To run my xho or not

btb72

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I have a 6x24w ati dimable power module. But also have a reef brite xho attached for actinics mainly. Here are my par readings at each place. The yellow numbers are where the reading was taken from and with out the xho leds on. Red is with the leds. Right now I’m running with no xho during middle of the day but just was wondering your guys/gals advice. Thanks first run at a sps dominated tank.
A3AB19B5-21D2-40F2-8F07-AB68520D6339.jpeg
 

LOVEROCK

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i have a 36" 6 bulb ati dimmable too with XHO, but mine is a shallow 12" tall tank i never measured my par either , how high are your lights hung from the water line ?
 
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btb72

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Probably 8-9”. Haven’t measured but would the led par numbers be too high? And my tank is 25” tall, but still around 250 par in the middle on the sand. T5s put out some even lighting
 

ryshark

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I have a 6x24w ati dimable power module. But also have a reef brite xho attached for actinics mainly. Here are my par readings at each place. The yellow numbers are where the reading was taken from and with out the xho leds on. Red is with the leds. Right now I’m running with no xho during middle of the day but just was wondering your guys/gals advice. Thanks first run at a sps dominated tank.
A3AB19B5-21D2-40F2-8F07-AB68520D6339.jpeg
Cool to see how much par one XHO strip can add. It looks like it makes even more of a difference deeper. I say run it. But I run my XHO on my 8-bulb ATI.
I run my XHO the longest, having it come on before the T5s and turn off after them.
 

infinite0180

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I have a 6x24w ati dimable power module. But also have a reef brite xho attached for actinics mainly. Here are my par readings at each place. The yellow numbers are where the reading was taken from and with out the xho leds on. Red is with the leds. Right now I’m running with no xho during middle of the day but just was wondering your guys/gals advice. Thanks first run at a sps dominated tank.
A3AB19B5-21D2-40F2-8F07-AB68520D6339.jpeg
When you say power module you mean sunpower right? The power module is a led hybrid fixture that i think only comes in 8 or 4 bulb config on the 24 inch version...
 
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btb72

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When you say power module you mean sunpower right? The power module is a led hybrid fixture that i think only comes in 8 or 4 bulb config on the 24 inch version...
Ya sorry I got mixed up. The dimmable 6 bulb t5 sun power. So those higher numbers aren’t too high? If I acclimate correctly at least. Right now I have the ramp up time pretty slow with about 4 hours of max par. Over a 12 hour total light period.
 

infinite0180

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Ya sorry I got mixed up. The dimmable 6 bulb t5 sun power. So those higher numbers aren’t too high? If I acclimate correctly at least. Right now I have the ramp up time pretty slow with about 4 hours of max par. Over a 12 hour total light period.
Ok thats what i thought. This is eye opening for me as i have the same light over a 16” deep tank. Mines hanging about 9.5” above the water. I bet my par is pretty high! I think as long as you go keep alk a bit lower and nutrients up you should be ok. Whenever my po4 gets low i have issues. Every tank is different though. I personally think high par is a good thing because most people i know who have great success all have high par. Im deff planning on adding a single reefbrite xho but only for use at night when i like to see corals under blues...
 

lemonade

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If you have it might as well run it. Better to have it going as you add corals to the tank rather then turn it on down the road and have it burn stuff.
 
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btb72

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Ok thats what i thought. This is eye opening for me as i have the same light over a 16” deep tank. Mines hanging about 9.5” above the water. I bet my par is pretty high! I think as long as you go keep alk a bit lower and nutrients up you should be ok. Whenever my po4 gets low i have issues. Every tank is different though. I personally think high par is a good thing because most people i know who have great success all have high par. Im deff planning on adding a single reefbrite xho but only for use at night when i like to see corals under blues...
I agree. I just didn’t want to over do it. With some numbers close to 500. But I measured and my lights are 7.5” away from the water right now. And it’s a 25” deep tank. The highest spot on my tank is also on the back wall so not smack dab in the middle of the light source. Probably 6” away from water level.
 
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btb72

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If you have it might as well run it. Better to have it going as you add corals to the tank rather then turn it on down the road and have it burn stuff.
Sounds good thanks. Just didn’t want to over do it. First time running more then 2 or 3 sps pieces in a tank.
 

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As an SPS dominated tank, I think this is a great amount of par. Mixed reef or anything else, I would've said absolutely not.
 
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