CafeReef Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Hello All, I just put in my V3 Retro kit this weekend on my Aquatop 21 gallon AIO. I am blown away with how happy I am with this LED setup over my stock LED's. The color is shocking and everything in my tank is reacting better, my clowns are more lively, my GSP opened up more, my Kenya Tree really branched it's limbs out and my Zoa's seem pretty happy as well. Mind you this is all within 48 hours of being installed! Now to the post, I am running my Retro kit with the new Bluefish Mini controller. I am wanting to see what settings everyone is running their bluefish on. Currently, since I am still new to the lights. I am running it off of my currently location (Omaha, NE) to mirror the sunrise times where I live with a sunset of 9pm with a 60 minute ramp. Lighting levels (4 channel) are currently following "natural sun" levels, ramps from sunrise to peak at 1pm-6pm then ramps down to sunset at 9pm Royal Blue: 50% at peak Neutral/Warm Whites: 50% at peak Cyan: 50% at peak UV: 50% at peak For Night/Moon Lighting. I am running all 4 channels at 0.1% I would really like to know what everyone else is doing for moon lighting (Dave if you have any recommendations?) Night: Daytime Ramp: Quote Link to comment
Noodle_083 Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Blue 60% White 30% I have a duo. Take a look at your coral, do they open up more, do they close up. And go from there. Quote Link to comment
DaveFason Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 I figure I can chime in I still run my old V2 Duo : Blue Channel - 90% White Channel - 90% I only run the white channel for ~3.5 hours however. Making this more of a "high noon". -Dave Quote Link to comment
CafeReef Posted April 14, 2015 Author Share Posted April 14, 2015 Dave is there an intensity difference between the V3 and V2's that would make me foolish to go as high as 90%? I redid some specks and I through my blues as and whites as high as 65% at peak and my UV and Cyan at 50% peak, then they ramp back down. Everything seems to be opening up very well no matter what I do, I just dont want to bleach anything out by going to intense. Quote Link to comment
CafeReef Posted April 14, 2015 Author Share Posted April 14, 2015 Also, I am basically running my lights for 24 hours per day, just during the non daylight hours, I have all four channels set at .1% as moon light. Dave is it a bad idea to run the V3's at all times like this? Quote Link to comment
SgtBhaji Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Also, I am basically running my lights for 24 hours per day, just during the non daylight hours, I have all four channels set at .1% as moon light. Dave is it a bad idea to run the V3's at all times like this?Interested in knowing the answer to this too as I'm considering doing the same. I'm still tinkering with the settings over a dry tank, but thinking of having it biased towards blues in the morning and evening and biased towards the white during the midday hours. Cannot wait to get this tank wet so I can tinker properly. Haven't been able to find any rock I like locally yet. *shakes fist* Quote Link to comment
DaveFason Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 I personally am running it like this just for my own testing ( pushing the unit ). As well I am hanging the light higher than normal to see a few effects as well I am a tall tank. AIO tanks, 60% max is plenty. Each tank will be different as well. I am currently running ROX carbon and dosing peroxide which will make my water clarity through the roof. Your normal Tide 40-70% max Duos/QUAD 30-80% max RETRO 20-60%max I personally like to start low at first as well. -D Quote Link to comment
D Z Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Dave, What do you think I should start off with when I get around to doing my retro? Right now I am running a 6-bulb sunpower in the following fashion: Channel 2 is on from 10:30AM to 1:30PM and 7:30PM to 10:30PM Channel 1 is on 1:30PM to 7:30PM Front C 1 - Blue+ H 2 - Blue+ A 1 - Actinic N 1 - Coral+ N 2 - Actinic E 1 - Blue+ L Back After I do the retro, I plan to only run the 2 V3 boards with 2 of the 24" T5's. I'm not sure yet which bulbs, any recommendations? What intensities do you think would get me close to what I am running now? The light is about 8 inches from the water line and appx 24 inches from the sand. Quote Link to comment
CafeReef Posted April 14, 2015 Author Share Posted April 14, 2015 I personally am running it like this just for my own testing ( pushing the unit ). As well I am hanging the light higher than normal to see a few effects as well I am a tall tank. AIO tanks, 60% max is plenty. Each tank will be different as well. I am currently running ROX carbon and dosing peroxide which will make my water clarity through the roof. Your normal Tide 40-70% max Duos/QUAD 30-80% max RETRO 20-60%max I personally like to start low at first as well. -D If you are running 24x7 then, I will continue the same until I hear that it will burn down I really like having the lights running at the very lowest setting at night for the moon light effect, looks great! But my obvious concern is that the lights never get a breather this way. I might run my lights into a timer to give them a few hours of actual off time, before coming back to moon lights. Quote Link to comment
dillct Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 If you are running 24x7 then, I will continue the same until I hear that it will burn down I really like having the lights running at the very lowest setting at night for the moon light effect, looks great! But my obvious concern is that the lights never get a breather this way. I might run my lights into a timer to give them a few hours of actual off time, before coming back to moon lights. I'm running my blue channel at .1% which is a nice effect, I have no idea why anyone would want a moonlight given this feature. Would be really cool if the bluefish adjusted for moonrise/moonset instead of just percent illumination. That would give you the occasional rest the lights may or may not need. Quote Link to comment
reefernanoman Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 I'm running my blue channel at .1% which is a nice effect, I have no idea why anyone would want a moonlight given this feature. Would be really cool if the bluefish adjusted for moonrise/moonset instead of just percent illumination. That would give you the occasional rest the lights may or may not need. Well I knew about this, but more channels is always better(at least in my head). Furthermore, I wanted to give my other LED'S a break, so my moonlight does that for me. I just think that having an LED dedicated just for moonlights instead of your other LED'S that do a 8 or more hour shift (once again in my head) gives me piece of mind that my other led's get a break. Besides, I would have one more channel on the BFM that would have been just wasted. Why not just put it to use and have fun with it? My 2cts. Quote Link to comment
gus6464 Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Settings for my quad v2 over 23g. Blue - 65% White - 55% Quote Link to comment
chonathin Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Tide over a Fusion 10, set for Nausori, Fiji. Dynamic Sunrise 60% Blues 40% Whites .8% Moonlight channel, lunar cycle on. It's only on for 3 hours after sunset, then a wall timer shuts it off. 2 Quote Link to comment
DaveFason Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Tide over a Fusion 10, set for Nausori, Fiji. Dynamic Sunrise 60% Blues 40% Whites .8% Moonlight channel, lunar cycle on. It's only on for 3 hours after sunset, then a wall timer shuts it off. Great start. That is what I am currently using with my personal Tide. -Dave 1 Quote Link to comment
Josh125 Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 I was going to make this topic as well. Let me approach my question from where I came from. I ran a 150HQI 15K Phoenix hung about 9" over my tank which is 16" deep. I keep some SPS on top with a mix at the bottom. I'm currently running the default 20% simulating Bora Bora with natural sunlight turned off (too yellow). My green leather on the bottom is all closed up but everything else looks OK. Any suggestions are welcome. The lights look dim to me at 20% but I won't be falling into that common pitfall with LEDs. PAR is high while visible light might be dim, even with the limes. 1 Quote Link to comment
DaveFason Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 I was going to make this topic as well. Let me approach my question from where I came from. I ran a 150HQI 15K Phoenix hung about 9" over my tank which is 16" deep. I keep some SPS on top with a mix at the bottom. I'm currently running the default 20% simulating Bora Bora with natural sunlight turned off (too yellow). My green leather on the bottom is all closed up but everything else looks OK. Any suggestions are welcome. The lights look dim to me at 20% but I won't be falling into that common pitfall with LEDs. PAR is high while visible light might be dim, even with the limes. Josh, Way to low. Bump it up to blue channel 60% and whites around 40%. The difference with my LEDs is the lack of optics. Making it less harsh in the beginning. Quote Link to comment
Josh125 Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Josh, Way to low. Bump it up to blue channel 60% and blues around 40%. The difference with my LEDs is the lack of optics. Making it less harsh in the beginning. Thanks Dave, I assume you meant white to 40%? Also, I guess I don't fully understand the location settings. I see i can tweak it, so it's just looking at cloud cover, etc? While I have you. I'm in my settings looking at the channels, I see at the bottom I can toggle through but don't see a white channel. 2 Quote Link to comment
DaveFason Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Thanks Dave, I assume you meant white to 40%? Also, I guess I don't fully understand the location settings. I see i can tweak it, so it's just looking at cloud cover, etc? While I have you. I'm in my settings looking at the channels, I see at the bottom I can toggle through but don't see a white channel. CH1 - Blue Channel CH2 - White Channel location will pick the spot you want and mimic those weather conditions. 1 Quote Link to comment
Josh125 Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 CH1 - Blue Channel CH2 - White Channel location will pick the spot you want and mimic those weather conditions. Ahh, channel two defaults to a red display color.....threw me off. I'm a little slow on the uptake. 1 Quote Link to comment
Josh125 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 I've got another quick question. I adjusted my intensity today based off the recommendations in this thread. I noticed when setting up my times of day that there was no duration for midday which resulted in the spike seen in the graph. I assume this is normal? Quote Link to comment
chonathin Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 I've got another quick question. I adjusted my intensity today based off the recommendations in this thread. I noticed when setting up my times of day that there was no duration for midday which resulted in the spike seen in the graph. I assume this is normal? I don't believe there is duration setting for midday, only a ramp time. Your midday will be determined by the total length of day and the morning, evening, and night ramp and duration times. Try setting all the ramp and duration times to 90 min. That will give you something like this: 1 Quote Link to comment
Josh125 Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 I don't believe there is duration setting for midday, only a ramp time. Your midday will be determined by the total length of day and the morning, evening, and night ramp and duration times. Try setting all the ramp and duration times to 90 min. That will give you something like this: Thanks, that was what I was looking for. It is odd though that BF would program it that way rather than just allow the user to set the midday or full sun period by itself. Quote Link to comment
SpencerShepard Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Thanks, that was what I was looking for. It is odd though that BF would program it that way rather than just allow the user to set the midday or full sun period by itself. The midday length is intended to be flexible so that you can use Dynamic Photoperiod from your simulated location. I think of the Morning/Evening periods like the "actinic" period in a traditional lighting schedule. 1 Quote Link to comment
DaveFason Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Thanks, that was what I was looking for. It is odd though that BF would program it that way rather than just allow the user to set the midday or full sun period by itself. Let me know if you need any further help or recommendations for your tank. Drop me a line or PM. -Dave Quote Link to comment
jasyu Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Tide over a Fusion 10, set for Nausori, Fiji. Dynamic Sunrise 60% Blues 40% Whites .8% Moonlight channel, lunar cycle on. It's only on for 3 hours after sunset, then a wall timer shuts it off. The wall timer shuts off the power to the duo. Does it affects the settings and time when it powers on the next day. Quote Link to comment
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