How long/what intensity do you run your OR lights
- Thread starter bigroost
- Start date
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ReefLEDLights
Valuable Member
Remember to focus on your goal or what you expect to achieve.
Mine is Health and Growth First then Looks.
Photoinibition is around 350-500 PAR this is all you need for growth. Photosysthesis depending on specie is 4-6 hours a day...This is the growth with a sunrise and sunset.
The looks in my opinion come when the SPS colour up...This can be done by providing levels above photoinhibition which cause the coral to develop reflective pigments.
The most spectacular SPS tanks I've seen use 400 watt MH over 6 hours a day with T5 and or VHO or High Intensity LED Lighting with a natural sunrise and sunset.
Bill
Mine is Health and Growth First then Looks.
Photoinibition is around 350-500 PAR this is all you need for growth. Photosysthesis depending on specie is 4-6 hours a day...This is the growth with a sunrise and sunset.
The looks in my opinion come when the SPS colour up...This can be done by providing levels above photoinhibition which cause the coral to develop reflective pigments.
The most spectacular SPS tanks I've seen use 400 watt MH over 6 hours a day with T5 and or VHO or High Intensity LED Lighting with a natural sunrise and sunset.
Bill
I've actually been having more success lately, I think I am down to about 45%b 20% white, the blue stays on 9 hours and the white 4 hours. That gives me around 275 par at the highest point. I'm finally able to actually see growth. I did drop down 30 mins to those numbers a few weeks ago, I was gone on vacation for a week got back yesterday, I noticed some pretty substantial changes in color on that last change. The greens have gotten greener, but the reds have gotten deeper and lost a little of that pop. I think most of the problems I experienced were due to photoperiod. Now that I have found a seemingly better place with that I may start trying to bump up the intensity a bit to see what that does with the colors.
knuckles I will say this, I left a couple of Acros on the sandbed the last few weeks because I knew I was going out of town and didn't want to take a chance of bleaching them while I was gone, they are encrusting where they sit. I don't think you will have any problems with getting enough light you just don't get the bells and whistles with ramping and all that.
knuckles I will say this, I left a couple of Acros on the sandbed the last few weeks because I knew I was going out of town and didn't want to take a chance of bleaching them while I was gone, they are encrusting where they sit. I don't think you will have any problems with getting enough light you just don't get the bells and whistles with ramping and all that.
knukles55
Active Member
Thank you very much for your response it's a huge help. My problem isn't so much and growth. I'm having difficult I'm coloring up my acropora. You nailed it right on the head. It's just tuning the bells and whistles too get the right color spectrum for the right couple hours that the SPs need. I'm just comparing different photo periods to other Reef Keepers that have successful reef tanks. For example my tank is 24 by 24 by 12 so I really don't need too much depth lighting which is trickier to me for LEDs the more sensitive to light corals I have to push to the outer rim of the tank to satisfy their needs. These past couple of months I've been raising my lights to spread out the intensity more I'm 20 inches above the water line at the moment corals are doing great and they're still growing my toe and it's or actually opened more and not so scared and shriveled from too much light
