best radion setting to make sps colors pop

[elagui]

hey folks
i need some help ive been having the biggest issue getting the best settings from my radion.
i have cube 24x24x20 with one gen2 radion roughly 8in away from the waterline. My parameters are perfect 0 phosphates and nitrates alk 7.8-8.0 i have great coral growth but i feel my corals are missing that pop of color. My wife says they all look brown lol.

 

[jasonandsarah]

If your nitrates and phosphates are truly at zero then they're not perfect especially for color in Sps. I'd try to maintain nitrates between 5-10 and phosphates between 0.03-0.05
What are you using for test kits?
Also with that low of nutrients have you been dosing anything or feeding smaller foods your Sps can capture? I find Acropower to help with coloration in Uln settings. Also using reef chili or coral frenzy once a week or so can be very helpful imo...

 

[jasonandsarah]

If your corals are growing good I wouldn't mess with you lighting schedule very much. Maybe post your current schedule though if you really want to change it.

 

[elagui]

If your nitrates and phosphates are truly at zero then they're not perfect especially for color in Sps. I'd try to maintain nitrates between 5-10 and phosphates between 0.03-0.05
What are you using for test kits?
Also with that low of nutrients have you been dosing anything or feeding smaller foods your Sps can capture? I find Acropower to help with coloration in Uln settings. Also using reef chili or coral frenzy once a week or so can be very helpful imo...

i use red sea and hannah checkers for my test kits. i dont feed my corals at all. i have a 50 gallon tank and i do 10 gallon water changes weekly. i have 3 fish 2 clownfish and a small blue tang which i only feed pellets once a day.

 

[jasonandsarah]

Do you have an over sized skimmer? Ats? Do you use Gfo and carbon? I used to run a Uln system and found it to always need extra feeding in one way or another to keep Sps bright and perky. I don't normally feed my corals much either but with nitrates at 0 and phosphates at zero you'll have to unless you allow your water to get a little more nutrients.
Feeding a good frozen food (LRF or Roggers reef) can also help as the corals can take in the fatty acids and smaller particles the fish don't get.

 

[Marquiseo]

When I had radions, I ran:

Violets and blues 100%
White 30%
Red and Green 15%

which is 18,000K-20000K spectrum. That spectrum range promotes color. As for nutrients, more nutrients means darker coloration but too much will turn your corals brown. In time, you will understand your tank and adjust it accordingly to your desired intent.

 

[jasonandsarah]

When I had radions, I ran:

Violets and blues 100%
White 30%
Red and Green 15%

which is 18,000K-20000K spectrum. That spectrum range promotes color. As for nutrients, more nutrients means darker coloration but too much will turn your corals brown. In time, you will understand your tank and adjust it accordingly to your desired intent.

You explained that so much better and easier then I did! My Radion schedule is very similar to that as well.

 

[elagui]

Do you have an over sized skimmer? Ats? Do you use Gfo and carbon? I used to run a Uln system and found it to always need extra feeding in one way or another to keep Sps bright and perky. I don't normally feed my corals much either but with nitrates at 0 and phosphates at zero you'll have to unless you allow your water to get a little more nutrients.
Feeding a good frozen food (LRF or Roggers reef) can also help as the corals can take in the fatty acids and smaller particles the fish don't get.

i have an eshopps 120 cone skimmer and i only run gfo i also have a refugium.

 

[elagui]

When I had radions, I ran:

Violets and blues 100%
White 30%
Red and Green 15%

which is 18,000K-20000K spectrum. That spectrum range promotes color. As for nutrients, more nutrients means darker coloration but too much will turn your corals brown. In time, you will understand your tank and adjust it accordingly to your desired intent.

mine is almost the same except my white red and green are at 10% i feel like when i put more whites my zoanthids lose their popping color. what was your experience with those settings?

 

[jasonandsarah]

Yeah my zoas don't like the whites cranked up either but my Sps love it and running an Sps dominant tank I kinda have to worry about the Sps first.
I have my whites at 40% for 4 hours a day and 30% the rest of the day for the most part.
I try to put my zoas in a little more shade now that I have my whites up and they seem to do fine.
I also have 2 T5's on my tank witch has helped with bringing out certain colors.

 

[elagui]

Yeah my zoas don't like the whites cranked up either but my Sps love it and running an Sps dominant tank I kinda have to worry about the Sps first.
I have my whites at 40% for 4 hours a day and 30% the rest of the day for the most part.
I try to put my zoas in a little more shade now that I have my whites up and they seem to do fine.
I also have 2 T5's on my tank witch has helped with bringing out certain colors.

i wanted to do that but im using an rms for the radion so i have no where to attach the t5.
here is a pic of my tank its cell pic.

 

[jasonandsarah]

Tank looks pretty good but is that your day time color? That's pretty blue imo, people can do that with T5's because T5 bulbs have a much broader spectrum.
I would say to set your Radions to acclimation mode and slowly try to raise your whites up to 20% over the next few weeks. Even if it's only for 4 hours a day and see how your Zoas and Sps respond to that.

 

[elagui]

Tank looks pretty good but is that your day time color? That's pretty blue imo, people can do that with T5's because T5 bulbs have a much broader spectrum.
I would say to set your Radions to acclimation mode and slowly try to raise your whites up to 20% over the next few weeks. Even if it's only for 4 hours a day and see how your Zoas and Sps respond to that.

yea it is i run 10% white red and green from 11am to 6pm

 

[Marquiseo]

mine is almost the same except my white red and green are at 10% i feel like when i put more whites my zoanthids lose their popping color. what was your experience with those settings?

At the time I ran mostly SPS. I had the whites that high for a little extra par. The zoas I did have didn't mind it but then again they were only mid and lower tank level.

 

[jasonandsarah]

You could also probably up your hours if you wanted as well. I believe my lights run for close to 11 hours per day without the moonlights. I keep the first and last 2 hours pretty blue (10% white) and then early after noon I blast everything for 4-5 hours.

 

[Twomuchless]

I have a gen 3 pro over my 60 cube on vibrant mode and my sps are coloring up nicely but the growth is kinda slow but I don't mind that try dosing some kind of aminos Fuel or Acropower really made a big difference and I run my alk between 8.5 9.0

 

[elagui]

I have a gen 3 pro over my 60 cube on vibrant mode and my sps are coloring up nicely but the growth is kinda slow but I don't mind that try dosing some kind of aminos Fuel or Acropower really made a big difference and I run my alk between 8.5 9.0

the growth on my tank i have to say is moderate some acros grow faster than others. i currently and dosing tropic marines ABC.

 

[elagui]

At the time I ran mostly SPS. I had the whites that high for a little extra par. The zoas I did have didn't mind it but then again they were only mid and lower tank level.

I guess i just like how the blues make my zoa colors pop but i do like my acros more. I have a pink lemonade and strawberry shortcake that the only way i see the color on them is if i look closely and stare lol.

 

[elagui]

You could also probably up your hours if you wanted as well. I believe my lights run for close to 11 hours per day without the moonlights. I keep the first and last 2 hours pretty blue (10% white) and then early after noon I blast everything for 4-5 hours.

you know i just checked my ca and its at 380 i hadnt checked it in a while do you think they can have some affect?

 

[Chaz D]

You can bump it slightly, but 380 shouldn't give you any problems.