Acro Shadowing Question

[eamike261]

Can I get good looking Acro from a single fixture puck-style LED fixture that causes shadowing (one side of SPS frag is dark and other side has light)? In my case it's a single AI Hydra 26 HD.

I know the SPS will grow well with AI Hydra 26 but they will grow towards the light source, right? So unless I put the Acro frag directly below the 2 LED pucks (which is like a 3 inch area) then I'm worried half of the Acro will always be white and dead.

I'm debating whether I want to add a second AI Hydra 26 (or some type of supplemental LED strip) to prevent Acros from shadowing themselves.... even though I already have plenty of intensity.

 

[biophilia]

I struggled with shading issues with a similar setup, but on a smaller scale (AI Prime HD). Placing the light slightly higher and more forward with an angle towards the back wall of the tank can help a bit. As can keeping your sandbed clear of corals and algae to maximize reflection of light onto the underside of corals, but those things can only do so much. On my 10 gallon tank, I ended up getting a second prime, dimmed both to 50% of the previous setting and staggered+alternate angled them to help with the shadowing and have been happy with the result.

 

[jda]

You can. ...for a while. Eventually, the shadowing will get to be too much as the coral grows and you really risk STN from below. You could be totally fine for quite some while depending on how fast stuff will grow - frags don't usually seem to care.

Most people go T5 to help the point-source LEDs because of this same issue.

 

[eamike261]

I struggled with shading issues with a similar setup, but on a smaller scale (AI Prime HD). Placing the light slightly higher and more forward with an angle towards the back wall of the tank can help a bit. As can keeping your sandbed clear of corals and algae to maximize reflection of light onto the underside of corals, but those things can only do so much. On my 10 gallon tank, I ended up getting a second prime, dimmed both to 50% of the previous setting and staggered+alternate angled them to help with the shadowing and have been happy with the result.

Do you remember how long you had the single AI Prime going with Acros before you got the second one?

I was thinking the same thing about getting another AI Hydra 26 and staggering/angling them but I'm not sure how I'd even mount them like that :/

 

[biophilia]

Do you remember how long you had the single AI Prime going with Acros before you got the second one?

I was thinking the same thing about getting another AI Hydra 26 and staggering/angling them but I'm not sure how I'd even mount them like that :/

Not sure if this will help at all, but this is how I ended up mounting the Primes on my tank. It looks a little funky, but gets the job done. I used one 18" flex arm in the corner and one standard mount just off-center on the left. Things are pretty cramped in the back of the Nuvo 10 so I didn't have a lot of options. The Prime on the right is farther forward than it looks in the photo. The AI flex arms allow for almost unlimited options in terms of the angle and position of each light.

I didn't have many acros until around the same time as adding the second light, but grew out the Stylophora colony up front from a little frag with the one light in the center. Things were fine until it got close to the size that it is in that photo (maybe just shy of one year) before corals in the shadow underneath started shriveling and dying from lack of light. The zoas, caulastrea, and lower portions of the stylo have been gradually looking better with the new light at front right and angled back, but I think there is only so much a few point-source lights like LEDs can do once things get dense enough.

 

[eamike261]

Not sure if this will help at all, but this is how I ended up mounting the Primes on my tank. It looks a little funky, but gets the job done. I used one 18" flex arm in the corner and one standard mount just off-center on the left. Things are pretty cramped in the back of the Nuvo 10 so I didn't have a lot of options. The Prime on the right is farther forward than it looks in the photo. The AI flex arms allow for almost unlimited options in terms of the angle and position of each light.

I didn't have many acros until around the same time as adding the second light, but grew out the Stylophora colony up front from a little frag with the one light in the center. Things were fine until it got close to the size that it is in that photo (maybe just shy of one year) before corals in the shadow underneath started shriveling and dying from lack of light. The zoas, caulastrea, and lower portions of the stylo have been gradually looking better with the new light at front right and angled back, but I think there is only so much a few point-source lights like LEDs can do once things get dense enough.

Interesting, thanks for sharing. Maybe I'll check out some reviews on the Hydra 26 flexible mount and see if I could use one of those on an second Hydra.I was also checking out the Aquatic Life Hybrid T5 fixture, which is about the same price as getting another Hydra 26... but I have no way to conveniently hang the T5 fixture from.