Coral Lighting Debacle and advice/help!!

[Jooak9]

Hey everyone,

I had a coral lighting debacle and need some help!  This may be easier to explain via videos and pictures so I just uploaded a video to get some advice.  Link is below all of this.

I experienced some very interesting coral behavior.  I was shocked to see how the frogspawn coral responded when I turned the light sideways on the tank - keeping it close enough until I can get a different light in.  After watching the video, if anyone can think of a good light that would likely work well for me - or advice on the lights I named off at the end - if you have one of those - I would love to hear your experience so I can make an informed decision.  I really appreciate all the support this forum has supplied.  You all are awesome!

Here is the video (just uploaded so it may not have processed to hd yet?):

Thanks everyone,

Josh

[CoralBeauties]

If your interested in the kessel there is a used one on reeftrader right now.  If not familiar with reef trader it is a site for people to post things for sale that they will be bringing to the swap this saturday. if your interested in it you should reserve it so that the seller will hold it for you.  Proper lighting means success or failure when dealing with corals.  Not so much with fish only.
Jeff

[Jooak9]

Sounds good.  I’m interested depending on price and condition!  How do you find this reef trader and how to search for the specifics?

[Jooak9]

Never mind that last post - I found it.

If anyone else has any advice on what light to get - kessil 360, AI prime or anything else - please let me know!

[SweetReefOH]

I use AI Prime HD’s and I love them. WiFi capable without having to buy any extra equipment.

[Jooak9]

Hey Reeferntraining!!

With those AI's - here are a few questions if you have a second!!

How is the fan noise?  Does the fan run constantly or just at certain times under a particular heat/when it gets warm? Do you think I'll have enough power for my set up?

One thing of note for my set up is I did a lid hack to solve a problem I was having with splash out and salt creep.  So I have egg crate with a clear piece under it that helps with the splash out and salt creep I was experiencing.  It fixed that issue but I'm guessing it will take a little of the par rating out of the light going in and diffuse it a tad.  My tank is still small though so long story short - how do you think the power will do under my situation?

Talk soon - Josh

[SweetReefOH]

I run 4 on a 75g tank. Fans turn on when lights get hot. There is no fan noise when the fan is on. I will say, after 2.5 years of use, one of the fans starting making noise but I purchased 2 replacement fans from AI and it’s running great again.

I would suggest making a DIY screen top. They block less than 5% PAR. Even with your egg crate, the lights are powerful. You should only need 1.

Hey Reeferntraining!!

With those AI's - here are a few questions if you have a second!!

How is the fan noise?  Does the fan run constantly or just at certain times under a particular heat/when it gets warm? Do you think I'll have enough power for my set up?

One thing of note for my set up is I did a lid hack to solve a problem I was having with splash out and salt creep.  So I have egg crate with a clear piece under it that helps with the splash out and salt creep I was experiencing.  It fixed that issue but I'm guessing it will take a little of the par rating out of the light going in and diffuse it a tad.  My tank is still small though so long story short - how do you think the power will do under my situation?

Talk soon - Josh

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Jooak9]

Hey Reeferntraining,

If you would be open to having a guest for a second, I would love to come see these in action before making a purchase! 

No worries either way. 

Schedule wise it would need to be a Tuesday or a Thursday after 4 as I'm teaching during the day time and coaching in the evenings on other days.

Is that something you would consider and if so - do you live anywhere near Vandalia? I'm not totally sure how private messages work on this forum but if that's an option - hit me up!!!

Ok - talk later - Josh

[SweetReefOH]

Sure Josh. I’m in Fairborn. I’m quite tied up with birthdays this week but I could probably have you over next Tuesday

[Jooak9]

Here are a couple cool before and after pictures!  36 hours or so after doing the par meter test.  And if you watched the video above - you saw how I turned the side lights on their sides and put them right up to the glass in an attempt to help save these guys!!

You can see the impact of turning those lights sideways. The tips of the frogspawn are mostly all getting back to the fluorescent color from where they were not getting enough light before.  In the pictures you can see how previously some of the tips started changing colors from the lack of the lighting!  Very interesting experiment.  I guess that is one way to keep corals healthy for a few days if you are desperate and waiting on a light!!!

By the way Refferntraining - when you put all your whites on and dim all the other lights on the ai’s - how does that look?  How warm can you make the whites?  There may be times where we may want that look on an occasion is why I ask.

Also, does anyone else have advice on a different but similar sized light that I maybe have not considered yet and could also be a good option?

Picture - 36 hours before:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1itdbNswyS_FO7uPOmaaNOqIBT_fhdpHx/view?usp=sharing

Picture - after tipping side lights over and up on the glass:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nusB9VqWJu8k-Jjy2KQHHbsi75GVB0dj/view?usp=sharing

[Jooak9]

Just thought of something else!  You mentioned a diy screen top.  I thought of that before too but I didn’t know how to pull that off with the curved front that I have.  So, if any ideas for a curved screen top and how to’s - please send that on as well!

[SweetReefOH]

Josh, I just watched your video in it’s entirety. Brother, you need a light ASAP! 

First and foremost with coral is consistency. Switching your bulbs from one spectrum to a completely different spectrum from day to day will kill them. That and the lack of sufficient PAR. Do you have any idea what spectrum those RGB bulbs are?

[Jooak9]

The independent whites are 6000 k on these.  The blues are?? Blue!!! Lol!

I'm working on the light as fast as I can.  I have a couple emails into kessil as well as AI.  Was hoping to hear back from them.  I emailed them on Sunday with some questions and have not heard anything back from either company yet.  Do you have anything I can borrow for a few days?!!?

I hope to get something by the weekend or early next week.  In the mean time I have the RGB's propped right up on the glass right next to the corals.  You would be shocked how that frogspawn is acting right next to the Blue - it actually puffed back up and looks back to almost normal in a of couple days with that bulb right up next to it - the bulbs would work - they are just way too weak.

Talk to you soon and thanks for all your advice and help so far.

[Jooak9]

Ai prime hd is on its way.

Hey Reeferntraining - any advice on settings and setup?  What's your schedule look like?  Anyone else that has these lights - any advice on your setups/lighting schedule?

[SweetReefOH]

Google AB+ reef lighting. Many discussions on it. I would back it off when you first set it up. You’ll scorch the corals if you don’t.