Time to upgrade my lights?

[ReefsandGeeks]

Trying to make a long story short: I started in the hobby with a 40G tank and bought (1) black box LED light that worked well for the tank. About 18 months ago, I was given a 65G tank, which did not come with any reef worthy lighting, so I've still been using the single 165W black box LED for the tank. I have both channels turned up to 100%, and my existing coral seem to have decent color, and most do grow. However, I've tried adding new coral to my tank on several occasions, and the color of the coral added always changes, normally browning out. Most recent was a green slimer acro which I bought at christmas and browned out within 2 weeks, and slowly went downhill from there and started STNing and died yesterday.

I checked all of my tank perameters and everything I can possibly measure is right where it should be:

Salinity:35ppt
Alk: 9.5dkh
Ca: 480ppm
Mag: 1460ppm
Nitrate: ~1ppm
Phosphate: ~0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Ammonia: 0ppm
Temp: 76-77F
pH: 8.21 (day), 8.07 (night)

My only thought is my one black box is not enough to really handle my size tank, and my current coral are only doing okay because they are used to the lighting. I have been using the light for about 5 years now.

So I guess I have several related questions:

1) Do I need to add another black box, or would I benefit much from it?

2) Being that my current one is 5 years old, would it be worth replacing the one I have and getting one of the double length black box ones that are 300W? All new and matching light for both sides of the tank

3) Viparspectra lists their double length black box LED as 300W, but in the description it claims actual power draw is only 212W. Is that normal for all black box LEDs, or does that mean that I'm getting jipped out of 88W of power with that one? I would hate to buy it and it not be much brighter than my current light.

https://www.amazon.com/VIPARSPECTRA-T300-Aquarium-Dimmable-Spectrum/dp/B074PL12FM/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1518697679&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=reef+300W&psc=1

[ReefsandGeeks]

I answered Question #3 myself for anyone who's interested. I used a watt meter and measured the power draw of the black box on full power. The actual power draw was recorded as 120W. The fixture claims to be 165W.

As far as my research tells me, the LEDs themselves are rated to hand 165W, but are purposefully turned down in power in order to lengthen their service life. Pretty misleading if you ask me. I'd be curious to know if other higher priced LED lights put out as much power as they claim, or if it's just the black box ones.


As far as me upgrading my lights, I'm still not certain what to do. I'm torn because money is a bit short. I could get an additional black box for $100, or what I really want is to replace the existing one with a double length black box with timers that can be programmed and can turn blue/white channels on and off separately. That would cost me $230 though. I know long term I'd be kicking myself for not getting the one I want, but don't know if I can justify the extra cost.

[ReefsandGeeks]

I decided to bite the bullet and get the new "300W" blackbox LED that I wanted. I'll try to remember to update this thread with any changes, good or bad, after I've had them up and running for a little while.

Since I have a watt meter, I'm going to try matching the power output of my current light to start, then ramp up to where I'd like. I will actually back off on existing power a bit, maybe 20% because the better light spread may hit the coral more efficiently, especially near the edges of the tank, and may bleach them.

How fast do you guys typically ramp up light power? Any signs to look out for to see if I'm going too fast or slow other than browning out/bleaching of coral?