Lighting question

Siebo

Siebo

Premium member
I have a 29 gal mixed reef. I have a 346 watt lighting system. The MH light is a 250 watt HQI, Phoenix 14K bulb. The remaining 96 watts are Actinic HO T5. The MH bulb is about 10 months old and I am starting to see some bleaching in my SPS and red mushrooms. I assume this means it is time to change the bulb? None of the parameters have changed in the tank. I test all the time. I saw similar bleaching when I first got the light and it had a 10K MH bulb and I changed it to a better bulb and the bleaching stopped

The lighting cycle I have used is:
7am actinic's turn on
10am the MH turns on
10:15 am Actinics turn off
MH runs by is self all day
5:45 Actinic's turn back on
6pm the MH turns off
8pm Actinic's turn off

twilight led run all night

Also, IYO should I leave the actinic's on all day too.


Thanks in advance!
 
That is waaaaaaay too much light for that size tank. I run a 250 MH + T5 on a 24" deep 70 gallon full blown SPS display and still get some bleaching towards the top if I don't acclimate properly.

I would cut down your MH lighting to only 5 hours a day and see how that goes.

This is my light sched:
11am T5 on
1pm MH on
8pm MH off
10 T5 off

Yes, its time to replace that bulb. I find phoenix bulbs shift color spectrum sooner than others. I would go with more of a 20k bulb, so you get better color and less power than the phoenix.
 
Thanks Poidog, I know it is a lot of light and I need to be very careful when I acclimate anything. I will dial back the time. Should I run the Actinic T5's with the MH? Currently I don't.


poidog said:
That is waaaaaaay too much light for that size tank. I run a 250 MH + T5 on a 24" deep 70 gallon full blown SPS display and still get some bleaching towards the top if I don't acclimate properly.

I would cut down your MH lighting to only 5 hours a day and see how that goes.

This is my light sched:
11am T5 on
1pm MH on
8pm MH off
10 T5 off

Yes, its time to replace that bulb. I find phoenix bulbs shift color spectrum sooner than others. I would go with more of a 20k bulb, so you get better color and less power than the phoenix.
Click to expand...
 
If you're not running the T5 now and you're having bleaching issues then I wouldn't start right now. Once you cut your MH hours back and your corals heal you could try running them all at once. You'll notice better coloration when the actinics are supplementing the MH.
 
Yep, what Eric the Red said.

Get a 20k bulb so it's not so powerful and rais the light up if you can. 8" is very close with a phoenix bulb.

Having your T5s on while the MH is on will supplement color, but it also pushes more light in which you don't need now. Try a Ushio 20k or an XM 20k. Those two have nice color with less PAR (ushio more PAR than the XM). See how they look bulb alone and you may not have to have you T5s on to supplement at all then. Phoenix is a very white bulb, and I don't care for it at all.
 
Thanks for your help guys! I bought the bigger light with plans of getting a bigger tank. That is in the works.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top