Viperspectra 165W Settings Help Over 55g Frag Tank

[PFR2020]

Hi everyone, I have read through many of the old threads on settings and heights as well as watched the BRS black box video, but still have multiple unanswered questions. I just bought two viparspectra 165w to put over a 55g deep frag tank and can seem to get settings close to making my frags happy.

I have a bunch of large softies in my 300g display that I started to frag and tons that need to be fragged, but I needed a lot more room lol. I have multiple mushrooms, gsp, green sinularia, toadstools, xenia, etc. I dont have the funds to rent a par meter at this time to match the kessil A360x lights and no one has one locally that I have found or I would try and match the par values.

I have the vipers currently 12" above the water line as many suggested with similar tanks, and the water is 17" deep to the sand bed for a total of 29" from the light to the sand bed. I have a small clown, six line, and lawnmower blenny as well as a bunch of live rock and 50% new and used water I switched from my main display to help prevent a cycle, but the few fully healed fragged corals I put in to test the waters just dont seem happy at all.

I started the vipers on blue at 20 and the white at 1 as many suggested, but the corals all closed up and some dissolved within a couple days, so I dialed the blue back to 10 and the ones left are open now, but still shrunk up at least half the size they were in the display tank.

For display tank lighting I use 3 kessil a360X tuna blue lights set to ramp up to 100% for 8 of the 12 hour cycle. They are mounted and set to BRS recommended settings of 8" above the water line and the water line to the sand bed is 27" giving par value average of 187 as shown in the photo. Any further incite will be much appreciated. Thanks in advance

 

[outhouse]

Don't play par games. On a 50. 5% blue is a good starting point. I'm running 10% B on a 30" deep tank. Great growth. These lights are strong

 

[PFR2020]

Don't play par games. On a 50. 5% blue is a good starting point. I'm running 10% B on a 30" deep tank. Great growth. These lights are strong

I figured after all the research on these they would be easy plug and play for a frag tank lol. They are proving anything but...

 

[Uncle99]

My Visparspectra 165watt runs 30% blue and 1% white.
They are mounted 10” above water, and the bottom is another 24”
When checking par at these settings for one light, surface was 350, 12” down 175-250, 24” down 80-100, corners 50.
Looks new, maybe check both N and P are stable and in balance to each other.

 

[Spieg]

I'd stick with the settings you have now and give coral time to adjust. VS will have a different spectrum than the Kessil lights and coral just need time. Last thing you want is to keep changing the light intensity.

 

[outhouse]

I'd stick with the settings you have now and give coral time to adjust.

they dont adjust, they freakin burn. I tried this for 4 to 5 years before I learned to turn them down. They factually do no adjust. I had no growth for 3 years tried turning them up thinking the lights just sucked. Slowly over the years I had a tiny bit of bleaching, not enough to make you think you have them to bright. SO one more time, at 10% B and 1% W is giving me tremendous growth in a 210G aquarium. 30 inches deep. changing light intensity is natural and corals are well used to these changes in nature. So changing intensity is the best thing one can do in a time when LEDS have not had decades of use with good advise like decades of MH use. I grow coral professionally and if I got bit by lights being to bright and too danged strong, it can happen to anyone. Dont be anyone.

 

[Spieg]

they dont adjust, they freakin burn. I tried this for 4 to 5 years before I learned to turn them down. They factually do no adjust. I had no growth for 3 years tried turning them up thinking the lights just sucked. Slowly over the years I had a tiny bit of bleaching, not enough to make you think you have them to bright. SO one more time, at 10% B and 1% W is giving me tremendous growth in a 210G aquarium. 30 inches deep. changing light intensity is natural and corals are well used to these changes in nature. So changing intensity is the best thing one can do in a time when LEDS have not had decades of use with good advise like decades of MH use. I grow coral professionally and if I got bit by lights being to bright and too danged strong, it can happen to anyone. Dont be anyone.

Don't mean to infringe on your professional expertise. I've only got 33 years in the hobby so I obviously don't know what I'm talking about. Corals are actually pretty adaptable organisms if given the opportunity.

I have the 300 watt VS on a 70 Gallon tank and am running at 50% blue and 10% whites at the same water depth as the OP (and my light is only 8" off the surface). I did remove most of the lenses from the LEDs to improve spread and reduce hot spots. My mushrooms, leathers and fungia are all doing just fine with those settings. The OP said he lowered his settings to 10% blue and 1% white with the light at 12" above the water and was seeing signs of improvement. How low do you think they should be set?

Oh yea you "Don't be anyone." Whatever that means...

One more know it all for the ignore list!

 

[outhouse]

The OP said he lowered his settings to 10% blue and 1% white with the light at 12" above the water and was seeing signs of improvement.

Dont get all upset bud. I have nothing against you. I think we were buddies at reef central. Above is all you needed to say. And I stated 5% B is a good starting point. at 10% he has stopped the burning and turned it around. 5% or 10% is very little change in intensity. I also have a lot of coral that is 30 years old some 40, ive known Paul B for a few decades. I would hate to see you on the negative side here over a little criticism. ALL im trying to do is help someone not make my mistakes. I screwed up and I grew coral professionally. Picture below is how well the corals that burned are picking back up after 6 weeks

 

[outhouse]