too much or not enough and the fact the calcium is mixed with the Magnesium. It is difficult to keep my parameters stable unless you are dosing a load and have heathy growth. Especially when my tanks ALK consumption went down it's kinda the catch 22....it maybe worth checking with a ICP test your traces (as a guide only). I do know all 3 always must be added equally which I'm sure you are well aware of and on top off...I switched out to basic Balling ( Tropic Marin) and dosed traces manually which has paid off ten fold. Good Luck

 

[Fredm]

Just one more question in that post, my tank is 51x25x21(h), do you think i can just use 6x54 and the 2 other tubes for 4-5 hours a day like a zentih and run the 6 others for 8-9hours, or i should use the 8 tubes fors 8-9hours a day ? Just, my rocks are in the center of tank. Thanks

 

[Tautog]

I read where your using NoPox to keep No3’s down. Your doing exactly what I have done in the past. While treating your water for No3’s , you also kill other important stuff, bacteria/algae, that your corals need. High nitrates aren’t all bad. My system has caught up with the amount of food I feed, and the amount of food eaten by fish, as well as food which decays. Presently, I’m having good growth on most corals in my mixed reef. No STN/RTN in months. I’m feeding less, less often. Skipping a day of feeding once or twice a week. But I also feed Roids once a week, very small amount.

 

[Luke Schnabel]

Ok guys here goes noting. By all means this was just a simple little test I did. This is what I got. On my ATI fixture I run an ATI Blue+ and Actinic bulbs on one channel. Both bulbs are about 3 weeks old now. I tested that channel today by cutting a 4’ piece of foam to separate the two bulbs to get a PAR reading of each bulb.
ATI Actinic bulb produced a PAR of 75 about 7” away from fixture.
ATI Blue+ produced 176 PAR 7” away from fixture.

So I do believe that in the measurement of PAR, Actinic T5s don’t put out as much as the other bulbs but they still produce Some sort of PAR.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Ok guys here goes noting. By all means this was just a simple little test I did. This is what I got. On my ATI fixture I run an ATI Blue+ and Actinic bulbs on one channel. Both bulbs are about 3 weeks old now. I tested that channel today by cutting a 4’ piece of foam to separate the two bulbs to get a PAR reading of each bulb.
ATI Actinic bulb produced a PAR of 75 about 7” away from fixture.
ATI Blue+ produced 176 PAR 7” away from fixture.

So I do believe that in the measurement of PAR, Actinic T5s don’t put out as much as the other bulbs but they still produce Some sort of PAR.

Makes sense. Thank you.

The B+ is in line with the specs.

I'll go back to my ati books and see what they say on the actinic.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Yup. Lines up perfectly with the specs. Approx half the par. (Not surprising , it's a very narrow band of the spectrum. )

 

[Luke Schnabel]

That’s settled then. Lol

 

[CanadianReefer]

Just my two pence worth..I found the gyres too much on random on higher settings as when the flow clashes it causes a flow which was too strongly directed directly at my SPS causing them to get a battering.....I found the OGC setting much more forgiving as it alternates more so and increased my Polyp Extensions and more natural...Also if you haven't done a firmware upgrade on the controller, that will be well worth doing as the settings upgrade are much improved.
I used to use the AquaForest components 1, 2 and 3 which i'm assuming you do? but found the inclusion of the trace elements to be too much or not enough and the fact the calcium is mixed with the Magnesium. It is difficult to keep my parameters stable unless you are dosing a load and have heathy growth. Especially when my tanks ALK consumption went down it's kinda the catch 22....it maybe worth checking with a ICP test your traces (as a guide only). I do know all 3 always must be added equally which I'm sure you are well aware of and on top off...I switched out to basic Balling ( Tropic Marin) and dosed traces manually which has paid off ten fold. Good Luck

Those are very good suggestions - thanks! I do have kits to test trace elements, so I'll add that to the routine - I very rarely test them, truth be told.

I can easily try a different gyre mode to see what happens.

When was the update? My gyres were updated about 3 months ago, if I recall correctly.

 

[James Emory]

So it sounds like 8 hours a day is the key number?? Do actinic put out par? If I change my main channel from 2-10, can I still run actinics in the morning?

Hello Canadian Reefer. Yes, actinic light is very beneficial to coral as it peaks out about 420nm. If you look at the chart you can see that the absorption rate by zooanthellae is quite high in this area. In regards to total PAR; this can sometimes be deceiving because a high PAR in spectral ranges not used by coral is not much good. In my opinion it would be best to have lighting that can closely duplicate the spectral range of the chart. In this regard any PAR readings taken are useful because the light is emitting a spectrum that is beneficial to coral. Too much of green or yellow isn't very helpful if the most need spectral ranges are not being provided in a high enough intensity. As an example, if I were to measure PAR of a sodium vapor discharge lamp and get a reading of 450 would that make it excellent for growing coral? Mmm, I doubt very much when the spectrum peaks at 589nm and very little light is emitted in other areas of the visible light spectrum. Sanjay once said; "In my experience a target of approximately 100 micromoles/m2/sec at the bottom of the tank will provide enough of a light gradient to satisfy a wide range of corals."

 

[Fredm]

whhoaah, " Sanjay once said, a Par of 100 in the correct spectrum will grow most coral", very interesting thing. I keep this chart in my mind .

 

[Miles Laughton]

Those are very good suggestions - thanks! I do have kits to test trace elements, so I'll add that to the routine - I very rarely test them, truth be told.

I can easily try a different gyre mode to see what happens.

When was the update? My gyres were updated about 3 months ago, if I recall correctly.

Yep you should be okay if updated a few months back....you will see a difference in the O.G.C setting as it will have moon phases so will the L.T.C.....I found my trace test kits a real pain and not too reliable...although I must say the I.C.P results questionable at times and maybe my testing skills! Good luck....sounds like your tank is just a notch out from running perfect which is a minor adjustment.....I too have corals doing great and one or two sulking which I can't put my finger on...

 

[DonDrummond]

I’m armed for acros! Went for the Pro figuring it’s the same as the Gen 4 just better spread but it’s basically what u and the other maestros use. Waiting for the RMS mount to come tomorrow. Curious to know what schedule/color percentages you run during your peak times? Debating on the AB+ or even running all colors at 100% for the 7 hour peak and then blue it up for the ramps to my liking. Sanjay and a couple other acro heavy guys seem to get great colorsw the 100% colors but I’m a little nervous to blast away like that (I don’t mean 100% overall intensity- I mean spectrum). Either way I’ll rent a par meter and go way slow as I’m still bringing up nutrients.
btw what do u test phosphate w? Hanna checker Ultra Low version? Hope all is well with the fam and the farm

 

[DonDrummond]

Whoops- wrong thread lol
happy reefing everyone