Which channels to increase in Radion to raise PAR

[PugsAndFish]

I caved and bought a Radion XR 15 PRO G5 and rented a PAR meter from BRS. I have a few questions...

My goal is to set up a mixed reef with a few nice acros on the rocks and LPS, zoas, softies on the sandbed or lower rocks.

My tank is 12" tall and the rocks get up about halfway so theres about 6" from the water to the rock. With the AB+ at 100% I get about 250 or so at the rocks. I'll get upper 200s in some spots but I don't hit 300 anywhere. I'm kind of surprised with how low the PAR is given that Radion is a high power light.

1) If I want to up the PAR to say 300-350, which channel should I increase while maintaining a good spectrum? I'm guessing warm white or cool white but not sure.

2) Also, since my tank is very shallow, I get about 200 PAR at the sandbed too (so in summary 250 on rocks, 200 on sandbed). It's kind of high for acans, euphyllia, zoas, shrooms. Because the Radion does so well with giving an even spread, is it even possible to make the lower part of the tank less intense while keeping/upping the rocks? I'm guessing no. A problem created by the light being well designed lol.

3) Lastly is the PHX14 or Radiant Color template any better than the AB+

 

[MnFish1]

I wouldn't use a 'channel' - I would use the PAR meter to help decide. I would use one of the pre-set settings in the light app. And then adjust the percent - up or down based on the PAR - bearing in mind - that sometimes the blue spectrum can 'under-read' PAR. I use (if I remember correctly) - the natural reef setting - and set it at peak of 100% - part of it depends on the depth of your tank, and the PAR - and the look you want. In any case - I would start with the coral acclimation setting at 50-60 percent of what you eventually want - over 3-4 weeks time.

 

[MnFish1]

I caved and bought a Radion XR 15 PRO G5 and rented a PAR meter from BRS. I have a few questions...

My goal is to set up a mixed reef with a few nice acros on the rocks and LPS, zoas, softies on the sandbed or lower rocks.

My tank is 12" tall and the rocks get up about halfway so theres about 6" from the water to the rock. With the AB+ at 100% I get about 250 or so at the rocks. I'll get upper 200s in some spots but I don't hit 300 anywhere. I'm kind of surprised with how low the PAR is given that Radion is a high power light.

1) If I want to up the PAR to say 300-350, which channel should I increase while maintaining a good spectrum? I'm guessing warm white or cool white but not sure.

2) Also, since my tank is very shallow, I get about 200 PAR at the sandbed too (so in summary 250 on rocks, 200 on sandbed). It's kind of high for acans, euphyllia, zoas, shrooms. Because the Radion does so well with giving an even spread, is it even possible to make the lower part of the tank less intense while keeping/upping the rocks? I'm guessing no. A problem created by the light being well designed lol.

3) Lastly is the PHX14 or Radiant Color template any better than the AB+

I didn't see the last part. If you look at my tank (in the signature) - the GSP up high is at 500 PAR. There are mushrooms growing at that same level. It all depends on the rapidity of the change (or at least in big part). PSS - what are your settings (i.e. what percent)

 

[DC Reefer]

I would look at moving the light closer to the surface an inch at a time until you get the par you want. With it being closer you may lose some of the spread and end up with lower par in the corners and around the edges of your tank which may be better for some of your corals. Also when using the par meter make sure you select the setting for under water. I use an apogee connected to my laptop and there is a setting called “use immersion settings” which corrects for being under water. It raises the par reading some.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Agree on use of PAR meter whicg can be rented.

Raising UV and Blue channels does help but dont do it visually

 

[SPitts6654]

As others have said, use the PAR meter!

I think AB+ runs all channels at 100%, except whites may be tuned down a bit, to keep the blue look. Make sure your schedule intensity is at 100% or where you need it to get the PAR you want.

Should have it 8” - 9” off the water to get the best spread.

That said, I’m not sure you’re going to get the PAR you’re looking for out of a single light. On a single XR15 Blue I was barely getting to 300 with everything maxed. You may get a bit more out of a Pro with the whites all the way up.

 

[PugsAndFish]

I wouldn't use a 'channel' - I would use the PAR meter to help decide. I would use one of the pre-set settings in the light app. And then adjust the percent - up or down based on the PAR - bearing in mind - that sometimes the blue spectrum can 'under-read' PAR. I use (if I remember correctly) - the natural reef setting - and set it at peak of 100% - part of it depends on the depth of your tank, and the PAR - and the look you want. In any case - I would start with the coral acclimation setting at 50-60 percent of what you eventually want - over 3-4 weeks time.

What I am doing is using one of the pre-sets. I picked the AB+. Then I adjusted the overall intensity to 100% to get those readings. The individual channels are set by the Mobius template and I just adjusted the overal intensity

 

[PugsAndFish]

Agree on use of PAR meter whicg can be rented.

Raising UV and Blue channels does help but dont do it visually

I have the PAR meter with me. I think the UV and Blue channels are at max already.

 

[PugsAndFish]

As others have said, use the PAR meter!

I think AB+ runs all channels at 100%, except whites may be tuned down a bit, to keep the blue look. Make sure your schedule intensity is at 100% or where you need it to get the PAR you want.

Should have it 8” - 9” off the water to get the best spread.

That said, I’m not sure you’re going to get the PAR you’re looking for out of a single light. On a single XR15 Blue I was barely getting to 300 with everything maxed. You may get a bit more out of a Pro with the whites all the way up.

AB+ has UV, Violet, Royal, Blue at 100%. Green, Red, Warm White, Cool White are at 24% so thosoe are the only colors that can be raised. With these settings, I was getting the 250 PAR at top with the schedule intensity at 100%.

I'm using the RMS mount right now so I unfortunately can't adjust the height.

I currently have the PRO. I was just wondering just that - raising the whites. I just didn't know if raising warm white or cool white is better

 

[vetteguy53081]

AB+ has UV, Violet, Royal, Blue at 100%. Green, Red, Warm White, Cool White are at 24% so thosoe are the only colors that can be raised. With these settings, I was getting the 250 PAR at top with the schedule intensity at 100%.

I'm using the RMS mount right now so I unfortunately can't adjust the height.

I currently have the PRO. I was just wondering just that - raising the whites. I just didn't know if raising warm white or cool white is better

I would utilize PAR meter and adjust lights accordingly

 

[Hydrored]

no way those par numbers are right with radion at 100%, go back to the schedule and see if the slider on the right is at a lower percentage.I have owned G5 XR15 and 30’s and own a 510 PAR meter. Something is wrong with the light, meter, or user error

 

[PugsAndFish]

no way those par numbers are right with radion at 100%, go back to the schedule and see if the slider on the right is at a lower percentage.I have owned G5 XR15 and 30’s and own a 510 PAR meter. Something is wrong with the light, meter, or user error

I just reset the schedule to make sure I didn't do anything weird. I clicked Templates > Set the sunrise, sunset > clicked Set > picked AB+ > clicked Activate > clicked Edit > clicked Schedule (default is 50%) > raised Schedule Intensity to 100%.

I then remeasured using the PAR meter as it came in the mail. I didn't mess with any settings because the instructions say not to touch anything.

For measuring, I have the sensor on the wand and I just placed in the water and kept the sensor upright.

Not sure where I could be doing something wrong.

FYI, my tank is only 24 x 20 x 12 with a single XR15

 

[PugsAndFish]

no way those par numbers are right with radion at 100%, go back to the schedule and see if the slider on the right is at a lower percentage.I have owned G5 XR15 and 30’s and own a 510 PAR meter. Something is wrong with the light, meter, or user error

Hmmm...I just rewatched the BRS guide for the XR15 PRO. They did their own setting very similar to the AB+ with the overall intensity at 70%. The numbers are somewhat similar to mine. Maybe I just overestimated the power of the Radion

 

[Jon's Reef]

If you are going to increase something, increase cool white. A large part of that channel is in the 440 spectrum area. Warm white and green give a brownish yellow look.

250 par @6" is about right for 100% AB+ on the Pro. At full power all channels, should be ~300 par

 

[MnFish1]

Change to a different preset - that has more white. Your PAR will go up. a 15 is not going to be as strong as a 30. BTW - is it the Blue version? or the regular Ration

 

[MnFish1]

Change to a different preset - that has more white. Your PAR will go up. a 15 is not going to be as strong as a 30. BTW - is it the Blue version? or the regular Ration

PPS The PAR may not read as well when you are using the more blue settings - ie the effective PAR will be higher. This apparently happens with some PAR

 

[Jon's Reef]

@250-300 you can grow SPS just fine. It gives you a little buffer as the frags encrust. Once they are doing well and start reaching up they will hit more and more par naturally.

If you want to increase par and differential (as in the center of the tank will be higher and the edges will be lower), definitely drop the light by 1-2". If you want to use the RMS mount, you could add some spacers between the mount and the light. Normally you can find spacers in the screw cabinets in a hardware store (like Ace or True value... not necessarily home depot)

 

[Hydrored]

Hmmm...I just rewatched the BRS guide for the XR15 PRO. They did their own setting very similar to the AB+ with the overall intensity at 70%. The numbers are somewhat similar to mine. Maybe I just overestimated the power of the Radion

At 70% ab+ I agree with your numbers, maybe I read it wrong but I thought you were getting those numbers at 100% ab+

 

[PugsAndFish]

Change to a different preset - that has more white. Your PAR will go up. a 15 is not going to be as strong as a 30. BTW - is it the Blue version? or the regular Ration

The PRO (not BLUE) Ill turrn up the cool white

 

[PugsAndFish]

At 70% ab+ I agree with your numbers, maybe I read it wrong but I thought you were getting those numbers at 100% ab+

Sorry I meant that I looked at BRS numbers at 70% and then my numbers when I tested at 70%.

They were similar, leading me to believe that I didn't measure incorrectly and somoething isn't wrong with the meter or light