should i be nervous about changing my radion led light schedule?

crustytheclown

Bat Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#1
I am running the radiant color program at 55% from 3pm to 11:30 pm and ive been running it for about 1 yr now. I have mostly lps and zoanthids. Is this a solid lighting program or just an aesthetically pleasing
"show off" mode? I feel like my corals arent really growing but just staying the same. The program is a bit blue with red and green leds on, which ive heard can cause problems with nuisance algae. I am wanting to move onto a 20k mode or a program from the ecotech coral lab but im nervous to change it. If im not switching intensity is it safe to play around with different pre programmed lighting schedules from ecotech?
what are your thoughts
 

zombie

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#2
Changing spectrum won't shock your corals but should help with algae some (don't expect much though. If you have algae even with a 6700k light, the root problem is still overfeeding, not enough WC, poor skimming, etc.)

If you change intensity, that should be done in stages no more than 10% per day. 55% sounds a bit small unless your radion is covering 1/2 the recommended footprint area (or 3/4 the footprint dimensions). If you are getting poor growth, intensity is more likely the culprit than spectrum. Spectrum problems usually manifest as coral color losing its luster.

I would bump up your intensity 5 or 10% every couple of days until you notice a single coral starting to bleach a little bit and then back off 5% from where it was when you saw bleaching. Or you can borrow the Par meter (there is a thread on here for that) and dial the target value with that and then bump up 5-10% per day to reach the target value.

You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.
 

Andrew_bram

Tiger Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#3
I just switched my hydras to a clone of the radion aqua blue special light cycle and I have definitely seen a difference in every one of my sps.

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static reef

SCMAS Board Members
S.C.M.A.S BOD
#4
I agree with zombie hands down. I have my 3 pros at 78% over my 300dd (i do have additional led strip lighting) and I am still ramping up to 84% after 6 months of slowly raising the intensity. However, I strongly recommend going slower than 10% a day. I have increased 2% every 3 weeks. I have seen a pleasant increase in growth, color and thickness in my SPS. You won't regret the increase.

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crustytheclown

Bat Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#5
Ok. Great. I am wanting to experiment with different spectrums and see which one works for me. Could I reduce the red and greens in the spectrum or would that harm the corals?

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zombie

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#6
Those should be low. Ideally you want a spectrum similar to 20k for best color and the least possible amount of algae in the display vs refugium. Blues should be highest and even 100% blue shouldn't bleach coral. UV should also be fairly high. Whites should be just high enough to get 20k spectrum. Red and green should be small and are really only there to supplement the missing gaps in the white and blue spectrum.

You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.
 
#7
I ran the coral lab for a while before switching to the 20 k setting when I swapped my tank to the 75g. I just switched with no I'll effects. I run my pro g3s lights at less then 40% or else I start to fry things. I measure 350-400 par at my highest coral point.
 
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