New reefer with a par meter. Par questions

[Schulks]

I rented a par meter from my LFS and am trying to nail down a lighting schedule for my new LPS/softie 22.4g cube build. am hoping to sneak a piece or 2 of SPS up top.

My lights are a 12" AI blade Glow and a Kessil a80.
I have tuned them to have about 100-120 at the sand bed, 115-125 on the middle shelf, 150-165 on the top shelf, and the arch above the top shelf reaches about 200+ish
I am going for 12 hours of lighting. I was thinking 4 hours in the middle or end I will switch the a80 to full white for viewing/fun and the other 6 hours with normal blue for growing. At the end I will shut down the a80 for the ramp down period.

EDIT: Adjusted Par totals some

 

[blaxsun]

Most LPS do great in the 125-175 PAR range. SPS need a minimum of 200 PAR and up.

 

[Gtinnel]

I was thinking 4 hours in the middle or end I will switch the a80 to full white for viewing/fun and the other 6 hours with normal blue for growing.

Different people prefer the looks of corals at different spectrums, but IMO the more fun time to look at the corals is under all blue. That is when they fluoresce with colors that are really bright. It may not be the most realistic color representation but it does make them prettier.

 

[Schulks]

@Gtinnel
corals will certainly look better in blue but i've only kept fish and they look better in white xP.

Buut I think the clarity of white light is worth it so I can see any injuries or diseases better for a few hours a day. I also want everyone in the house to enjoy the tank in different lights.

It will be solid blue 7 hours and white for 4 hours.
solid blue = lower PAR picture = 6 hours +1 hour ramp down
blue/white mix = higher PAR picture = 4 hours

 

[acrojunkie]

I rented a par meter from my LFS and am trying to nail down a lighting schedule for my new LPS/softie 22.4g cube build. am hoping to sneak a piece or 2 of SPS up top.

My lights are a 12" AI blade Glow and a Kessil a80.
I have tuned them to have about 100-120 at the sand bed, 115-125 on the middle shelf, 150-165 on the top shelf, and the arch above the top shelf reaches about 200+ish
I am going for 12 hours of lighting. I was thinking 4 hours in the middle or end I will switch the a80 to full white for viewing/fun and the other 6 hours with normal blue for growing. At the end I will shut down the a80 for the ramp down period.

View attachment 3091493View attachment 3091494

EDIT: Adjusted Par totals some

The 200-350 par range for the sps, you can always by a small cheap sps frag and see how it does or reposition the light further towards the back. I am not familiar with the AI Glow and if its intensity can be adjusted or not.

 

[Schulks]

Are these numbers good for these corals?

Chalices
Favia
Frogspawn/hammers
Zoas
It is a 22gallon tank. Is this a good idea or bad idea? What other corals could go in?
Maybe sneak some mushrooms and other lower light/flow things under the arches or along the left of the rockwork.

Peak white is ran for 3 hours peak blue is ran for 7 hours.

 

[Schulks]

Perhaps I should try to tune down the par at the sand bed level? Will it burn chalices/favia?

edit:
here is the kessil turned down some to try and reduce par at sandbed
Does this look better for an LPS tank like this?

 

[Schulks]

@acrojunkie
The glow can be tuned down but only 3 sliders 'uv', violet, and blue. I might try and find a lower light SPS to stick on the arch up there. The par rises really quick near the surface.

 

[kdogginz]

Hey there, I have similar par readings in my tank using the apogee 510/520 and have had good results. My sandbed has a range of 70-130par, mid rock work is about 100-150, top rock work goes from 150-250ish. I have my acans, favias, blastos in the lower par on the sandbed at 80-100 and they do well. My chalices are kept between 100-130ish on the sandbed and lower rock shelfs. I have different mushrooms in shade and others at 130 par so it depends on what they like really. I have torches in 150-200par and hammers a little lower than that. Zoas have a pretty wide range but I typically keep them at 100-150, with some thriving at 200+ par. Some lower light montis are kept at 120-150 while my acros are at the peak of my rocks right under the lights at 250ish.

I would say that the most recent par readings look good to me. Start there and go up or down depending on how the corals react. My schedule runs for 7hrs with 50-70% violets/blues and 20% whites, then 3hrs without whites, with a hour ramp on either end.