Black box help

[Don_Jorge]

Hello all, I currently have a Phlizon 164 watt full spectrum LED light and from what i've read these should be kept at around 18 inches above the water, my question is if i have a 36 gallon tank am i correct in thinking that dimming the light to Quarter strength at 18 inches will suffice? or is the 18 inch rule for if i wanna run the light at full power?

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

Hello all, I currently have a Phlizon 164 watt full spectrum LED light and from what i've read these should be kept at around 18 inches above the water, my question is if i have a 36 gallon tank am i correct in thinking that dimming the light to Quarter strength at 18 inches will suffice? or is the 18 inch rule for if i wanna run the light at full power?

What type of corals?

 

[Don_Jorge]

Just a xenia that seems happy and plump. I have a shipment of a hammer, torch, and red people eater zoas coming in tomorrow tho so I wanna be sure.

 

[GaryE]

Always best to rent a par meter and test.

Short of that, go with the manufacturer suggestions.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I'm not familiar with Phlizon, but 18 inches sounds high, unless you have 60 degree lenses. If I remember the rule of thumb correctly, it was 13 - 14 inches that was optimal.

As far as dimming, assuming you have at least two channels, a lot of blue and a little bit of white.....what you like by your eye. Now actual levelS, you should use a meter to determine how much. Ideally a PAR meter, it you have $350 sitting around. Otherwise I'd highly recommend a LUX meter that is less than $20. You want a 20K - 25 K LUX.

 

[Don_Jorge]

I'm not familiar with Phlizon, but 18 inches sounds high, unless you have 60 degree lenses. If I remember the rule of thumb correctly, it was 13 - 14 inches that was optimal.

As far as dimming, assuming you have at least two channels, a lot of blue and a little bit of white.....what you like by your eye. Now actual levelS, you should use a meter to determine how much. Ideally a PAR meter, it you have $350 sitting around. Otherwise I'd highly recommend a LUX meter that is less than $20. You want a 20K - 25 K LUX.

idk i had it at 11 inches before and my xenia was getting fried, was all skinny. minutes after I moved it up 18 inches it started getting all plump and pulsing. research shows most recommended this height but i could be wrong, ill find out with the hammer and torch u suppose

 

[Don_Jorge]

Always best to rent a par meter and test.

Short of that, go with the manufacturer suggestions.

Manufacture shows nothing on height. it has a pic of one like 5 inches above the water and i just know that wont work. theyre a cheap marijuana grow led company that made a reef light

 

[Don_Jorge]

Always best to rent a par meter and test.

Short of that, go with the manufacturer suggestions.

https://www.philizon.com/coral-reef-led-aquarium-light/54294482.html the picture looks photo shopped too lol

 

[GaryE]

https://www.philizon.com/coral-reef-led-aquarium-light/54294482.html the picture looks photo shopped too lol

I like how between the first and second pic they aren't even the same.. 1st has one power switch and the second has two..

It looks generally the exact same as the lights I just bought. The one I got recommended 12" above the water line. Seems a reasonable distance to start out with. I'd love to know how tall their tanks are or how short their ceiling's are though. They provide 12" cable for hanging them..

 

[GaryE]

Id be very interested to know what's going on inside the case of that light.. if you were so inclined to open it up and take a photo.. I would almost bet that it's the exact same light I have..

 

[fluked]

Watch the brstv blackbox showdown, they show par readings for this and other black boxes at a bunch of different heights. Look at what light you have, get the rough readings from their testing and go from there

 

[Aqua Man]

I have my black box 16 inches above my tank.

 

[Don_Jorge]

I have my black box 16 inches above my tank.

running full power, and what size tank?

 

[Don_Jorge]

Watch the brstv blackbox showdown, they show par readings for this and other black boxes at a bunch of different heights. Look at what light you have, get the rough readings from their testing and go from there

i checked it out, and cant tell weather to go full power or not from an 18 inch height

 

[Don_Jorge]

Id be very interested to know what's going on inside the case of that light.. if you were so inclined to open it up and take a photo.. I would almost bet that it's the exact same light I have..

in the vid Fluked mentioned they open it up and theyre generally the same yea, give it a look over

 

[moz71]

I have the vipraspectra which is basically sane light. If you watch the brstv show on it The big message is you need to raise to lesson the hot spot and get more even coverage across footprint. Which I did rent a par meter and it does exactly that. You lose a little of the high par but it is way to high anyway. For your corals I would start at like 50 or 60 percent blue and like 10 percent white and just ramp up over time. I am at 90 percent blue and 20 percent whit and get an even par around 250 mid tank and nothing less than a 100 at sand.

 

[Reverend Turtle]

I have a CBB mounted over a 20 high. I had it 20" above, 100% blue, 30ish% white. Too much light was spilling so I lowered it to about 15" off the water. I lowered the blues to about 50% and slowly have been raising them to 100% again. Whites I have set at about 10% now.

 

[Don_Jorge]

that gives me an idea as for how to start, il go a little higher with the blues thanks both of you

 

[Don_Jorge]

I have the vipraspectra which is basically sane light. If you watch the brstv show on it The big message is you need to raise to lesson the hot spot and get more even coverage across footprint. Which I did rent a par meter and it does exactly that. You lose a little of the high par but it is way to high anyway. For your corals I would start at like 50 or 60 percent blue and like 10 percent white and just ramp up over time. I am at 90 percent blue and 20 percent whit and get an even par around 250 mid tank and nothing less than a 100 at sand.

How frequent should I increase the blue light?

 

[moz71]

That is up for debate but on my vipraspectra I raise it about 5 percent a week. Some say slower but I had no ill effects. These lights have high hot spot but my corals are not in it so much and the increase at mid and low level is much gentler. As always slower is better. I even speculated they would have done just fine at lower level but want more sps so I am raising it.