ai sol lighting questions

I thought it was cheaper, but its like 25 dollars per puck. so 200. it might be better to just find another sol white.

 

You could definitely do it, but the way the lights are wired would make settings a little bit odd. SOL Whites have two white and one bue diode. The whites are controlled by one channel while the blues are controlled by the other. With the SOL Blues they simply replaced a white with a royal blue and added a third channel to the controller to run it. This third channel is activated when SOL Blue is selected within the controller. You could mix the pucks but because of this wiring, when you are controlling the royal blue channel in the Blue pucks, you will also be controlling some of the whites in the White pucks. In the end, you simply won't have the ability to mix in all of your blue without also running some white. That said, I think they would still run really well for you.

 

thats a chunk of change......i think ill try and mess with splitting the white and blue in half and see if i can find a color temperature i like...if not ill try and make a trade or sell it for funds on the second one

 

that doesnt sound too bad i think i can probably work it to a likeable color then

 

Mike said what I said...in more detail. You can find a color you like certainly, but upping/lowering intensities for acclimation or SPS keeping will be more of a challenge.

 

at the moment im planning on having mostly softies/lps with some of the easier sps but that may change in due time so ill deal with that hurdle when the time comes but i do see the issue you are talking about

 

Shouldn't be a problem. With both blue channels at 100%, whites would be at 50% which should still be a nice amount of blue for viewing. You can then add in more white to get good power and growth out of it.

 

sounds good...considering you guys are more expert on leds...what percent power would you recommend i start at considering previously i was using a 36" 4 bulb t5(long story short the 48" pcs ballast went and ive been using these for the past few months) over a 55 gallon tank...i know a 3rd would give better coverage but im content with what 2 ai sols hung length wise would do as for coverage

 

Start at 50% whites and blend blues in to your liking. I had mine hung 12" above the water. For best color rendition, I'd add some red and UV supplementation. I had UV 420 LEDs and an ATI Purple Plus bulb in my setup. MUCH better color with those than just the AI Sols. Good luck.

 

Corals will bleach and perish within days when too much light is introduced, but they can maintain themselves without growth for weeks with too little light. I would play it safe and start them REALLY low. It's futile to try to match your old light output, so I would shoot to go under. I think in the neighborhood of 25% power would be a good place to start for the first week after which I would bump by a small amount, maybe 5% per week.