Insight on Viparspectra Lights

[BigBundee69]

I have 2 165w Viparspectra lights over my 75gal, question being is i got a GSP frag about 4 months ago and it was fully opened for about the first 2 weeks. since than it opens up but not fully. I thought it would be just the stress of moving tanks from LFS and gave it some time to adjust. Still not opening fully and am curious to other Viparspectra owners if it would be more beneficial to reduce the time that the lights are on or to decrease the intensity which is blue at 50%. This is last case scenario before i just buy the 170$ par meter which id really rather not do because nobody around me rents them. Lights are 14in above tank. TIA

 

[Uncle99]

No. I would leave the photoperiod between 9-11 hours, and never change that.

As you know, the light is strong, 50% blue 14” would push about 300 top, 150-200 mid, 80-100 bottom, 60 corners, assuming 24” to the sand.

GSP can act “weird” (closed) for many days on end. Cant see the light at your setting causing any issue, with anyone.
Not sure what your white % is. Really don’t use Viparspectra white channel, don’t like the colour, but white is required IMM.

They can retract when spreading, then pop out.

Set your lights, photoperiod and never touch that again.
This is 2 Viparspectra at 50% blue (11am to 9pm) and 1% white (12pm to 8pm) if that helps for reference.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I wouldn't guess on PAR with any aquarium light these days. It's way too easy to get it wrong. If getting a PAR meter is a challenge, you can get a cheap lux meter on Amazon. Divide the reading by 40 - 60 to get reasonable (although not perfect) estimated PAR range.

I have these lights over my tank and they're great, but they're very powerful. They're mounted high and turned relatively low.

 

[stoney7713]

I wouldn't think your issue is the lights, I have the same lights and have ran the blues anywhere from 10 to 65. My GSP is always fully extended. What about flow? It likes current. Also other parameters in spec? Do you have any other corals?

 

[BigBundee69]

No. I would leave the photoperiod between 9-11 hours, and never change that.

As you know, the light is strong, 50% blue 14” would push about 300 top, 150-200 mid, 80-100 bottom, 60 corners, assuming 24” to the sand.

GSP can act “weird” (closed) for many days on end. Cant see the light at your setting causing any issue, with anyone.
Not sure what your white % is. Really don’t use Viparspectra white channel, don’t like the colour, but white is required IMM.

They can retract when spreading, then pop out.

Set your lights, photoperiod and never touch that again.
This is 2 Viparspectra at 50% blue (11am to 9pm) and 1% white (12pm to 8pm) if that helps for reference.

Ive got my blue at 50% right now and my white is at 1%. In this instance than before doing the PAR meter test i might do an ICP just to see but im just at a loss right now because ive had my params all good for a while now and no change with the GSP but ive got a condy anemone that is doing beautiful

 

[BigBundee69]

I wouldn't think your issue is the lights, I have the same lights and have ran the blues anywhere from 10 to 65. My GSP is always fully extended. What about flow? It likes current. Also other parameters in spec? Do you have any other corals?

Ive got a condy anemone that is recovering from a previous injury from another tank but i have a condy anemone that is doing perfect and moving all over the place. as far as flow imo he would be just shy of a hard flow approx 14in away from powerhead

 

[juniorgomez708]

No. I would leave the photoperiod between 9-11 hours, and never change that.

As you know, the light is strong, 50% blue 14” would push about 300 top, 150-200 mid, 80-100 bottom, 60 corners, assuming 24” to the sand.

GSP can act “weird” (closed) for many days on end. Cant see the light at your setting causing any issue, with anyone.
Not sure what your white % is. Really don’t use Viparspectra white channel, don’t like the colour, but white is required IMM.

They can retract when spreading, then pop out.

Set your lights, photoperiod and never touch that again.
This is 2 Viparspectra at 50% blue (11am to 9pm) and 1% white (12pm to 8pm) if that helps for reference.

What tank size is that?

 

[BigBundee69]

What tank size is that?

I have a 75gal and ive got the blue at 50% from 11-9 and white is 1% from 12-3

 

[juniorgomez708]

I have a 75gal and ive got the blue at 50% from 11-9 and white is 1% from 12-3

I just bought 2 for my 210g. Do you think it’ll be enough? I only have lps. I imagine I would have to run 100% blue and mess around with the white. What do you think?

 

[Uncle99]

What tank size is that?

65g

 

[juniorgomez708]

65g

Crap, I think I asked the wrong person my question about my 210g.

 

[stoney7713]

I just bought 2 for my 210g. Do you think it’ll be enough? I only have lps. I imagine I would have to run 100% blue and mess around with the white. What do you think?

Spread would be in issue, you would definitely have shadowing. I'm guessing your tank is 6ft or longer, I would go with 3.

 

[juniorgomez708]

Spread would be in issue, you would definitely have shadowing. I'm guessing your tank is 6ft or longer, I would go with 3.

Yes, 6ft long. I’m hoping since my lights will be hanging from very high there will be no issue but yeah idk.

 

[mattdg]

I put some thoughts and par readings featuring the Viparspectra and Hydra 64HD in this comparison video. Might offer some insight.

 

[EugeneVan]

I just bought 2 for my 210g. Do you think it’ll be enough? I only have lps. I imagine I would have to run 100% blue and mess around with the white. What do you think?

If you can source 2 bigger brother viparspectra 300, you can grow any SPS, LPS. That is the lighting I used for my 210gal

​

 

[EugeneVan]

I have 2 165w Viparspectra lights over my 75gal, question being is i got a GSP frag about 4 months ago and it was fully opened for about the first 2 weeks. since than it opens up but not fully. I thought it would be just the stress of moving tanks from LFS and gave it some time to adjust. Still not opening fully and am curious to other Viparspectra owners if it would be more beneficial to reduce the time that the lights are on or to decrease the intensity which is blue at 50%. This is last case scenario before i just buy the 170$ par meter which id really rather not do because nobody around me rents them. Lights are 14in above tank. TIA

GSP doesn't need strong light to grow. My GSP grow like weed at the bottom of my 27 inches deep 210 gal. I found out like prefer strong indirect flow blow at them. Sometime my GSP will close for days for no reason.

 

[BigBundee69]

I just bought 2 for my 210g. Do you think it’ll be enough? I only have lps. I imagine I would have to run 100% blue and mess around with the white. What do you think?

What are your dimensions of your tank???

 

[stoney7713]

Yes, 6ft long. I’m hoping since my lights will be hanging from very high there will be no issue but yeah idk.

How high is high, you end up loosing more par the higher you go and more light spillage. I think 14 to 18 inches height is good.

Not saying 2 won't be enough for some LPS but 3 you can cover the tank well without wasting PAR and energy.

I run 2 on a 4 ft tank and I am thinking a couple led bars to supplement would be nice to reduce the shadows.

There are a lot of different opinions and different tactics to round out these light. Diffusers, removing lenses, changing LEDs, just have to find what would work for you.

 

[juniorgomez708]

How high is high, you end up loosing more par the higher you go and more light spillage. I think 14 to 18 inches height is good.

Not saying 2 won't be enough for some LPS but 3 you can cover the tank well without wasting PAR and energy.

I run 2 on a 4 ft tank and I am thinking a couple led bars to supplement would be nice to reduce the shadows.

There are a lot of different opinions and different tactics to round out these light. Diffusers, removing lenses, changing LEDs, just have to find what would work for you.

So just got done mounting the 2 165 watt lights and testing with par meter. I unfortunately will need one more light. Basically I have a lot of shade on the 4 corners of my tank. I am running the blue at 100% & whites at 50%. With those settings the middle of my tank is getting par ranges of 100ish-200ish. The corners of the tank drop significantly to around 50ish par. Over all, these lights seem great!

 

[stoney7713]

So just got done mounting the 2 165 watt lights and testing with par meter. I unfortunately will need one more light. Basically I have a lot of shade on the 4 corners of my tank. I am running the blue at 100% & whites at 50%. With those settings the middle of my tank is getting par ranges of 100ish-200ish. The corners of the tank drop significantly to around 50ish par. Over all, these lights seem great!

They are great for the money! Glad you had a par meter too, I have one on the way. I figured the corners would pretty dark.

On my 4ft I could run 3 and not be overkill, but I do have SPS and prefer a more blue look. The whites are super strong on these. Hence supplement with LED blue bars.

Glad you like them! Welcome to the black box club!