Hi, I have been the hobby for almost a year I have a 90gal mixed reef with ap700 light. I am finding that par at low ranges with longer peak times seems to be about the same as higher par with lower peak times. I run my tank at a whiter spectrum at about 40% intensity for 5 hours and then go to darker blues at about 36% for a total of 12 hours ramp up and down included. My par is like 135 in the bottom under lamps but off to the sides, it drops till about 25. Just not sure if it would be better to ramp up the intensity but lower the peak time? Can anyone more experienced comment and let me know what you think?
tank lighting intensity and time
- Thread starter gearhead
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Flippers4pups
Fins up since 1993
Typical light exposure on a ocean reef max intensity would be around 4-6 hours. 8-10 hours total exposure would be suffice. Most corals do well with 200-250 par, especially SPS. Corals exposed to high par ranges may shut down (refered as photo inhibition) and stop growing till the intensity goes down.
