Orbit Marine lighting help! (noob)-- 20 gallon long

[lostboy95]

Hey guys! So I've dipped into getting some beginner softie and lps corals and I'm a complete noob to all this lighting jargon and was wondering what y'all would reccomend. As the title says I have an orbit marine IC Loop lighting fixture (this guy right here: https://www.amazon.com/Current-USA-Marine-Aquarium-60-Inch/dp/B00GFTNG3S?th=1).

 

I'm aware it can keep softies lps and some lower light heartier sps if placed at the top, however what exactly should I keep the lighting at. It has a standard mode with the RGB that has everything at 100% which is super bright and white, and I like it for the most part but the corals don't really pop. I tried a setting with 70% blue and 70% red and it makes a really nice purple color that make the corals look awesome and fluoresce. I would like to keep this kind of lighting all the time so the corals always look that good, right now I've just been switching to the purple color at nighttime. 

 

My question is if I leave it at the purple color 24/7 is that enough light for the corals to grow? I'm a little confused about how the par works in with this light. Current USA (the company) has a diagram giving general par at certain depths, but they don't say how much light is being put out. Am I to assume that just means the light has to be on full power with all led colors maxed out to get those outputs, or could I receive the same par if I just did all blues? Anyways if anyone could help clear some of this up and suggest led percentage combinations that would be great! Thanks!

[partlycloudy531]

First off don’t run your light 24/7. 10 to 12 hours at the most. Too much red can sometimes cause algae growth, I’d keep the red below 30% on that light. Turn the blues all the way to 100 and then adjust the white until it’s pleasing to your eye. To answer your question, yes, you will lose par turning any of the channels down. If you are a fan of bluer light, unfortunately that light isn’t the best choice. I ended up ditching my Orbit because I prefer the bluer lights. You could try running the whites    higher during the times you don’t view the tank as much and the transition to more blue during your peak viewing time, but set a schedule to keep things consistent. 

[lostboy95]

@partlycloudy531

Thanks for the tips. What about the green channel? Just keep it at 100% to keep the par up? Are there any negatives to green light?

[Picogoby]

21 minutes ago, lostboy95 said:

@partlycloudy531

Thanks for the tips. What about the green channel? Just keep it at 100% to keep the par up? Are there any negatives to green light?

I would go:

colours (G&R) 30-40%
blues 100%
white adjust to preference but a min of 70% during your key 5-6 light hours.

could you get a second bare light unit? You can run 2 off of the same controller.

[Poison Dart Frog]

This 20 long runs the Current Marine Orbit lights. She discusses her settings and photo period in the video. She mentions that she has 2 of the lights on it now, but during the first 2 years of the tank's life she just had one. The growth was nearly the same with one if you look at her older videos. 

 

[Poison Dart Frog]

On 5/1/2020 at 1:58 AM, Picogoby said:

I would go:

colours (G&R) 30-40%
blues 100%
white adjust to preference but a min of 70% during your key 5-6 light hours.

could you get a second bare light unit? You can run 2 off of the same controller.

This advice is spot on, I think. I tested this light with a PAR meter (Seneye) and there's not a drastic falloff when you slightly lower the whites. With white light at 90% I got about 235 PAR about 3" from the water surface. And on the sandbed on a 20H it was about 60. By lowering the white light to 60%, I got about 203 PAR at 3" and around 48 PAR on the sandbed. So... any SPS would need to be placed very close to the surface of the water (and only "low light" SPS I guess) but everything else should be ok. I think that it looks nicer without the white light almost maxed out. I was surprised that the PAR didn't fall off more than it did. At 70% white (or maybe 60% if you prefer) it looks pleasing to the eye with the blue light at 100%. 

[olive]

I have the same light, and because I also like that purple look, I run that for the sunrise/sunset hour at a lower intensity. Then for daylights I run what everyone else recommended. I do not have corals yet, but I have seen this work on other tanks with these lights. 

[lostboy95]

Thank you everyone for the replies! I think I got it figured out now. 🙂 

[mcarroll]

FWIW, the RGB channels should be <10% of the unit's power....they're just for color.  (mostly redundant)

 

With the two main channels on full blast, is should be a 3:4 blend, leaning toward blue.  

 

Dialing back the white channel should have a nice overall blueing effect.

 

I'd try to keep the RGB channels at 0%/OFF.

 

On a 20L, none of this should matter much as it's such a shallow tank.  👍

[lostboy95]

@mcarroll

Okay, so pretty much I can run any color combo with my tank size with blue maxed out and just adjust white and other colors to whatever I like aesthetic wise?

For instance I could run only blue all day during my light cycle and still get good growth with this light?

 

[lostboy95]

On 5/1/2020 at 12:58 AM, Picogoby said:

I would go:

colours (G&R) 30-40%
blues 100%
white adjust to preference but a min of 70% during your key 5-6 light hours.

could you get a second bare light unit? You can run 2 off of the same controller.

@Picogoby

Wouldn't a second unit just increase coverage though and not par? or am I mistaken? Also if I got two would that be enough to be able to just run the blues?

[mitten_reef]

16 minutes ago, lostboy95 said:

@Picogoby

Wouldn't a second unit just increase coverage though and not par? or am I mistaken? Also if I got two would that be enough to be able to just run the blues?

Depending on how far apart you set them. The par will increase where the “beam of light” from both fixtures overlap, doubling  up in those area. 
“Enough” is subjective to too many other factors. But you might be able to keep true tank at blue-er color and get similar brightness, yes. 

[mcarroll]

On 5/8/2020 at 4:58 PM, lostboy95 said:

@mcarroll

Okay, so pretty much I can run any color combo with my tank size with blue maxed out and just adjust white and other colors to whatever I like aesthetic wise?

For instance I could run only blue all day during my light cycle and still get good growth with this light?

 

Yes.  And I would try to keep the RGB channels off if possible....or as lot as possible if they are deemed necessary.

 

On 5/19/2020 at 7:24 PM, lostboy95 said:

@Picogoby

Wouldn't a second unit just increase coverage though and not par? or am I mistaken? Also if I got two would that be enough to be able to just run the blues?

I used to make these lighting diagrams to illustrate how lights overlap...

 

This is a pair of Kessils over a 2' x 4' tank.  Note how much the two light-fields overlap inside the tank.  (This is partly why Kessil doesn't do PAR readings....they way we do them ALL of that reflected light is ignored even though it's doing a very important job.

 

You pretty much get the same effect in a little 20 Long.