Radion LED and SPS Corals

[bucfan]

So I have been running my Radions with my own custom program for 9 months above my 100g tank. I have a BB tank with a small fuge and great skimmer. I feed heavy and skim heavy plus run a bp reactor. Lights sit 6-7 inches above water and tank is 23 inches deep. I have a mixed reef and most zoas/leather/softies do well. I have few LPS too and some do well and some do not. Among the SPS most of them look discolored or pale. Colors do not look like they should in most instances. Around 6 weeks back I downloaded the 16 hour program from Ecotech's site and installed those in my tank. I did reduce the intensity to 35% given my lights sit closer to the water. I was hoping by doing this I would turn around the discolored SPS/LPS. However that has not made a difference. So I am not sure where the problem lies. I have read that SPS do not do as well under LEDs as under T5/MH but then there are users whose tanks look great with LEDs. Is it that the corals are not getting enough light or getting too much light? Should I increase the intensity on the lights to 45% and see what happens? I really need some help to get my SPS going or my tank will be taken over by my zoas/palys.

 

[Joker79]

Perhaps they may not be getting enough light? I've heard led users with sps using about 65%. That seems to be a magic number.

 

[-Logzor]

If you're sps were not getting enough light, their zoox density would increase, browning them out. Unless other circumstances are causing them to lighten, I wouldn't think that too little light is the issue.

 

[mcarroll]

Download a free lux meter app if you have a smartphone (or buy one off eBay or dhgate for $10-$15) and see what your peak readings are and how big/small your peak area is. (Having your fixture lower reduces coverage. What lenses does your light have?) I'm thinking you should be able to get the meter to around 75,000 lux over a good portion of the water surface if you want to keep most SPS happy.

Also remember water chemistry factors can have a big impact as well. Test or re-test all your parameters, if possible double check your results w/another kit or the LFS. Alk in particular.

Good luck!

-Matt


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[bucfan]

I have theTIR lenses installed. Have checked my parameters and confirmed with lfs. They are spot on.

 

[powdermonkey]

Do you have any nitrates/phosphates in the tank? Are you lacking certain colors or all? I have the gen1 with the TIR lenses and been running them for over a year. I have a 180 with 3 lamps about 8" off the surface and run mine at 90% if I remember correctly. I dont feel like I get as good of color as I did when I ran MH/t-5 combo but my colors are definitely there. My blues/purples are probably the best and reds the worst. I do not have any zoas but I do have a few brains on the bottom. Most of my chalices are on the bottom or slightly shaded except for one. Also when my tank had undetectable nitrate/phosphate my lps looked awful. JME, hopefully others will tell you how they are succeeding with theirs and you can decide on the best course of action.

 

[bucfan]

NO are ~ 15 ppm
PO are 0.4 ppm
I wonder if my corals need more lights
Now that you mention mostly my greens are fading away

 

[mcarroll]

I have theTIR lenses installed. Have checked my parameters and confirmed with lfs. They are spot on.

Any idea what degree the lenses are rated? (E.g. 90°, 40°, etc)

-Matt


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[ghostman]

While I have a hatred of radion lights, I think your parameters are not good. Nitrate of 15, and PO4 of 0.4 most certainly would cause SPS problems. I'd get those parameter in check before looking at the lighting. Btw, what radions do you have G1,G2, or Pro?

 

[bucfan]

While I have a hatred of radion lights, I think your parameters are not good. Nitrate of 15, and PO4 of 0.4 most certainly would cause SPS problems. I'd get those parameter in check before looking at the lighting. Btw, what radions do you have G1,G2, or Pro?

Sorry, my NO are 0.15 not 15. I have G1 Radions and upgraded the lenses with TIR.

 

[ronnie]

PO4 of .4 will not work either.

What test kit are you using that reads nitrates down to .15?

 

[mcarroll]

What does G1/TIR mean in terms of watts and lens angle, if you know?

I think ronnie is into something with the nutrients and testing. +1!

-Matt


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[bucfan]

Maybe I'm not reading the NO test right. I use Salifert and get the second from highest when I look through the side so divide that by 100.

Don't know what the angle is on the lens. Looked at Ecotech website but there's no info.

 

[LILBUDDHA]

I have a Buddy with g1 radions .He has one Sps stick in there and its
Doing great .Nice green with blue tips .His lps n z n p's are the best I have seen .His phos can get as high as .14 .He does 20% water changes bi-weekly.
I really don't think think the phos n nitrate r n issue .
Just a thought .
I would look for a lack of potassium or elements being stripped by the reactor .I would increase or double the water changes to see if this helps . Not sure how much is being changed ..
EG ...I would try 10% every two weeks . As opposed to 10 % per month .
Or 20% ...


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[ronnie]

I have a Buddy with g1 radions .He has one Sps stick in there and its
Doing great .Nice green with blue tips .His lps n z n p's are the best I have seen .His phos can get as high as .14 .He does 20% water changes bi-weekly.
I really don't think think the phos n nitrate r n issue .
Just a thought .
I would look for a lack of potassium or elements being stripped by the reactor .I would increase or double the water changes to see if this helps . Not sure how much is being changed ..
EG ...I would try 10% every two weeks . As opposed to 10 % per month .
Or 20% ...


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phosphates at .14 are maybe ok for a select few sticks. Phosphates of .4 are not for any sticks.

 

[watdachuck]

My two cents here as I have only been using the new Radion XR30w Pro for a couple weeks now. Ecotech recommends at least 8" of separation between the lamps and the water surface. I have been running my fixture on a 9 hour cycle at 90% intensity and the SPS corals seem to be responding great (20" tank depth - most SPS halfway up or higher). That intensity really only lasts about 7 hours however, since there is a 1 hour sunrise period and 1 hour sunset period on either end of the cycle. For what its worth...

 

[mcarroll]

Don't know what the angle is on the lens. Looked at Ecotech website but there's no info.

They seem to have gone out of their way to conceal some fairly basic and essential info. Sadly for my time I tried looking too.

Assuming they are in the vicinity of 90°'s I think you'll need at lest 7"-9" to the water surface to get good coverage if the tank is about 18" front to back. If the fixture is in the 150-watt range, your goal is bright light corals and tank is at least ~24" deep I wouldn't be surprised if you could slowly work your way to 100% power for at least a few hours per day, or close to it. (No need to go brighter than your corals need, however…so ramping up slowly is smart.)

-Matt


P.S. I would also bump up the water change schedule for at least a few changes. 20% per week if you can swing it. 10% per day would even work great and could get positive results faster. I know wc's are a pain...

 

[jservedio]

If your SPS aren't colored up and you are using Radions (G1, G2, or PRO) it isn't the lights fault at all - there is something else going on entirely. If your Alkalinity isn't stable within 0.3dkh daily (preferably less), your pH swings more than .1 or .15 or so, your Nitrates are above 0.25ppm, or your phosphates are anything at all, you aren't going to keep your SPS colored the way they look photographed from places like Unique Corals, or Cherry Corals, or wherever you get them. Keeping SPS alive is easy, getting them to get those stunning colors is an entirely different ball game.

Keep working on getting your conditions more stable and get rid of those phosphates, and you will start seeing better color. Don't but a PAR meter or any light meter - with the height of your LEDs and the depth of your tank, you will need your intensity to peak around ~65-70% - but need to acclimate to that over a very long time. Basically, you want them as bright as possible without killing off or discoloring your LPS. Also - if your lights aren't at at 16k - 20k color temperature, you won't get the best coloring either. While colors won't be dull or ugly at 10-14k, they will never look as good or be as intense as 20k lighting.

I use the Radion Pros on my tank (16" deep - hung 12" above water) and mine are only at 35% right now and I am having absolutely no problems with coloring at all. Stable conditions are what you need. Don't worry about dosing anything silly besides Alk, Ca, and Mg either (unless you test for it - like strontium and iodine) - all those additives aren't going to give you color if your tank isn't stable enough for it in the first place.

 

[jservedio]

My two cents here as I have only been using the new Radion XR30w Pro for a couple weeks now. Ecotech recommends at least 8" of separation between the lamps and the water surface. I have been running my fixture on a 9 hour cycle at 90% intensity and the SPS corals seem to be responding great (20" tank depth - most SPS halfway up or higher). That intensity really only lasts about 7 hours however, since there is a 1 hour sunrise period and 1 hour sunset period on either end of the cycle. For what its worth...

I run the Pros as well and if you are starting out that intense and have anything but SPS, you are going to burn it. If you have LPS, they are going to burn at that intensity without a LONG acclimatization. Even the most demanding SPS will have no problem living and keeping color under 40% or so in your 20" tank even at the sand. You should be taking at least 2 or 3 months to get your intensity that high if you plan on having anything but SPS in the tank.

 

[Jay6363]

I used to run my g1 no Tirs over my 30 gal biocube at 100% all channels for about 4 hrs a day with ramp up and ramp downs total run time 10 hrs. My sps loved it.

So the pic gives u an idea of the par levels of a much deeper tank. But my point is as stated above u need to get ur water parameters worked out I'm having similar issues. Then look at ur light, I think since it's a g1 u can run ur intensity much higher ( acclimate very slow) and u will have added success.
First comes water quality above all.


I switched to the pro and I run them at 35% as well. But it is by far much more powerful! Good luck post some pics


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