nelson.jdautobody
Valuable Member
hello fellow reefers. im having what i think is an issue with my lighting set up. i recently (at least 3 months ago) changed my lighting set up from 2 kessill a350 set at 50% blue and 35% white supplemented with 4 t5 bulbs (2 blue, 2 blue+) all in a hood set up placed on top of tank not hung which kinda seemed like overkill on a 40 gallon breeder. so i switched over to the 1 new radion gen3 pro set at 35% relative intensity on "traditional reef" mode and placed about 12" above the water. i was pretty excited to get rid of the timers, hood, and a big reduction in energy draw. but it seems like my corals have gone backwards in health. so i adjusted the light intensity up and down then back then back again but cant seem to get it dialed in where my corals are happy. my acros in particular are losing color (looks like they are browning out). and those are the ones that are still left standing as i have lost $$$$$ in high end sticks and now my plate corals and even my birdsnest and most hardiest acros are going downhill as well. the only things that seem to be really thriving are my bounce and tie dye shrooms (thank goodness for that). i also lost some favias and acans. so last week i set my light to "shallow reef" setting and bumped it up to 50% relative intensity and kicked the light up to 15" above the tank. i check my water peramiters regulary and everything seems to be stable and consistant with what you would want to see
salinity .024
calc 420-430
mag 1350-1400
dkh 8-9 (hanna checker)
ph 8.3
nitrate 2-5ppm
i run a phos reactor with gfo media, bubble magnus doser (alk, calc, mag)
i dont have any algea issues like hair, bipropsis, but do get a little red cyno? at the botttom of the tank n various zones where maybe the flow or lighting isnt spectacular but at the same time i run a vortec on one side of the tank facing the opposite side which has a vortec mp40 both set at around 60% (they were higher but i turned them down a week ago because it seemed like some of my zoas might be getting too much flow.
since my acros and plates seem like they are losing color/turning brown and dying and most everything else seems to be good and the fact the only thing i have really changed in the tank recently is the lighting i just dont think i have this thing dialed in proper. i actually considered bringing back out my hood and t5 bulbs to supplement the lighting but it would seem like 1 radion gen3 pro over
a smaller tank like a 40 gallon breeder i just find it hard to believe that i could possibly need MORE lighting.
if anyone can help me out with a good radion set up that someone who isnt computer illeterate but not exactly tech savvy either i would uber appreicate it.
please let me know exactly the mode, the relative intensity, or if you have a custom set up mode then give my the specific % of where you have set each individual color at. i know its a lot to ask but im desperate at this point and ready to just give up on acros all together and that would suck for me because i think i love sticks the most of all the corals (pearlberry, rr pink floyd, snipers blue lagoon, red planet, pink lemonade just to mention a fraction of the sticks i have lost over the short time i have been reefing. i have wasted thousands on corals and as much as my wife would love nothing more than to see me hang it up all together,i really have a hard time accepting failure...its not in my nature but i feel like giving up on acros and hard corals is just the beginning of giving up completely.
thanks again for any assistance you can provide
salinity .024
calc 420-430
mag 1350-1400
dkh 8-9 (hanna checker)
ph 8.3
nitrate 2-5ppm
i run a phos reactor with gfo media, bubble magnus doser (alk, calc, mag)
i dont have any algea issues like hair, bipropsis, but do get a little red cyno? at the botttom of the tank n various zones where maybe the flow or lighting isnt spectacular but at the same time i run a vortec on one side of the tank facing the opposite side which has a vortec mp40 both set at around 60% (they were higher but i turned them down a week ago because it seemed like some of my zoas might be getting too much flow.
since my acros and plates seem like they are losing color/turning brown and dying and most everything else seems to be good and the fact the only thing i have really changed in the tank recently is the lighting i just dont think i have this thing dialed in proper. i actually considered bringing back out my hood and t5 bulbs to supplement the lighting but it would seem like 1 radion gen3 pro over
a smaller tank like a 40 gallon breeder i just find it hard to believe that i could possibly need MORE lighting.
if anyone can help me out with a good radion set up that someone who isnt computer illeterate but not exactly tech savvy either i would uber appreicate it.
please let me know exactly the mode, the relative intensity, or if you have a custom set up mode then give my the specific % of where you have set each individual color at. i know its a lot to ask but im desperate at this point and ready to just give up on acros all together and that would suck for me because i think i love sticks the most of all the corals (pearlberry, rr pink floyd, snipers blue lagoon, red planet, pink lemonade just to mention a fraction of the sticks i have lost over the short time i have been reefing. i have wasted thousands on corals and as much as my wife would love nothing more than to see me hang it up all together,i really have a hard time accepting failure...its not in my nature but i feel like giving up on acros and hard corals is just the beginning of giving up completely.
thanks again for any assistance you can provide
i will bump my alk up though because i have read alot of things from other reefers that say they keep thier alk around 10 for better acro health (always heard before that 10 was a bit high so i worked hard to get it down to 8-9 but since they arent doing well with that anymore i will pretty much try anything. thanks
