Suggestions for Supplemental lighting for T247s

[Dominican]

%Hi all, 

I have 3 new OR T247s on my 150 display (softies,  LF and inverts), and am just getting back to keeping SPS after a long stretch. Way back I ran T5s and would get tons of coraline and SPS growth. For this new round, I'm not seeing much coraline growth for the few months running T247s at 65%-blue (11hrs), 35%-white (9hrs), and would like to supplement T5 or something in anticipation of increasing the SPS load. The few SPS I have so far were only added a few weeks ago, and seem to be happy and stable. Too soon to tell growth rate, but because of the fact that can't tell yet, I'm thinking growth might be slow. Ca is at 420 and I'm struggling a bit to bring down an Alk of 12Dkh, which I'm sure is a contributor.

Any suggestions for supplemental light strips to go with the T247 setup? I haven't changed out any leds on these units, though I was tempted by FarmerTy's setup! I'm trying to avoid opening that pandora's box, because I know I'll geek-out and spend a bunch of time on it. lol.

[FarmerTy]

%Hi all, 
I have 3 new OR T247s on my 150 display (softies,  LF and inverts), and am just getting back to keeping SPS after a long stretch. Way back I ran T5s and would get tons of coraline and SPS growth. For this new round, I'm not seeing much coraline growth for the few months running T247s at 65%-blue (11hrs), 35%-white (9hrs), and would like to supplement T5 or something in anticipation of increasing the SPS load. The few SPS I have so far were only added a few weeks ago, and seem to be happy and stable. Too soon to tell growth rate, but because of the fact that can't tell yet, I'm thinking growth might be slow. Ca is at 420 and I'm struggling a bit to bring down an Alk of 12Dkh, which I'm sure is a contributor.
Any suggestions for supplemental light strips to go with the T247 setup? I haven't changed out any leds on these units, though I was tempted by FarmerTy's setup! I'm trying to avoid opening that pandora's box, because I know I'll geek-out and spend a bunch of time on it. lol.

Just slap some T5s on either side and throw in a blue+ and coral+ bulb and you got it made. Plus, it'll help with the shadowing.

Coralline I feel is a bit harder to grow with LEDs just because they are so intense and coralline prefer lower par. I only used to get growth in the sides of the glass and up high.

If you think its pandoras box modifying diode configuration, then you'll be happy to know I just ordered some violet and UV leds to play with in the fixtures! Cue the maniacal evil scientist laugh! Muaahahaha!

[Dominican]

Madness I tell you! Haha. Please do let us know how it goes..

Any brands/models stand out?

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[FarmerTy]

Madness I tell you! Haha. Please do let us know how it goes..

 

Any brands/models stand out?

 

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Will do!

 

Brands/models for T5 supplements? Aquaticlife fixtures are pretty popular, allow you to mount your leds in the middle of the fixture and comes with T5s on either side. I did a retrofit kit from BRS since I had a canopy to hide the wires.

 

[Dominican]

I supposeT247s would fit the gaps in those hybrid aquaticlifes with some modification. Retrofit is probably the ticket though.. So a blue & white pair in front, and a blue & white pair in back? It was nice thinking i wouldnt have to deal with ballasts anymore :/

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[FarmerTy]

I supposeT247s would fit the gaps in those hybrid aquaticlifes with some modification. Retrofit is probably the ticket though.. So a blue & white pair in front, and a blue & white pair in back? It was nice thinking i wouldnt have to deal with ballasts anymore :/

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I'm not 100% sure if the T247s would fit or not but I would make it fit if I went that route. Nothing a dremel and some black paint can't fix. [emoji16]

Yeah, that's what I would do for bulb combo but it really is up to your color preference. Since the stock T247 is a little on the blue side with color, you could always choose to add an aquablue special bulb or purple plus bulb to add a little warmth to the color mix to offset the blue. But that's just me, a lot of people really love the extra blue.

[Jimbo662]

The Aquatic life fixture comes standard with side brackets that leave a 7" gap between them. They now separately sell end brackets that leave a 12ish inch gap. Original design was to allow something like a Radion XR30 to fit lengthwise. They had a lot of requests to mount them perpendicular.

[Dominican]

Thanks Ty and Jimbo662.

I'm thinking of going with the 2 lamp LET 60" retrofit on BRS, with the recommended blue+ and coral+ bulbs, and welding up my own brackets. That would let me set them where I need them. The last question is whether there's any drawback to putting one lamp in back, and the other in front, or whether I should put them both in front, and slide the T247s back a bit... What do you guys think? The highest part of the LR sits at 3/4 way up the display, about 2/3 of the way back. Would having the blue+ in the back and coral+ in front be sub-optimal, or vice versa? Not sure if both spectrums need to be hitting the same side of the SPS.

[FarmerTy]

Thanks Ty and Jimbo662.
I'm thinking of going with the 2 lamp LET 60" retrofit on BRS, with the recommended blue+ and coral+ bulbs, and welding up my own brackets. That would let me set them where I need them. The last question is whether there's any drawback to putting one lamp in back, and the other in front, or whether I should put them both in front, and slide the T247s back a bit... What do you guys think? The highest part of the LR sits at 3/4 way up the display, about 2/3 of the way back. Would having the blue+ in the back and coral+ in front be sub-optimal, or vice versa? Not sure if both spectrums need to be hitting the same side of the SPS.

Its not a hugely weighted decision. Things will be fine in any configuration but I find it ideal to be spaced evenly when possible. So one in front and one in back with the same bulb would be my choice if splitting them up. If you want to add more cool white (white with a hint of blue), go Coral +. If you wanted to add a little bluer white light (white that's got a decent amount of blue in it), go Blue +. If you want to warm up the color a bit, go aquablue special.

[Dominican]

Its not a hugely weighted decision. Things will be fine in any configuration but I find it ideal to be spaced evenly when possible. So one in front and one in back with the same bulb would be my choice if splitting them up. If you want to add more cool white (white with a hint of blue), go Coral +. If you wanted to add a little bluer white light (white that's got a decent amount of blue in it), go Blue +. If you want to warm up the color a bit, go aquablue special.

Makes sense Ty, thanks. You're a deep well of knowledge man. Think I'll go with blue+ in front and back. Might feel like overkill with the crazy blue of the ORs, but I'm most interested in growth right now. Besides, I'm one of those who really doesn't mind the deep-blue-sea effect, and I can always switch bulbs. Also, I'll need to think about adjusting the 65%/35% blue/white settings to compensate for all that extra energy and spectrum. Hmm..

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[Dominican]

After reading the stats, it looks like the coral+ makes more sense for growth.. Gonna give 'em a shot.

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[FarmerTy]

After reading the stats, it looks like the coral+ makes more sense for growth.. Gonna give 'em a shot.

 

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You beat me to it! Great researching!

 

You're going down the rabbit hole of tweaking your lights Dominican! My violet and UV diodes arrived yesterday! [emoji4]

 

[Dominican]

You beat me to it! Great researching! 
You're going down the rabbit hole of tweaking your lights Dominican! My violet and UV diodes arrived yesterday! [emoji4]
 

Ordered! I'm excited. I appreciate all the help.

I got a really washed out bali shortcake from Gig 'em and the tips are just starting to color up again, just under the OR's. Can' t wait to see what they'll do with these puppies in place!

So you're planning to post the diode swap (and results) in your build thread right? Nudge nudge..

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[FarmerTy]

Ordered! I'm excited. I appreciate all the help.

I got a really washed out bali shortcake from Gig 'em and the tips are just starting to color up again, just under the OR's. Can' t wait to see what they'll do with these puppies in place!

So you're planning to post the diode swap (and results) in your build thread right? Nudge nudge..

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Yeah, it was in a bad spot in his tank getting terrible lighting. I'm sure you'll be able to recoup it in no time.

Might be fun to do a video on the modification. I'll give it a thought... I'm still recovering from surviving the power outage so give me a bit before attempting and documenting. You'll be busy with your new light combo anyways so it sounds like I have some time. [emoji4]

[Dominican]

2 hours ago, FarmerTy said:

 

 

Yeah, it was in a bad spot in his tank getting terrible lighting. I'm sure you'll be able to recoup it in no time.

Might be fun to do a video on the modification. I'll give it a thought... I'm still recovering from surviving the power outage so give me a bit before attempting and documenting. You'll be busy with your new light combo anyways so it sounds like I have some time.

 

Doing my best with the shortcake, we'll see. 🙄

I figured you'd have a generator in the attic that automatically kicks on when the power's interrupted.😆 No really, sorry to hear you got hit. Hope you didn't lose anything...

We'd be happy with anything you're willing to share man, no worries. I'll keep an eye out for it though..

 

 

[Dominican]

Figured I'd post a follow-up. Got the LET 60" 2x80w T5 retro from BRS and 2 of the ATI Coral+ and it set up on Sunday. I built two separate racks from 3/4 x 2-3/8 boards, so i can slide them around as needed. They sit on the hood frame, just outside the T247s' bases, without obstructing the light. Dialed the OR's white back to 15%, and increased the blue to 75%. Running the T5s at 4hrs day to start. My goni freaked out and puckered up tighter than a snare drum - not sure if it was the light or something else. Everyone else seems happy so far.

Thanks again for the advice! And excuse the salt creep lol...

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[FarmerTy]

Figured I'd post a follow-up. Got the LET 60" 2x80w T5 retro from BRS and 2 of the ATI Coral+ and it set up on Sunday. I built two separate racks from 3/4 x 2-3/8 boards, so i can slide them around as needed. They sit on the hood frame, just outside the T247s' bases, without obstructing the light. Dialed the OR's white back to 15%, and increased the blue to 75%. Running the T5s at 4hrs day to start. My goni freaked out and puckered up tighter than a snare drum - not sure if it was the light or something else. Everyone else seems happy so far.

Thanks again for the advice! And excuse the salt creep lol...

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Looks great! How do you like the color you see in the tank? Perfect? Too white? Too blue?

Any lighting adjustments I always lean to slow transitions. I would do 2 hours of T5s personally and ramp up an hour each week until your desired number of hours. But if the goni is open and happy today, scratch that and just run as you area and increase slowly every week.

[Sascha D.]

Cool way of mounting the lights. What materials did you use?

[Dominican]

4 hours ago, FarmerTy said:

Looks great! How do you like the color you see in the tank? Perfect? Too white? Too blue?

Any lighting adjustments I always lean to slow transitions. I would do 2 hours of T5s personally and ramp up an hour each week until your desired number of hours. But if the goni is open and happy today, scratch that and just run as you area and increase slowly every week.

Thanks Ty. Nothing but solid advice. I've put the T5s on a 2hr timer for this week. The goni had a few heads poking out this morning before the lights came on (so I do know they're still there at least!), but they're back in now that the T5 cycle kicked in. I'll keep an eye on em. 

The Coral+ are a bit whiter than I prefer, as expected, but they realllly brought the colors out in everything. With 75%blue/15%white and the 2 Coral+ going, I love the look. 👍👍👍

[FarmerTy]

Thanks Ty. Nothing but solid advice. I've put the T5s on a 2hr timer for this week. The goni had a few heads poking out this morning before the lights came on (so I do know they're still there at least!), but they're back in now that the T5 cycle kicked in. I'll keep an eye on em. 
The Coral+ are a bit whiter than I prefer, as expected, but they realllly brought the colors out in everything. With 75%blue/15%white and the 2 Coral+ going, I love the look. [emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

I know its the great blue world of reefing these days but white lights are needed for reflective colors to shine, like your blues and purples for instance. Too much blue light squashes those colors. Hopefully you'll get used to the lights and like them but fortunately, you can always just adjust the LEDs to alter the amount of blue in your tank for now and maybe in a year when its time to replace the t5 bulb, go with a blue + that time and it'll satisfy a bluer look if that's what you want.

[Dominican]

1 hour ago, Sascha D. said:

Cool way of mounting the lights. What materials did you use?

Thanks Sascha. I just grabbed some fairly stiff 3/4 x 2-3/8 lumber from home depot - oak I think?  I twist tied the ballast to the top of one of them, drilled holes to run the wires straight through from the end caps, and left about 25 inches of wire between the two racks so they run over the top of the LED fixtures. 

I also cut and screwed some "legs"on the boards to allow enough clearance from the water..

[Dominican]

2 minutes ago, FarmerTy said:

13 minutes ago, Dominican said:

Thanks Ty. Nothing but solid advice. I've put the T5s on a 2hr timer for this week. The goni had a few heads poking out this morning before the lights came on (so I do know they're still there at least!), but they're back in now that the T5 cycle kicked in. I'll keep an eye on em. 
The Coral+ are a bit whiter than I prefer, as expected, but they realllly brought the colors out in everything. With 75%blue/15%white and the 2 Coral+ going, I love the look. 

I know its the great blue world of reefing these days but white lights are needed for reflective colors to shine, like your blues and purples for instance. Too much blue light squashes those colors. Hopefully you'll get used to the lights and like them but fortunately, you can always just adjust the LEDs to alter the amount of blue in your tank for now and maybe in a year when its time to replace the t5 bulb, go with a blue + that time and it'll satisfy a bluer look if that's what you want.

lol. Actually, the Coral+ was the way to go, for sure. I might experiment with more white channel soon, but for now the Coral+ can act as the white balance for the most part, backed up by the LEDs.. Let the accelerated growth begin!

How's are the voilet and UV diodes coming along?

[FarmerTy]

lol. Actually, the Coral+ was the way to go, for sure. I might experiment with more white channel soon, but for now the Coral+ can act as the white balance for the most part, backed up by the LEDs.. Let the accelerated growth begin!
How's are the voilet and UV diodes coming along?

Uh oh, got called out. Nowhere yet. Waiting on getting my two fixtures back from someone who borrowed them.

[FarmerTy]

lol. Actually, the Coral+ was the way to go, for sure. I might experiment with more white channel soon, but for now the Coral+ can act as the white balance for the most part, backed up by the LEDs.. Let the accelerated growth begin!
How's are the voilet and UV diodes coming along?

Uh oh, got called out. Nowhere yet. Waiting on getting my two fixtures back from someone who borrowed them.