Lighting - HELP!!!

[Rossim2i2]

So I really screwed up with the lighting.... Knowing how picky and analytical I get over things (and that it puts me way over budget), my wife and I agreed to give a LFS a set budget(ish) and have him work on getting the gear we needed for our tank. I have to say I'm quite happy with everything they picked for us. In hindsight there are a few things I wish I did differently, but it would have cost a LOT more lol.

So the lighting... Our initial plan was to set it up as a FOWLR and eventually move into corals. So we got all the equipment to be reef ready when we were ready to upgrade the lights, which we knew we went cheap on to keep the budget down. We have the Finnex Marine 247 SE. It only puts out 46 watts and has some nice features. However, I'm super impatient and was told that I could keep some hardy softies if I kept them high enough in the tank. So now I have some small frags of leathers, GSP and a Xenia Tree.

I moved the GSP to an island on the sand bed as I read the horror stories of it taking over tanks. But now they are turning from green to brown. I want to upgrade the lights so I can keep softies and LPS and not break the bank (or have my wife kill me). Its a 75 gallon, four feet wide. Any suggestions?

 

[Wilson]

See if you can get your hands on a par meter, that'll give you a better understanding what you can grow with your lights. Corals browning could be a variety of things, lights just being one of them.

 

[Wilson]

Sorry, double post.

 

[CosmicMan]

So I really screwed up with the lighting.... Knowing how picky and analytical I get over things (and that it puts me way over budget), my wife and I agreed to give a LFS a set budget(ish) and have him work on getting the gear we needed for our tank. I have to say I'm quite happy with everything they picked for us. In hindsight there are a few things I wish I did differently, but it would have cost a LOT more lol.

So the lighting... Our initial plan was to set it up as a FOWLR and eventually move into corals. So we got all the equipment to be reef ready when we were ready to upgrade the lights, which we knew we went cheap on to keep the budget down. We have the Finnex Marine 247 SE. It only puts out 46 watts and has some nice features. However, I'm super impatient and was told that I could keep some hardy softies if I kept them high enough in the tank. So now I have some small frags of leathers, GSP and a Xenia Tree.

I moved the GSP to an island on the sand bed as I read the horror stories of it taking over tanks. But now they are turning from green to brown. I want to upgrade the lights so I can keep softies and LPS and not break the bank (or have my wife kill me). Its a 75 gallon, four feet wide. Any suggestions?

2 of these maybe? Viparspectra is recommended a lot. I have a pair of them myself but don’t have any corals yet.

https://www.amazon.com/VIPARSPECTRA-Control-Dimmable-Aquarium-Spectrum/dp/B07SHR6HW1/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=viparspectra+reef+light&qid=1595372812&sprefix=viparapectra+reef&sr=8-3

 

[Rossim2i2]

No worries. I can see if my LFS has one they rent out. Phosphates are a little high (.45 but have phos-guard running now). All other parameters were just checked and came back good.

 

[Foxchase]

Viparspectra are good budget lights if you're looking to upgrade

 

[Rossim2i2]

Yeah. The Viparspectra keep coming up on all my forum searches as well. Sounds like for a four foot tank two 165s would be better than one 300, right?

 

[CosmicMan]

Yeah. The Viparspectra keep coming up on all my forum searches as well. Sounds like for a four foot tank two 165s would be better than one 300, right?

If you look at the amazon post there is a chart for what they recommend for your size tank. I think they recommend two 165 for yours. One thing I don’t like about having two is that sometimes the clocks start to get out of sync after a few weeks by a couple seconds. Easy to recalibrate though.

 

[Rossim2i2]

I actually just saw that. Looking at YouTube videos on them now. Do you need a controller to ramp up and down the intensity (dawn/dusk) or can that be done through the lighting system itself?

 

[CosmicMan]

I actually just saw that. Looking at YouTube videos on them now. Do you need a controller to ramp up and down the intensity (dawn/dusk) or can that be done through the lighting system itself?

There is only two on off settings for scheduling your blue and white lights. No slow ramp up/down settings. Not sure about controllers that do that.

 

[Mark_C]

I moved the GSP to an island on the sand bed as I read the horror stories of it taking over tanks.

Move the Xenia as well. They're potentially more invasive and much harder to remove than GSP.
This is 3 average small frags of Xenia in a 40b after 2 years (it was done intentionally)...


Friendly FYI regarding ramping the lights - it doesn't matter to the coral or fish in the least, its more an aesthetic for us.

 

[Salted]

I actually just saw that. Looking at YouTube videos on them now. Do you need a controller to ramp up and down the intensity (dawn/dusk) or can that be done through the lighting system itself?

Mike, my son and I are going through the same thing. Feel free to shoot me a pm. Drop by for a beer if you're so inclined, check out what we have and bs about lights. We have, I think, similar setups and goals.

 

[Rossim2i2]

Move the Xenia as well. They're potentially more invasive and much harder to remove than GSP.
This is 3 average small frags of Xenia in a 40b after 2 years (it was done intentionally)...

WOW! Yeah, it has already grown a lot since I got it. But don’t they drop a branch it it kinda free swims until it attaches elsewhere? I’m worried about it taking over but don’t want to get rid of it either...