Question about Radion Lighting

[Denellum]

So, here's my schedule. Just wondering if there should be any tweeks or what you guys think?View attachment 4600I am using the default A+B with max intensity set to 80% and a 6 week acclimation starting at 40%. This is for my tank described here :http://www.dfwmas.org/community/tank-builds-up-to-100-gallons/denellums-13-5-fluval-evo-tank-work-in-progress/ It's shallow, but i think because of all the SPS i have in it, it will need to be this bright... any thoughts?

 

[b22]

Drop your max to 40-45 %! At 80 you will fry everything. People with 30 inch + tanks run them up past 75%

 

[Denellum]

Even thought these only have 1 puck and i have the diffuser attached. Currently i am borrowing 2 par meters, and the par right next to the SPS are at about 250-260 (when it will be at the full 80%)

 

[jccaclimber]

Personally, turn it up more!  A PAR of around 250-260 sounds low to me.  Sure it'll make things look decent, but if you have the nutrients and overhead to keep up you might as well turn it up more.  I don't think that puts you anywhere near photo-inhibition.Two things to consider:1) If later you want more light you can do so by turning the whites up a bit as those are pretty low in that program.  It will of course result in a different appearance.2) Remember that a lot of people have the XR30 as their reference point, and this is half of that.  EDIT: When I say "Low" I mean "You can get away with much higher, which will be a benefit to some of the corals in your tank".  I do not mean "That isn't enough to keep things alive".

 

[b22]

There is no set par that all sps like. Sps can do great in low par light and some like high. I personally have always had better success running Radions at lower intensity 

 

[jccaclimber]

I think that's due to your low nutrient input.  Clean water can't support as much growth as higher light tries to drive.

 

[Denellum]

Well then that leads to my next question, even though i have everything at 100%, i can not bring the brightness up to 100%, and the peak is only at 69%.View attachment 4605

 

[jccaclimber]

4605[/ATTACH]"]I'm not home at the moment and don't want to play with my lights remotely, but I suspect that 100% is total unit power, not percent of cycle.  Try putting the white and color channels to 100%.  This may be the same as setting the unit to 12k and 100% power.  Color preferences aside it'll probably be pretty loud as well, I know the XR30's are when left at 100% on all channels (my greatest complaint about these lights in fact).  Mind you I'd rather have my lights be loud than have a faster LED decay curve over the years, even if I do plan to upgrade to newer models vs. keep them forever.

 

[DNA]

 Based off of the colors you chose to run and their percentages is why you ended up with 69%. The blue side of the spectrum is only about 70% of the lights power

 

[Denellum]

Gotcha! Makes sense!

 

[b22]

I wonder if you guys are getting lower readings because you have the gen4 with the new lenses. You have more spread of the colors causing less penitration. 

 

[jccaclimber]

He is much lower than the BRS values still, although now that I think about it, distance to the light wasn't mentioned, which is rather critical to the question.

 

[jccaclimber]

If we're talking SPS what is the gold standard, a 400 W single ended Radium on an slightly over driven magnetic ballast?  I wonder what that puts out at 12-18 inches with a decent reflector.