SPS tank with Viparspectra

[rgulrich]

Here's a green acropora from 26May20:

From 24July20:

And tonight as the lights were going out (hence the blue saturation...sorry), 15October20:

I run six ViparSpectra over my 300, perpindicular to the back. A 165W on each end and four 300W. I supplement these with six Kessil A360WE mainly because I love the appearance with the Kessils. I removed the lenses from the LEDs, and fixed an acrylic diffuser lens (with neodymium magnets) to further combine the LEDs output.

This is my lighting array over the 300, shown quite a bit brighter in my amazing cell phone photo:

And my PAR values (I was comparing a couple PAR meters here, so read left two numbers as Apogee MQ510 as ViparSpectra, ViparSpectra + Kessils / and then BTM3000 as ViparSpectra, ViparSpectra + Kessils) :

with sample locations:

Height above the frame is about 5 1/2", or about 7" above the water line.
The important part: the lights were set at 40% Blues and 20% Whites for this measurement. I cannot overemphasize the importance of borrowing a PAR meter (or buying) and using it to set up lighting so you don't cook a bunch of coral. Please, I've bleached too many by not doing that when I swapped out the lights;Blackeye.

I'll provide you a few more acro growth shots in the next post.
Cheers,
Ray

 

[rgulrich]

Here's a few more acro shots from this year:
26April20:

11September20:

11September20:

09August20:

11September20

11September20:

11September20:

And just because acropora isn't the only thing I need the light for in the reef:
26Apr20:

and

These two have nearly doubled in size to:
12October20:

and (incidental in this picture, the T. Squamosa is to the right)

...and they have some more company, too!

I hope this helps reassure you that yes, indeed, you can grow SPS, LPS, and many other things using these LEDs. Just use a PAR meter to set them up, and make any adjustments or changes for a specific reason ("I want to grow acropora on the bottom of the aquarium" or "I want to keep T. maxima or T. crocea on the bottom") and adjust your reef accordingly.

Cheers,
Ray

 

[Gernader]

How far off the tank do you have the lights?

It’s 12” above the water. My SPS are doing great!