Tank lighting

[Anitaw]

I have a 40 gal Aquatop tank, using AI hydra 16. Coral and anatomies are doing ok, zoas could be better, parameters are good, only alkaline is always needing help. Do you think going to a AI hydra 32 would make a noticeable difference? My tank is 24”deep and wide
Thank you. Greatly appreciate your help.

 

[flagg37]

I have a 40 gal Aquatop tank, using AI hydra 16. Coral and anatomies are doing ok, zoas could be better, parameters are good, only alkaline is always needing help. Do you think going to a AI hydra 32 would make a noticeable difference? My tank is 24”deep and wide
Thank you. Greatly appreciate your help.

I’m not sure what you mean by your alkaline always needing help. Are you saying that you consistently need to dose alkalinity? Going to the 32 may increase the alkalinity consumption if you increase the par since there will be more photosynthesis. Just be careful not to overdo it. It is really easy to burn your corals with too much par.

 

[Hurricane Aquatics]

I have an Aquatop 40 cube and still do, but it isn't running. Cubes are very hard to get flow and lighting worked out.

As the person above said, if you add more light, then you will most likely have more alkalinity consumption. You'll need to borrow or get a PAR meter and find out what your PAR is to really see if you need more light as in higher PAR. Coverage is always needed and you can never really have too much coverage. You can have too much PAR for LPS.

 

[Coralreefer1]

What do you mean when you say your Zoanthids could be doing better? Lighting only represents a part of the equation in the overall health of corals. Have you tried moving your Zoanthids to a different place in your tank? How about changing water flow? You might want to try those suggestions prior to spending money on new lighting that you may not need to do. You have to remember that not all corals require the same PAR. Moreover, if you have intense lighting, that doesn’t mean that the corals are receiving all the PUR your lights are putting out. Turbidity and gelbstoff, which is a measurable component of dissolved organic matter in water which is a naturally occurring process and occurs from tannins being released from decaying detritus.

 

[Anitaw]

I’m not sure what you mean by your alkaline always needing help. Are you saying that you consistently need to dose alkalinity? Going to the 32 may increase the alkalinity consumption if you increase the par since there will be more photosynthesis. Just be careful not to overdo it. It is really easy to burn your corals with too much par.

Yes, my alkalinity is hovering between 6-6.5 if I don’t dose

 

[Anitaw]

What do you mean when you say your Zoanthids could be doing better? Lighting only represents a part of the equation in the overall health of corals. Have you tried moving your Zoanthids to a different place in your tank? How about changing water flow? You might want to try those suggestions prior to spending money on new lighting that you may not need to do. You have to remember that not all corals require the same PAR. Moreover, if you have intense lighting, that doesn’t mean that the corals are receiving all the PUR your lights are putting out. Turbidity and gelbstoff, which is a measurable component of dissolved organic matter in water which is a naturally occurring process and occurs from tannins being released from decaying detritus.

Right, understand that, I’m working with having best flow, have 2 tunzie pumps, my coals are doing well, I have 1 zoa group that just started multiplying after having it 5+ years, my other 2 are minimal growth, I have many soft coals
Flower anemones, gsp, 4 fish, and brittle stars, all are well, but just wonder about the lights

 

[Anitaw]

I have an Aquatop 40 cube and still do, but it isn't running. Cubes are very hard to get flow and lighting worked out.

As the person above said, if you add more light, then you will most likely have more alkalinity consumption. You'll need to borrow or get a PAR meter and find out what your PAR is to really see if you need more light as in higher PAR. Coverage is always needed and you can never really have too much coverage. You can have too much PAR for LPS.

 

[Anitaw]

Thank you, yes have been working with flow, I feel I have that pretty well figured out, I have mostly soft corals an anemones, and fish. As far as parameters it’s only my alkalinity that fluctuates a bit and always on low end.

 

[X-37B]

I have a 40 gal Aquatop tank, using AI hydra 16. Coral and anatomies are doing ok, zoas could be better, parameters are good, only alkaline is always needing help. Do you think going to a AI hydra 32 would make a noticeable difference? My tank is 24”deep and wide
Thank you. Greatly appreciate your help.

I like the primes.
Yes a 32 will give more light. You could get another 16 and run 2.
I ran 2 on my aquatop 20g 18" nano cube with good results.
I run 2 ony 30g 24x20x18. They will grow whatever you want.
20 cube
30

 

[Anitaw]

I like the primes.
Yes a 32 will give more light. You could get another 16 and run 2.
I ran 2 on my aquatop 20g 18" nano cube with good results.
I run 2 ony 30g 24x20x18. They will grow whatever you want.
20 cube
30

 

[Anitaw]

Looks great, the colors! I did think about that also, but I think it’s more of a depth problem, that a 32 would get deeper with better par at bottom. Am I wrong thinking that?

 

[X-37B]

My aquatop 20 is 18" deep. The 16's grow sps on the bottom so corals will do fine at your 40g 21.7" depth..
The 32 is just 2 16's. Running 2 16's you have more control as you can space the 16's to your advantage.
Another light to look at is the noopsyche k7 v3. I just got one to try on my 20g replacing 2 16's. From what I have read these are equal to a 32 and only $219 shipped with a tank mount.
I plan on getting it turned on today.

 

[X-37B]

Here is a pic of the K7 today. Tank is 3 months old. I have moved some corals around into other systems.