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Lighting


SuP3rMaN0814

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So I am running a Hipargero Aqua Knight on my 10 gal.  I am wondering if I should upgrade it to one that will follow a light cycle.  I have it on a timer to turn on and off but it won’t let me turn the blue and white channels separately.  If I should upgrade what is a good light that is under $150?  

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Just my $0.02, no documented research or even serious research done...

I don't know that the lighting cycle has any effect whatsoever on corals. I've not seen anything positive or negative with my coral since moving to LEDs and programming a sunrise/sunset, playing with cloud coverage and thunderstorms, or having separate channels to adjust. That said, I do think my fish appreciate the sunrrise/sunset as it isn't a jolt of light to their eyelid-less eyes. I do enjoy the look in the morning and evening when only the blues are on, and the sunrise/sunset cycles, but I think that is just my personal taste as I do like to tinker. Sometimes it's fun to have friends over and run a cloud/thunderstorm, but the coral or fish don't seem to respond in any way whatsoever to those settings. 

 

That said, I know that the spectrum of the lights have a LOT to do with how well the corals grow and color. If the light you have has a good spectrum and your coral aren't showing any signs of lacking photosynthetic nutrient, I'd say leave it be. But if you notice your coral aren't growing or changing colors (and have tested other levels, alk, ca, mag, no3, po4, etc), or you just WANT something a little nicer with more options, then I say go for it. Remember though that if you get a new light you'll have an adjustment period to get your corals acclimated to it. So be careful if you do and don't burn your coral when first changing over. 

If you're looking for something in that price range, I think Alan still has his Orphek pendants for sale. They'd be overkill for a 10gal, but you could set them really low, which would let them run cooler and help them last longer. And you'd have a backup as you'd only want to put 1 over your tank, or an upgrade in the closet for when you move to a larger tank. 

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I talked to him about the pendants already.  He agreed that they would be overkill lol.  Everything seems to be doing well so I will probably let it be for now.  My alk and mag are high and my calcium is low (been dosing with ESV B-Ionic but stopped since the alk was high) so I’m trying to figure that situation out too lol.  Trying not the be the new guy that asks too many questions lol. 

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Not an upgrade in my opinion...more like a lateral really.  The light you have should be 30 watts...which is 3x the size of a 10g.  Add a wall timer if you dont have one already and would be suffice for anything you should wanna grow.

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So I have a WiFi timer that I can control from my phone.  I really just want something that will do a dawn to dusk type setting.   I may wait a bit and see if I can’t find a used AI prime down the road.   I would bite the bullet and just do that one just not sure I want to spend $250 on a light lol.  

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https://premiumaquatics.com/products/micmol-g3-aqua-mini-marine-led-open-box-return.html

 

What about a mic mol?  It's a bit overkill but could be ran under 50% and is ran off of an app you download.  It's also discounted at INDMAS's first sponsor 

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So I went ahead and did the micmol from premium.   I am assuming that to run it lower I would take the values they have recommended in the manual and cut them in half?  Also is it better for the coral to run 15k or 20k?  Thanks again for everyone’s help and suggestions!  

C5322294-8633-4F21-B3FC-E3F5644C79A0.jpeg

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