Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: Global intensity setting on Season Table for lighting?

  1. #1
    Frequent Visitor
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Colorado Springs, CO
    Posts
    152

    Global intensity setting on Season Table for lighting?

    I've setup the Seasonal lights and am really liking it. However, is there a way to limit the overall lighting intensity for acclimating corals/fish to the tank?

  2. #2
    Frequent Visitor
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    US, Central
    Posts
    355
    The basic answer to the question as asked is No, there is not global intensity setting, but there is a few other options.

    If the lights are dimmable, you can dedicate one or more profiles for acclimation. If the lights are not dimmable, you will have to change the programming statements to change the times. You can account for both in the advanced programming but you will need a switch or virtual outlet to trigger an acclimate mode.

    The way I went about it is I have 12 daylight profiles that vary in intensity and color spectrum and they are all programmed via virtual outlets. My Hydra script then evaluates the statements and sets the profile based on which virtual outlet is on. If I need to acclimate a new purchase, I just manually turn off the virtual outlets for all the brighter profiles, and then restore them one at a time each week.

    Let us know what lights you are using and show us the program so far, we can help guide you the rest of the way.

  3. #3
    Frequent Visitor
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Colorado Springs, CO
    Posts
    152
    I have the Radion G4 Pro (rx30w) and my program is exactly like RussM posted in the Seasonal Table sticky.

  4. #4
    Frequent Visitor
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    US, Central
    Posts
    355
    Ok, I saw that but went my own direction instead so I would have more controllability without getting into the program. The easiest thing to do would be to change the "Overall Intensity" from 100 to a lower number, maybe start at 35%, your call. Then I would increase this 5% each week. The process will take a few months. If the coral is a "high light" coral, you could go quicker. Also, with LED's you have to be very careful with PAR values as LEDs put out a very high PAR at a lower LUX value than other lighting. Sorry if the technical is over your head, this stuff takes time to learn . So see if you can borrow a PAR meter to determine what your final overall intensity should be, for many people, 100% is way too high.

  5. #5
    Frequent Visitor
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Colorado Springs, CO
    Posts
    152
    Quote Originally Posted by clsanchez77 View Post
    Ok, I saw that but went my own direction instead so I would have more controllability without getting into the program. The easiest thing to do would be to change the "Overall Intensity" from 100 to a lower number, maybe start at 35%, your call. Then I would increase this 5% each week. The process will take a few months. If the coral is a "high light" coral, you could go quicker. Also, with LED's you have to be very careful with PAR values as LEDs put out a very high PAR at a lower LUX value than other lighting. Sorry if the technical is over your head, this stuff takes time to learn . So see if you can borrow a PAR meter to determine what your final overall intensity should be, for many people, 100% is way too high.
    Thanks. Manually adjusting just the Overall Intensity over time is not a big deal... as long as each color does not also have to be adjusted. I've thought about buying the Apex PAR meter, but can't really see the use of it long term.

    I just switched from a 250w MH to the Radion yesterday, but so far our LPS corals seem to like the standard Season Table lighting. I'll probably lower the Overall Intensity just to be on the safe side since we leave for vacation in a couple of days.

  6. #6
    Frequent Visitor
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    US, Central
    Posts
    355
    Quote Originally Posted by Etoimos View Post
    Thanks. Manually adjusting just the Overall Intensity over time is not a big deal... as long as each color does not also have to be adjusted. I've thought about buying the Apex PAR meter, but can't really see the use of it long term.

    I just switched from a 250w MH to the Radion yesterday, but so far our LPS corals seem to like the standard Season Table lighting. I'll probably lower the Overall Intensity just to be on the safe side since we leave for vacation in a couple of days.
    Overall Intensity equally applies to everything, so you can just change that one number. When switching from MH to LED, be very careful, the PAR meter is a great idea. MH lighting reflects a lot of light out of the tank, which makes the tank look bright. LED is very directional and does not spill very much light, which makes the tank appear dim.

  7. #7
    Frequent Visitor
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Colorado Springs, CO
    Posts
    152
    Quote Originally Posted by clsanchez77 View Post
    Overall Intensity equally applies to everything, so you can just change that one number. When switching from MH to LED, be very careful, the PAR meter is a great idea. MH lighting reflects a lot of light out of the tank, which makes the tank look bright. LED is very directional and does not spill very much light, which makes the tank appear dim.
    Thanks. I came home from work today to find a lot of my corals pissed off. I think too much light. I switched to my Maint light to give them a break and just set overall intensity to 40.

Similar Threads

  1. Review My Program Season Table Lighting Difficulties
    By watkinsmd in forum Apex Programming for Lighting
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 08-05-2018, 07:06
  2. Question: Question on Season Table Lighting
    By watkinsmd in forum Apex Programming for Lighting
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 08-01-2018, 08:58
  3. Question: Lighting gap when using season table AI SOLs
    By lkoechle in forum Apex Programming for Lighting
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 04-05-2015, 04:58
  4. Using season table for lighting question...
    By qpurser in forum Apex Programming for Lighting
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 02-16-2014, 17:43
  5. Question: Season Table to control sun/moon lighting intensity?
    By cloud ix in forum Apex Programming for Lighting
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 01-15-2013, 17:43

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •