Help with Radions

[loweryphil]

This is what I've come up with for my xr30 on a two foot cube mounted with the rms mount, does this seem OK? It's a variation of the radiant colour pre set with the middle part the sps AB settings. Some help or advice would be great.

 

[SyracuseMatt]

I would start with the AB+ program I think it’s called. Later, you tweak if necessary. I would also measure par if possible. I think the rms mounts are kind of low so, particularly if you run something older than gen 4s, you might get some pretty big par variations across the tank. I have a two xr30s gen 3 pros on an rms mount over a 60 cube with diffusers.

Matt

 

[loweryphil]

I would start with the AB+ program I think it’s called. Later, you tweak if necessary. I would also measure par if possible. I think the rms mounts are kind of low so, particularly if you run something older than gen 4s, you might get some pretty big par variations across the tank. I have a two xr30s gen 3 pros on an rms mount over a 60 cube with diffusers.

Matt

It's the gen 2 version. I've set them to 60% with a two week aclimation period. I'm going to monitor the corals each day and go from there. I do get good light cover everywhere. But my sps are about 3/4 of the way up my tank anyway

 

[SyracuseMatt]

It's the gen 2 version. I've set them to 60% with a two week aclimation period. I'm going to monitor the corals each day and go from there. I do get good light cover everywhere. But my sps are about 3/4 of the way up my tank anyway

For my 60 cube, I have two gen three pros with diffusers on the rms mounting system. I basically run the AB program (other non-blue corals kicked up a couple of percent) for the bulk of my photo period. Right now, they max at 26%. I could probably (and will probably) run them a little higher but, I'm in no rush.

My other tank is a 180. On that tank, I started out with 3 gen 2 pros, one every two feet, hung about 10 inches above the tank, a little higher than rms. I would hang them higher but I can't. I had a mixed tank and had very good luck with softies, LPS and easy SPS (montis, birdsnest, etc.) but struggled with acros generally, although some seemed to do o.k., depending on location. Eventually, I got a par meter and discovered that, what appeared by eye to be relatively even lighting across my tank, was not even at all. Areas under the pucks were getting very high light. other areas nottoo far away were getting inadequate light for high light acros. I supplemented the 180 with 4 5-foot t5 lamps, not to add light, but to allow me to even out the light. Since making the switch, I've had far more success with acropora and now have some genuine 'colonies' of acropora grown from small frags.

This is all a long way of saying, you may be fine with one gen 2 for softies, LPS and 'easy' SPS but, acros may be tough because of the spotlighting created by many puck style fixtures. If you are going to try a lot of acros, you might think about: 1) getting (buying/renting/borrowing) a par meter to check your light levels in various area of the tank; 2) supplementing with t-5s; or 3) getting a second gen 2 radion and running at something like 30%. Of course, all of this is just my opinion but, I do have a fair amount of experience with gen 2 and gen 3 radions. If you wanted to abandon/modify the rms mounting system, you could also raise the lights higher over the tank. In a perfect world, I'd probably hang radions something like 20 inches above the tank, turn them up and live with the light spill for more even, well blended light. Good luck.

Matt

 

[loweryphil]

Thank you for the reply. I believe one xr30 on a two foot cube is enough for me, I would like your help to clarify a few things if you would be so kind. The orange slider bar on The right is set to 60% however when I hover over the highest point, it says 37% intensity. What actual intensity am I running? 60 or 37%?

 

[chris k.]

I believe it is 37 percent of 60 percent. If you raise the 60 percent bar the 37 percent bar will go up also.

 

[SyracuseMatt]

Thank you for the reply. I believe one xr30 on a two foot cube is enough for me, I would like your help to clarify a few things if you would be so kind. The orange slider bar on The right is set to 60% however when I hover over the highest point, it says 37% intensity. What actual intensity am I running? 60 or 37%?

Honestly, I've never been entirely clear regarding the exact meaning. I think it's an estimate of the overall light intensity taking into account the relative light settings and overall intensity. So, if your running your channels at 100-100-100-50-50-50 and you have the lights at 100%, maybe the slider would say 75%. I'm not sure if/how Ecotech accounts for the fact that different channels produce different amounts of light (and par). At best, it may be a rough guide to light intensity. One light is certainly enough to get started (and maybe enough to finish depending on your expectations). If you find your having trouble dialing in you light intensity, you may want to revisit your lighting and/or use a par meter to see how much light you're actually getting.

Matt