Huge surprise when switching to T5/LED hybrid, how do I acclimate the switch?

[gobble]

I had 3 XR30 Gen 4 pro's over a 59" wide tank and just made the switch to the Aquatic Life hybrid fixture with the XR30's being supplemented by the T5's.

My prior PAR was 250-350, where I wanted it to be.

I'm on my third day of the hybrid and started with 1 hour of T5's supplementing the LED's and planned to ramp that up 5 minutes each day.

After 2 days one of my smaller corals completely bleached. Oh crap. So I just got out the PAR meter and with the T5's I'm in the 500's 10 inches deep in my tank. The T5's alone look to be putting out 225ish. I didn't realize the T5's PAR would be additive to the LED PAR.

So, how the heck do I acclimate the corals to my new setup?

1. Will they tolerate 500 PAR and a slow ramp to 8 hours per day of adding T5's?
2. Should I find out what combinations of LED + T5 = 250-350 and dial down the LED's?

If #2, do I:
a. just switch 100% of my schedule right away to that dialed down number?
b. do the 1hr start + 5 minutes each day on the T5's and only dial down my LED's during that period?

 

[Bpb]

Yes, t5’s produce par that will be additive to what you were already running. More light sources means more photons means higher par. Incandescent bulbs would add to par. Candlelight in a reflector would add par. If you can see it with your eyes. It’s par. Forgive me if you meant something different and that was unnecessary. Anyway.....

I’d dial the LEDs down and let the t5’s do the heavy lifting and slowly re introduce the LEDs once color returns. Slowly.

 

[gobble]

Thanks. So you would almost 100% stop the LED's and switch to 8-9 hours of T5 on day 1? Then after a period of time slowly ramp up the LED's to get PAR to 350 or so? I've read that corals will tolerate higher PAR from T5's, so what would be my stopping point as I'm ramping back up the LED's?

 

[Bpb]

Thanks. So you would almost 100% stop the LED's and switch to 8-9 hours of T5 on day 1? Then after a period of time slowly ramp up the LED's to get PAR to 350 or so? I've read that corals will tolerate higher PAR from T5's, so what would be my stopping point as I'm ramping back up the LED's?

Correct they seem to tolerate higher par from gas burning tubes. Why? I have no idea. Just an observation. I’d do just what you suggest and reintroduce the LEDs until you reach 350-400 par. Yes it’s a little higher than BRS recommends but theirs is a general guideline. You’ll find many stony corals grow faster and color brighter under higher par levels IF you provide the nutrients. If you double your overall par it is safe to increases nutrients a touch as well to provide fuel for the increased photosynthesis. Ramp up those Powerheads a touch as well. More photosynthesis equals more need for food and higher waste production that requires more flow to carry off. Hope that helps

 

[Bpb]

Great looking tank btw. I think once you get it dialed in you’ll be pleased with the results of moving to a hybrid setup

 

[gobble]

Thanks and thanks for the quick response. I got a little panicked here thinking I was frying my tank. It's changed a bit since that picture in that I added about 15 higher end frags mostly from Battle Corals.

I think I'll dial back the LED's to 300 PAR and ramp up slowly like you suggest. Maybe get to 400 over a couple months time?

 

[Bpb]

Thanks and thanks for the quick response. I got a little panicked here thinking I was frying my tank. It's changed a bit since that picture in that I added about 15 higher end frags mostly from Battle Corals.

I think I'll dial back the LED's to 300 PAR and ramp up slowly like you suggest. Maybe get to 400 over a couple months time?

That sounds like a safe plan.

 

[gobble]

10% on my Radions with the AB+ settings gets me to +/- 300 PAR with all 4 T5's turned on.

 

[dadnjesse]

I have the Aquatic Life Hybrid T5's with a Photon V2+ I have the apogee MQ 510 meter I also am getting around 500 par in upper portion of my tank and around 350 on the sand bed I slowly ramped the led's starting around 20% but I now run the T5's for 6 hours and the led's at 70 % and my corals are doing great.

 

[gobble]

Wow you're all the way up to 500? I was thinking I'd stop around the WWC numbers.

 

[dadnjesse]

I went really slow and watched my corals they have responded well

 

[jda]

You can do a lot more PAR if you let the T5s do the heavy lifting. I do not suggest that a hobbyist do much that a retail outlet does, but if you do want to follow in the footsteps of WWC, then do it 100% and do not deviate one bit... including the super-long cycle, water changes, etc. FWIW - I think that you can do better following a fellow hobbyists since your goals will more align with theirs.

 

[gobble]

I just need to find someone with killer acros using a LED/T5 hybrid to see what they're doing.

 

[jda]

Crabs McJones was Kessil, then Kessil & T5s and then MH & T5s... you could check his thread for the middle when he was using the Kessil/T5s. That is the only one that is popping of the top of my head.

 

[gobble]

He told me his Kessil's never got above 30% with the T5's added.

 

[lwmnfrvr]

DA how did you mount your Photon V2+ inside the Aquatic Life Hybrid fixture?

 

[jda]

That 30% sounds about right. IMO, he did it right and let the T5s do the heavy lifting and then used the Kessils to fill in some things.

Does Thales use any T5s? I am totally blanking on people who have killer SPS tank with the hybrid combo. I will post when I remember some.

 

[gobble]

I'm guessing having the T5's do the heavy lifting with assistance from the LED's will be a good place to get to. I just didn't want to shock my corals with an instant switch to a new way of lighting. I don't think there's a good way to phase down the LED's though since the T5's can't really be eased in.

I'm not sure who Thales is.