Recommended XR15 intensity for 18" deep tank?

Larry L · Apr 3, 2016

Hi -

Just curious what intensity levels and photoperiod people are using with XR15s over an 18" deep tank (like a 50 breeder). I'm using the standard mounting arms, so about 9" above the water surface, and the top of the sandbed is about 15" below water surface. I'm also using the 80 degree lenses, not the 120 degree lenses.

Thanks!
Larry

Ann_A · Apr 5, 2016

I was running a pair of XR15s over my RSM250 with the 120 degree lenses on and I couldn't really push them past about 20-25% before my corals got unhappy. They were about 22 inches above the bottom of the tank.

Staggs · Apr 5, 2016

Ann_A said:
I was running a pair of XR15s over my RSM250 with the 120 degree lenses on and I couldn't really push them past about 20-25% before my corals got unhappy. They were about 22 inches above the bottom of the tank.

What are you running now?

I have two xr15 pro's running over a 48x20x21 using wide angles (around 30" from bottom of tank give or take an inch) and I'm running the ecotech lps schedule running around 50%

Ann_A · Apr 5, 2016

Staggs said:
What are you running now?

I have two xr15 pro's running over a 48x20x21 using wide angles (around 30" from bottom of tank give or take an inch) and I'm running the ecotech lps schedule running around 50%

I upgraded to a 4ft 150 gallon (48x24x30). I'm running the two XR15s about 14 inches above the water mounted in the top of my canopy. They're running a schedule that maxes out at about 65% overall intensity. I'm still running the wide angle lenses but am considering switching them because the lights are high enough I could avoid most of the issue with coverage but I could drop the intensity I'm running them at.

My programming via Apex Fusion is the following:

tdata 00:00:00,0,0,3,0,0,33,100,0,0,0,0,0,0
tdata 06:30:00,0,0,3,0,0,33,100,0,0,0,0,0,0
tdata 09:00:00,0,0,65,45,45,100,100,100,65,0,0,0,0
tdata 18:30:00,0,0,65,45,45,100,100,100,65,0,0,0,0
tdata 21:00:00,0,0,3,0,0,33,100,22,0,0,0,0,0
tdata 22:30:00,0,0,3,0,0,33,100,0,0,0,0,0,0

This can be interpreted as the following intensities at specific times:

Time: 00:00:00 (Midnight)
Overall Intensity: 3%
Blue Intensity: 33% (actually ~1%)
Royal Blue Intensity: 100% (actually 3%)

Time: 06:30:00 (6:30am)
Overall Intensity: 3%
Red Intensity: 0
Green Intensity: 0
Blue Intensity: 33% (actually ~1%)
Royal Blue Intensity: 100% (actually 3%)
UV Intensity: 0
White Intensity: 0

Time: 09:00:00 (9:00am)
Overall Intensity: 65%
Red Intensity: 45% (actually ~30%)
Green Intensity: 45% (actually ~30%)
Blue Intensity: 100% (actually 65%)
Royal Blue Intensity: 100% (actually 65%)
UV Intensity: 100% (actually 65%)
White Intensity: 65% (actually ~43%)

Time: 18:30:00 (6:30pm)
Overall Intensity: 65%
Red Intensity: 45% (actually ~30%)
Green Intensity: 45% (actually ~30%)
Blue Intensity: 100% (actually 65%)
Royal Blue Intensity: 100% (actually 65%)
UV Intensity: 100% (actually 65%)
White Intensity: 65% (actually ~43%)

Time: 21:00:00 (9:00pm)
Overall Intensity: 3%
Red Intensity: 0
Green Intensity: 0
Blue Intensity: 33% (actually ~1%)
Royal Blue Intensity: 100% (actually 3%)
UV Intensity: 22% (actually ~0.6%)
White Intensity: 0

Time: 22:30:00 (10:30pm)
Overall Intensity: 3%
Red Intensity: 0
Green Intensity: 0
Blue Intensity: 33% (actually ~1%)
Royal Blue Intensity: 100% (actually 3%)
UV Intensity: 0
White Intensity: 0

Larry L · Apr 5, 2016

Ann_A said:
I was running a pair of XR15s over my RSM250 with the 120 degree lenses on and I couldn't really push them past about 20-25% before my corals got unhappy. They were about 22 inches above the bottom of the tank.

Wow, thanks, good to know. I have been running mine about 35-40% and have been having trouble with bleaching of my acros and montis. And that's with the 80 degree lenses, so I might need to go even lower than 25% since the light is more concentrated.

Staggs · Apr 5, 2016

Nice! I thought i had a bit to much shadowing in the middle and on the outsides with the standard lenses, but I'm using the RMS mounts so they are at only 8" or 9" above the water (can't ever remember which it is).