Lighting Dillema

[SweetReefOH]

Need some advise. When I got back into the hobby a few months ago, I studied up on LED lighting. I couldn't really find any watts/gallon charts for SPS and LED lighting. I probably didn't look hard enough. At any rate, I decided on the AI Prime HD mostly because I love the adjustability of the light thru the app. Mind you, this was originally for  a 29g tank. After the LFS fiasco I just decided to go with a 75g tank and I purchased another Prime HD. Now, my tank is really stable and everything is doing decent but the coral growth is really slow. I would like some opinions on the effectiveness of these lights and whether I should upgrade to the HD26. If I do that, than I am stuck with two, almost new, Prime HD's. Would anyone have any interest in them at a fair price?

[CoralBeauties]

Hows your corals color?  I dont know squat about your lights but I would judge their effectiveness somewhat by the coloration in your sps corals.  You can have great color with your lights but if your water if not right your growth will be effected.  Basically dont judge your growth entirely by your lighting.
Jeff

[soldiers4christ50]

Agree with Jeff lighting is only part of the equation. I used to base my coral growth on light as well. I think the most important part especially for sps is the water condition making sure all your levels are stable consistently. Sps loves consistency in chemistry. I believe your lights are probably ok for your current set up although I don't know much about them.

[lazylivin]

I would say 120w-160w (led watts) is good for up to 2x2 area for sps. This will give dim spots towards the edges for lower light coral and enough punch directly below the light for the most light demanding corals. Once tank fills in and coral shading starts to take place additional lights may be needed.

[SweetReefOH]

Agree with Jeff lighting is only part of the equation. I used to base my coral growth on light as well. I think the most important part especially for sps is the water condition making sure all your levels are stable consistently. Sps loves consistency in chemistry. I believe your lights are probably ok for your current set up although I don't know much about them.

I feel like my water is extremely consistent. I test alk daily and it only fluctuates .5 dKh daily. Calc I test 1/week. It stays 420-430. I am new to SPS but not to LPS and zoas/palys. I know the LPS all look fantastic. I have a little bit of a problem with ultra low nutrients that I am in the process of fixing right now. Up to .02 phos from 0.0 last week. I noticed that a fairly new rose mille was not extending his polyps as much as when I first got him. The color on him looks fantastic though. Real deep and rich and he is growing over the plug, just slowly. My thinking on the lights come from the Blue Lagoon acro I've had for a few weeks now. Its just a dull off white color with little to no polyp extension. Attached are the eBay WWC picture and then a current picture of it in my tank. Just absolutely no similarity in color at all. BTW-all my montipora & stylophora species are doing really well just slow. Am I looking for a problem where there is none?

[SweetReefOH]

I would say 120w-160w (led watts) is good for up to 2x2 area for sps. This will give dim spots towards the edges for lower light coral and enough punch directly below the light for the most light demanding corals. Once tank fills in and coral shading starts to take place additional lights may be needed.

That's my concern. These lights are only 54 watts max power each. That's only 108 watts for a 48" tank

[CoralBeauties]

how long has the blue lagoon been in the tank?  it can take a long time for shipped corals to color up.  Have you tested you salinity with a refractometer that is calibrated with calibration fluid?  several of us have been burnt by low salinity due to our refractometers not being calibrated. I would also think p/e would be more due to water issues more then lighting.
Jeff

[SweetReefOH]

Its been 2 1/2 weeks. Yes I use the BRS refractometer & calib solution. My last universal test on Wednesday was
1.0255
NO3=0    API
Phos=.02 Hannah
dKh=9.7   Hannah
Calc=420  Red Sea
Mag=1420  Red Sea

I test alk daily and dose manually with 3/4 tsp. baking soda mixed with saltwater to the high flow chamber of the sump.


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[soldiers4christ50]

If everything else is looking fine I'd give the new piece more time. I had a piece that took several months to color back up after being shipped. Sps is funny. Some grows fast and some very slow. It also may grow faster for some people than others. For instance a friend of mine has an extremely nice sps tank and grows some stuff very fast that I have and it grows slow. I also have some that grows fast in my system and slow in his.

[SweetReefOH]

Being patient is definitely the hardest thing I've had to overcome in this hobby lol. Thanks for the input!


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[soldiers4christ50]

Yes patience is definitely something I had to learn in this hobby.

[thepipbull]

I'm still trying to learn patience...lol
Lights should be fine for now but might what to upgrade in the future if you plan on being SPS dominate. For now just keep higher demanding pieces under the light.
Also believe it takes time for the tank to mature.  I killed a few SPS  i added before ready. Took about 6 months before I noticed grow on SPS and they stopped dying on me..
And like mentioned above just moving from tank to tank can take a while for a piece to settle in and start to grow at which point can be very slow.
My only question is what is your PH. Baking Soda really lowers PH and this will stunt grow thats why alot of people in the hobby use Soda ash.
If your going to be adding more SPS i would invest in dosing pumps and using 2 part to keep things stable   

[SweetReefOH]

Thanks Pip. Nothing has died, so I guess that's a good sign. Although I'm started to get worried about the BL Acro. This is my first mail order piece. I actually got it with a cyphestrea and the mystic sunset monti. Those 2 frags are both doing great and I've already seen growth over the plug. So maybe I'm just expecting too much out of the acro at this point.

I only test my pH occasionally because I never see a fluctuation in it. It is always 8.0. But I don't test at different times thru the day. Its always at 4:30pm. I run a fuge light opposite the DT light.

But you're right, I am going to have to start researching and thinking about dosing pumps. I'm just too worried to mess something up with it right now. My two part BS and CaChl seem to be working good. But all my corals are small right now.


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[thepipbull]

Most people say 8.3 is the best for growth. Soda ash would help raise instead of baking soda.
Pumps would be the next thing i would invest in it'll make thing alot easier on you.
I was spending 30 to 40 a month dosing buy hand  before I bought this

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-2-part-calcium-alkalinity-total-package-with-dosers.html

[SweetReefOH]

Well maybe we can discuss that a little more tomorrow. I seen you're on the list.

[thepipbull]

 yep ill see ya tomorrow

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[Agame43]

 We talked pH at the Monthly meeting today, I took this snap shot when I got home today of my pH value. It may not be one of the most critical to track but I like knowing where mine is at and to be able to see the daily trend as well. Great meeting you today at the meet.

[SweetReefOH]

Hi agame, it was nice meeting all of you guys today. I feel like I have a good set of resources in all you guys!

I am seriously considering the Apex in order to constantly monitor that. Gary ended up showing me the app as well and that you get to know your pH over the day and how that can tell you when you have a problem in the tank. It just raises a lot of new questions that I'll be bugging you guys about lol. Like, is the junior wi-fi capable or do you have to have it hard wired to your router? My tank is on the lower level of my tri-level...

You just never stop learning/fidgeting in this hobby!


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[guynamedfleck]

Great meeting you too. 

The other guys, Miles especially, can tell you all about the Apex units and the nuances, but I can tell you both the Jr and Classic are wifi capable (though require an add on module to do so). The only model with the wifi built in is the new (orange/grey) model.

[SweetReefOH]

Another module on top of $250+ for the apex? Ouch.

That model with the built in wi-fi is over $800. Bigger Ouch! Lol


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[Grymtooth]

There are also other options for wifi on an Apex jr. If you recall the older "gaming adapters" or wire to wireless access points, that can allow wifi access. The more important piece is that you will need another module for pH if you get the jr.
Jr only does temp, display and 4 power outlets

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[SweetReefOH]

What do you mean by "display"?

[Agame43]

Here is one way of getting an Apex system and save some cost. Check this add out from Reef2Reef! Not new but if you are looking to save some $$$, may help.

[SweetReefOH]

Thanks Agame. Is that a local post?


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[Grymtooth]

Display is the display unit for the Apex. Hooks up to a usb port on the Apex.

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