Fluval Marine 3.0 & 40 GAL Tank

[jgabbsxx]

Hello Reefers!

I know there are numerous threads regarding lighting, but I have a Fluval Marine 3.0 and a 40-GAL tank that I just can't seem to get the lighting right for my corals & my fish. I have 1 Frogspawn, 1 Bubble Tip Nem, 2 Torches, and 2 Zoas. I was told by my fiancé's brother who had several reef tanks that I NEED my whites at least above 75% during peak hours with a mixture of my blues. However, I have seen several videos, forums, and threads that it should be opposite: more blue less white. I know this is partially preference as well, but I would like some sort of direction of what it should be.

Thanks!

 

[blaxsun]

The only value that really matters is PAR.

 

[Hooz]

How many Fluval strips? How do you have them mounted? What sort of coral are you trying to keep?

You don't *NEED* whites to grow coral at all. I've seen tanks that did fine with no white at all. I prefer to have some white in the middle part of the day personally, though.

That being said... Half the LED diodes in the Fluval lights are white. You lose a lot of potential PAR relative to the light's maximum output if you don't run the whites. You can compensate by adding more strips.

When I ran a Fluval 3.0, I maxed all the blue channels and then just added enough of the pink and white to match my preference. I wasn't able to hit my max PAR goal that way, so rather than adding another light (I was using the 3.0 Nano, so adding a second wasn't an option for the tank), I added more white and pink to hit my PAR numbers. It made things whiter than I typically like, but everything grew just fine.

I ended up switching to a more powerful light on that tank, but if the option was there, adding a second Fluval light would've done the same thing. I think the Fluval lights are pretty underrated in the hobby because not many reef guys run that much white, so they seem pretty underpowered. If you're willing to run multiples, though, they have a nice wide blue band and great spread for not a ton of money.

 

[Thumbster]

He may have meant that you need the whites because that would give you enough par.

Here what two 36” fluval 3.0’s gave me over my 40 breeder. I never checked the par on a single light by itself so I can’t comment on that.

I ran everything on 100% except pink and white which I kept at the same percentage.

 

[jgabbsxx]

He may have meant that you need the whites because that would give you enough par.

Here what two 36” fluval 3.0’s gave me over my 40 breeder. I never checked the par on a single light by itself so I can’t comment on that.

I ran everything on 100% except pink and white which I kept at the same percentage.

I only have a single 36” fluval on my tank right now. All my blues are 100% with white & purple somewhere around there. Most of my corals are at least 6” below the lights.

 

[jgabbsxx]

How many Fluval strips? How do you have them mounted? What sort of coral are you trying to keep?

You don't *NEED* whites to grow coral at all. I've seen tanks that did fine with no white at all. I prefer to have some white in the middle part of the day personally, though.

That being said... Half the LED diodes in the Fluval lights are white. You lose a lot of potential PAR relative to the light's maximum output if you don't run the whites. You can compensate by adding more strips.

When I ran a Fluval 3.0, I maxed all the blue channels and then just added enough of the pink and white to match my preference. I wasn't able to hit my max PAR goal that way, so rather than adding another light (I was using the 3.0 Nano, so adding a second wasn't an option for the tank), I added more white and pink to hit my PAR numbers. It made things whiter than I typically like, but everything grew just fine.

I ended up switching to a more powerful light on that tank, but if the option was there, adding a second Fluval light would've done the same thing. I think the Fluval lights are pretty underrated in the hobby because not many reef guys run that much white, so they seem pretty underpowered. If you're willing to run multiples, though, they have a nice wide blue band and great spread for not a ton of money.

I only have 1 36” fluval light on the tank right now. I am really sticking with LPS corals as of right now.

 

[JoJosReef]

The problem with the Fluval light is their miniscule LED chips. There are many 0.25 watt LED chips, but those have very poor water penetration, as opposed to the 3W LEDs you get in one of the bigger name bars or even the 5W LEDs that Orphek has in some of their bars. MOST of the PAR in the Fluval Marine 3.0 comes from the white channel. The light has excellent spread, an excellent app, but it just lacks power. A bubble tip will have a hard time getting enough light to survive unless you have 2-3 bars going at once with whites cranked up.

If that light is returnable, I would get a refund and use that same budget for Noopsyches or even up your budget a bit more for AI Primes (is this a 40 gal long 3ft tank or other dimensions)?

 

[JoJosReef]

He may have meant that you need the whites because that would give you enough par.

Here what two 36” fluval 3.0’s gave me over my 40 breeder. I never checked the par on a single light by itself so I can’t comment on that.

I ran everything on 100% except pink and white which I kept at the same percentage.

That right there says it all. For your BTA, you'd ideally want 200+ PAR (mine like ~300 PAR), so you would want 2 bars with whites at 50-100%. A 34" bar is running at $184 on Amazon right now. That's basically the price of a Noopsyche K7 Pro III. Two of those will light a 40 breeder enough for SPS, and you wouldn't have to run them at even half max. I have 3 Noopsyche Minis on my 40gal Long, and they give ~200 Par on the sand bed and 300+ Par on the top of the rocks at well under 50% intensity (budget $300). I get similar results with AI Primes (but budget is $750 for 3 of them, or half that for used).

Torches and frogspawns are also on the higher light side of LPS (150-200 is good range for mine). Zoas very flexible.

Also, one other consideration is the PUR, or photosynthetically USABLE radiation. I am not knowledgeable about what wavelengths the Fluval Marine 3.0 gives out and if they are optimal for photosynthesis in your coral (especially whites, where most of the PAR is coming from).

 

[jgabbsxx]

The problem with the Fluval light is their miniscule LED chips. There are many 0.25 watt LED chips, but those have very poor water penetration, as opposed to the 3W LEDs you get in one of the bigger name bars or even the 5W LEDs that Orphek has in some of their bars. MOST of the PAR in the Fluval Marine 3.0 comes from the white channel. The light has excellent spread, an excellent app, but it just lacks power. A bubble tip will have a hard time getting enough light to survive unless you have 2-3 bars going at once with whites cranked up.

If that light is returnable, I would get a refund and use that same budget for Noopsyches or even up your budget a bit more for AI Primes (is this a 40 gal long 3ft tank or other dimensions)?

I have been trying to find another bar light because i do agree that this is lacking that power. I tried a hang over light and because of the structure bar from the tank, the middle of the tank gets shadowed from the light. I wish i could add 2 lights but im running out if outlets and space . Tank is a 40L

 

[jgabbsxx]

this is the tank currently in the afternoon hours on the fluval marine 3.0. i lack space in the back of the tank due to this being on a dresser with a MASSIVE mirror that i cannot remove or else i would have.

 

[Hooz]

MOST of the PAR in the Fluval Marine 3.0 comes from the white channel. The light has excellent spread, an excellent app, but it just lacks power.

This is the big frustrating thing about the Fluval lights. I mean, they got SOOOOO close. The blue band on the 3.0 is wider than a lot of the "big name" lights where it counts (400-490nm), but nobody realizes it because you have to drown it out with so much white.

If they replaced 60-70% of those whites with more blues, they would be hard to beat.

As is, they do a great job for people who run FOWLR tanks with some easier coral, macro displays, etc in them. The color rendering of fish is pretty amazing, and they will certainly grow coral. They're just not what most of us want to look at.

 

[JoJosReef]

This is the big frustrating thing about the Fluval lights. I mean, they got SOOOOO close. The blue band on the 3.0 is wider than a lot of the "big name" lights where it counts (400-490nm), but nobody realizes it because you have to drown it out with so much white.

If they replaced 60-70% of those whites with more blues, they would be hard to beat.

As is, they do a great job for people who run FOWLR tanks with some easier coral, macro displays, etc in them. The color rendering of fish is pretty amazing, and they will certainly grow coral. They're just not what most of us want to look at.

Completely agree. And their app is very easy to use. I've had no LEDs that light up an entire tank like the Fluval. I think if they mixed in a few 0.5W+ blue chips with the 0.25W wide spread LED chips then they'd be hitting better PAR numbers and would still have that nice spectrum.