Marine Orbit IC LED settings

[Dave MN Nano]

Hi,

I have a marine orbit IC LED on a deep tank. 24", Probably too deep for this light optimally.

 

I started with the factory recommended spectrum settings. I rented a par meter and decided it was not bright enough. Over about 3 weeks I gradually cranked up the white and green until all the sliders are at the top. Now I am up to 190 par 4" below the surface and 50 par on the sand. I have ZOAs, GSP, toadstool leather, candy cane, favia and snapping Xenia.. I will probably add a Duncan or 2. When I got into this I thought, "Why not just do a FOWLER tank?" but I have since learned that I really like the corals and the inverts more than the fish!!!

 

Is my thinking ok with cranking up the other parts of the spectrum to get the PAR I wanted? The candy cane and the zoas are multiplying. Maybe the favia is splitting al

[debbeach13]

I have a dual pro on my tank which is only 12: deep. I have never measured the par. It takes some fine tuning to get the spectrum you like but that is the case with most lights. I am not sure that light will be strong enough for 24" depth. Most of the coral you listed will do OK depending on placement. They may not grow very fast. You should post some more details and maybe a picture if you can. 

[mcarroll]

On 3/15/2021 at 9:24 PM, Dave MN Nano said:

Is my thinking ok with cranking up the other parts of the spectrum to get the PAR I wanted?

You know what they say about chasing numbers...  I would reset back to something like "20,000 Kelvin" i.e. blue....should be just enough white for the tank to look good to you.  Vanity colors should generally be off.

If you don't mind some limitations with your present setup, then there's a nice coral-growing zone all the way down to 18" or so.  Some things would probably still thrive below that...direct PAR readings don't actually simulate how corals receive light very well, so the numbers aren't as indicative as we sometimes make them out to be.

 

This is from Current USA:

 

But if your expectation is to grow corals anywhere and everywhere in the tank, without issues, no exceptions – Acro's on the sandbed as it were – then a single Orbit IC strip is probably being asked to do too much.  Add a second strip and the PAR chart looks like this, and your growing zone is "everywhere":