New Lights New Problems

[sawdonkey]

For about three years, I've run four Ocean Revives over my 220 and one over my sump where I keep my frags. I noticed my corals in my DT were browning a bit, so I inspected my fixtures and found a bunch of blue diodes had burned out. I replaced them and the colors came back.

I wanted to try some new lights to see if my corals could look better, so I bought two Sanrise LED fixtures from reefbreeders and also added a two-bulb T5 retrofit with ATI Blue Plus bulbs. About the same time I did this, I had a spike in nitrates (about 20) and some corals browned out, however, a few showed some burnt tips. A few months later, some of my once favorite SPS are browned out and I cannot color them back up. A few corals are still showing burnt tips, and a few are still brown. My nitrates are back down.

Here's the thing though....in my frag sump, where I still run an Ocean Revive fixture, everything is colored up and showing great PE. This leads me to think this is a purely lighting issue, but I don't know if my leds are too bright or too dim or if I have my T5s on for too long or too short.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

[Ty Hamatake]

How long have the new lights been on the tank? Did you happen to match PAR levels from the old and new lights?

 

[sawdonkey]

How long have the new lights been on the tank? Did you happen to match PAR levels from the old and new lights?

About two months. I actually lost a couple colonies, but it was more of an STN from the base. No, I did not match PAR because I don't know what it was or what it currently is. My old lights were just two channels, with just on/off that I staggered. My new ones ramp up and down and my T5s come on for about 5 hours. Photo period is from noon to midnight with blues ramping up/down slowly. Whites and other colors ramp up/down for about 7 hours.

I've been doing this for a while a doing it pretty successfully. This it throwing me for a loop and really irritating me.

 

[Ty Hamatake]

About two months. I actually lost a couple colonies, but it was more of an STN from the base. No, I did not match PAR because I don't know what it was or what it currently is. My old lights were just two channels, with just on/off that I staggered. My new ones ramp up and down and my T5s come on for about 5 hours. Photo period is from noon to midnight with blues ramping up/down slowly. Whites and other colors ramp up/down for about 7 hours.

I've been doing this for a while a doing it pretty successfully. This it throwing me for a loop and really irritating me.

You sound like you know what your doing, but I don't mind being a soundboard

In my short time as a reefer, I've noticed that recovery (especially from light related issues) takes a while. I had a montipora almost completely bleach out and it has taken almost a year to nurse it back to health (I've also been having other problems in the tank which I'm sure increased the recovery time). Are the burnt tip and browned out corals in the same vicinity? I'm inclined to agree with you that it's lighting related, especially since burnt tips are generally related to low nutrients (if I'm not mistaken).

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I use a Lux meter to match intensity and then reduce it to acclimate on the off chance there is a difference in par.

That said. I had a jbj cube that nothing would color up or grow. Just maintain it. I transfers to a cube and swapped lights several times and had decent normal results Growth color etc. I have a jbj somthing or other light in my coral qt. It will not grow coral. I have shad success with my other lights t5 included and some variance and differences in all of them. The jbj and to a small extent my current ai sol's just don't have what it takes to do the job. It's quite possible the light is just not good. Keeping in mind some of them have been par tested to in articles and and adds and by Hobbiests.
So yea it could be non matching par or intensity and we can work on that but it could be just poor light.

 

[hart24601]

The sanrise uses pretty much standard now Cree XT-E diodes and EpiLEDs for the voilets. I have a hard time thinking it is a problem inherent in the fixture. What % were you running the OR at vs the reefbreeders? If you still have both fixtures it would be worth while to get free lux app or $15 meter from amazon just to match lux at the water line.

 

[sawdonkey]

The sanrise uses pretty much standard now Cree XT-E diodes and EpiLEDs for the voilets. I have a hard time thinking it is a problem inherent in the fixture. What % were you running the OR at vs the reefbreeders? If you still have both fixtures it would be worth while to get free lux app or $15 meter from amazon just to match lux at the water line.

So, I'm still losing colonies in my DT while my frags in my sump are thriving. I obviously have a light issue. I took your advice and downloaded a phone LUX meter and held is under my sanrise fixture as well as my old ocean revives. I don't really know how to interpret LUX, but the oceans revives are putting out MUCH more LUX. I think the corals in my DT are just light starved.

I think the sanrise fixtures are under powered for their price and even though you can adjust six channels separately, I cannot get a desirable light color, in terms of aesthetic or coral health. I think that putting in so many white diodes was a mistake. My fixture has 24 Royal blues, 24 whites, 10 light blues, and a couple other colors. The whites simply wash out the blue at anything above 20% and the tank looks red.

I'm hesitant to throw good money after bad and replace some of the whites with blues, because I'm really starting to hate these lights. Not to mention, you can't even buy replacement diodes despite that being advertised.

These lights are coming off my tank in a couple of days. I can't watch three years of SPS growth go down the drain.

 

[Salty1962]

Sounds like your PAR has been reduced quite a bit with the new lights, your corals turning brown. Especially with your sump looking good. There's nothing wrong with less light, it just takes a while for corals to re-adjust.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Sounds like it wasn't a good match color wise sorry to hear.

What is your lux reading at the top of the tank?
How deep is the tank?
How deep is the first acro?

Cheap bang for the buck. Sbreeflight.
Sorry about the plug but it's given me like really odd and amazing acro growth. Like I knew what I was doing almost.

 

[hart24601]

I am very sorry to hear you are not liking the new lights. What are the exact numbers for lux they are putting out and what % are you running them at for the number? Same question for the ocean revives. Have you talked with reefbreeders about it?