SPS lighting inquiry

[REEFRIED!]

I have a 120 with two Atlantik icons. When is tested par I got 550+ at the tops of some of my scape. About 120-ish in the middle on the sand and about a 300-400 average throughout the tank. I then was running 50% channel two and 25% channel one. I have since lowered the white channels to about half of that and acros look great. The total color at peak is similar to 18-20k Here is my program. Originally I went crazy with the programming. Now I just set my percentages and three time points. On, middle/peak, and off. All the channels slowly ramp up to their set percentages and ramp down together. Super easy.

 

[Troylee]

Halides and I hit 1000 just under the water line.. 12” down I’m 350 to 500+ sand bed 150 to 250

 

[bobnicaragua]

I’m running everything! 12 hrs LED, 8 hrs T5, & 4 hrs halide.
Early and late LED is very weak, just for viewing. 300 par on the sanded during peak.

 

[BAMatter]

I have a 120 with two Atlantik icons. When is tested par I got 550+ at the tops of some of my scape. About 120-ish in the middle on the sand and about a 300-400 average throughout the tank. I then was running 50% channel two and 25% channel one. I have since lowered the white channels to about half of that and acros look great. The total color at peak is similar to 18-20k Here is my program. Originally I went crazy with the programming. Now I just set my percentages and three time points. On, middle/peak, and off. All the channels slowly ramp up to their set percentages and ramp down together. Super easy.

Halides and I hit 1000 just under the water line.. 12” down I’m 350 to 500+ sand bed 150 to 250

I’m running everything! 12 hrs LED, 8 hrs T5, & 4 hrs halide.
Early and late LED is very weak, just for viewing. 400 par on the sanded during peak.

Looks like I’m going to end up turning the percentages up til I get higher numbers. This is my first SPS dominant tank, and haven’t really looked into how much PAR I should be hitting these corals with. I think I’m going to slowly, like 1-2% a day get closer to 400-450 by the top of the scape. I’d really like to be able to grow sticks anywhere in the tank…

 

[CivicS14]

320-350 PAR at my highest acros, which is about 6" below the surface and then 100-150 PAR at the sandbed. This is a 24" tank.

Here is a clip I made a few days of the tank. Yes, everything was grown from frags.

 

[BAMatter]

320-350 PAR at my highest acros, which is about 6" below the surface and then 100-150 PAR at the sandbed. This is a 24" tank.

Here is a clip I made a few days of the tank. Yes, everything was grown from frags.

Thank you… I am turning my lights up to hit the 300-350 mark at mid-tank level. Bumping up my settings 2% a day until I’m there.

 

[CivicS14]

Thank you… I am turning my lights up to hit the 300-350 mark at mid-tank level. Bumping up my settings 2% a day until I’m there.

Personally, I didn't see any difference with higher PAR other than a higher electricity bill. This has always been my experience even with my last acro tank.

 

[Sdot]

Hey Fam, I'm late to the party, but here is my contribution: I also run Orphek Icons; they are retrofitted from the V4's. They are the 'Sky,' peaking around 65%. My Kessil A500X's, 'The Sun,' has a 30-minute ramp to 100% and ramps down to off, 45 minutes before the Orpheks. I run extremely high PAR on my tank. At 7 or 8 inches down, they peak around 600 PAR, maybe a tad more, and on the bottom, I'm around 200 to 250. My goal was to be able to grow SPS corals anywhere in the tank. I also provide a lot of flow; right now, I'm turning over 137 times the system volume. I love the colors that I'm getting, but it's important to maintain nutrients; otherwise, things can go bad quickly.

FYI I'm horrible at taking pix and video's. I still need to see what settings on my phone work best. Although most of the below images, has a very blue tint to them... the tank has a crisp blue look.... I guess similar to a 14k Metal Halide bulb.

"Sun going down" Evening ramp down

"Flow"