need some advice on these things. I’m kinda new to all of these and am trying to figure out if I’m doing it right. I have a 55 gall with only gsp and looking to get more coral but I wanna make sure the lighting is right before I throw money at coral. I have them about 8 inches above the water. How high should I turn the blues and whites. I have blues about 50% and whites about 20%.
Mars Aqua black box
- Thread starter Kalin
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Flippers4pups
Fins up since 1993
That's about right. You could raise them to say 10" and go 60- 30. Raising them will give better light blending.
Ron Reefman
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They look like they are too heavy for that horizontal pipe and the sag makes them point toward the outer edges of the tank. The photo looks like the center of the tank is pretty dark. Is that the way they look in person or is that a photo thing?
I used to use black box leds and they should be fine. Your Mars Aqua fixtures aren't quite as bright (intense) as all the other BB fixtures. Mars Aqua drives 3 watt leds at just 1.85 watts and all the others drive them at 2.2 watts. So yours are about 15% less powerful. I'd push the blue higher and add white to get a shade of white you like. Odds are, it won't be too high a PAR for corals. I ran mine at 90% blue and 40% white over a 24" deep tank.
You could try the 'canary in a coalmine' approach. Get a small frag of a red cap monti or any other inexpensive plating coral, and set it in your tank as high or higher than all the other corals. Start your acclimatization at a low number and raise it 5 or 10 percent every week. You can raise it a bit faster early on, but get much more careful as you get up to higher power levels. When you raise the light intensity too high, the red cap will start to bleach before any other corals. At that point, dial the power back a bit (5% to 10%) and you should be good to go.
I used to use black box leds and they should be fine. Your Mars Aqua fixtures aren't quite as bright (intense) as all the other BB fixtures. Mars Aqua drives 3 watt leds at just 1.85 watts and all the others drive them at 2.2 watts. So yours are about 15% less powerful. I'd push the blue higher and add white to get a shade of white you like. Odds are, it won't be too high a PAR for corals. I ran mine at 90% blue and 40% white over a 24" deep tank.
You could try the 'canary in a coalmine' approach. Get a small frag of a red cap monti or any other inexpensive plating coral, and set it in your tank as high or higher than all the other corals. Start your acclimatization at a low number and raise it 5 or 10 percent every week. You can raise it a bit faster early on, but get much more careful as you get up to higher power levels. When you raise the light intensity too high, the red cap will start to bleach before any other corals. At that point, dial the power back a bit (5% to 10%) and you should be good to go.
From the picture (and pictures do funny things to light, so use your own eyes to balance what we say) there does appear to be a deadspot in the middle, like Ron said. I feel like the PVC is a little weak for this, and that bow is causing them to point the wrong direction. Also, understand that a bit of light spill is normal, and unless you want to get super fiddly with canopy design, just something we have to deal with.
So I would:
So I would:
- Use a piece of wood for the cross-beam, something that won't bow like that.
- Move the lights slightly more toward the center maybe
- Raise by maybe 2 inches to try and get full coverage
- Do what Ron said with the canary coral.
I adjusted the lights to the middle and seemed to get rid of the shadow in the middle. Tried to take a picture but the picture made it seem like there was even more shadow lol.
My next question is I have a reef octopus 90 skimmer, jabeo ow-25, and emperor hob filter with just filter floss in it. Should I remove the hob filter and just run the skimmer and the jabeo ?
My next question is I have a reef octopus 90 skimmer, jabeo ow-25, and emperor hob filter with just filter floss in it. Should I remove the hob filter and just run the skimmer and the jabeo ?
Ron Reefman
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Reef Squad
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Tampa Bay Reef Keepers
MAC of SW Florida
Until the tank is more mature or you decide to add a sump for more filtration ability, I'd keep the HOB filter system. It moves water and the filter floss takes big stuff out of the water. I run a small 16g tank with just a HOB filter and a couple of powerheads as a frag tank and holding tank for new stock or things I collect.
HOB filters aren't all that bad. Lots of people dog them, but they are good little filters. If you become concerned in the future that the filter has become a "nitrate factory" then pull all them media out and use it just for water movement. You can also dremel out the little flaps at the bottom of the output that direct the water across the tank, and then it will direct the water down into the tank.
They are also really good for throwing a bag of carbon, or GFO in as-needed. If you don't have a sump to run socks in, then the filter floss does the same thing, though if you want to replicate the sock thing, you should clean the floss often. (like 3-4 days)
They are also really good for throwing a bag of carbon, or GFO in as-needed. If you don't have a sump to run socks in, then the filter floss does the same thing, though if you want to replicate the sock thing, you should clean the floss often. (like 3-4 days)
Never thought about cutting the flaps out of it but that would work great. I was just worried that my single wave maker wouldn’t move enough water if I removed the hob since everyone always told me they were the devil lol. Thank you all for the help
