AI SOl Blue success stories...

[Opiesfish]

yes, the 90 gallon is 24" high, 48" Long, and 18" deep...So you think i should have the white setting lower to start (40-50%) even though it is a new tank with nothing in it? I understand of course that I'll have to acclimate the corals to it by starting them in the sand and slowly moving them up over time...

[jlnielsen13]

Someone showed me this thread from mine so I decided to jump on ... Here is my original thread:

Hey CMAS,

Since I just bought my first slr camera, and now know how to post large pics thanks to a couple of rc members, I thought I would show you guys my 90 gallon reef. I also wanted to post here on the CMAS thread to give a shout out to Steve over at Reef Plus in North Aurora. 95% plus of everything that is my tank is from Reef plus including the lighting and equipment. He really takes great care of his customers and you can't beat the prices and selection anywhere. Stop in and check it out!! Here are the specs and pics.

90 gallon tank
Salinity= 1.026 (coral reef pro salt)
Calcium= 550ppm
alk= 9.5 dkh
nitrite/nitrate/amm = 0

Fish
Flame angel
purple tang
Mystery, solaris, radiant, blue side fairy wrasses
green/blue chromis
mated pair fudge glazed clowns
1 picasso clown
variety of gobies
mandarin dragonet

Corals
sps, lps, soft coral mixture

Inverts
blue spiny reef lobster
crocea clam
durasa clam
hermits

Full tank



Lighting: 4 aqua illumination sol super blues


Under the hood: refugium with 2 part dosing system and GFO.


Fish and coral pics:





1 foot red durasa clam in the middle of this pic and some of my 100+ ricordea













Thanks for checking my tank out-
Jim[/QUOTE]

[jlnielsen13]

Now that you have seen the system-post above here are my comments on the lights:


I have 14 different lighting intervals. My peak for all three is W-30 B-70 RB-65. I have never had the lights above 32 for white levels and never above 80 for the b or rb. The corals that cooked were also on the sandbed so they were far away from the lights. They were corals that I had for years so I chalked it up to stress with the new lights. When I tried to add new ones they also quickly bleached. I was told maybe I wasn't giving them enough light so I tried increasing little by little but that made it worse and corals that could take 30-w started bleaching at 33-35w.

The evidence in my tank though doesn't always apply to others so I wonder if they don't want to admit they are expensive coral bleechers or if I just am unlucky or are missing something.

Again, I know what I can keep with them now and will only buy those types of corals so I am happy with the lights because they save elec$ and no chiller plus look amazing!!!

I really miss my SPS and LPS though!!

With my metal halides I was very successful with SPS and LPS. Every piece I put in there began to grow and color up nicely. Since my switch a year ago to the AI SOL BLUES I have had little success with any hard corals. All of my SPS are gone now and I only have a few LPS remaining. In order to keep LPS I have to place them under a cave or overhang or they quickly turn white. I figured this out because I had a brain coral that was half under an overhang on the sandbed. The half that was shielded by the rockwork was neon green and the half that wasn't was white as paper. It was litterally a straight line like someone drew it on the coral. I have put the entire piece under an overhang and it has recovered.

I spent 2,000$+ on these lights so it is hard to admit their shortcomings but I considered myself a successful reefer before these lights and have been in the hobby for 15+ years. At the same time, I have seen tanks that are having success with SPS and LPS with these lights first hand.

When all is said and done I do like these lights for the programability and color. Also not having a chiller is a huge plus for me. It just is a hard pill to swallow that I have a 2,000$ upgrade lighting system that now only allows me to keep soft corals. I just recently swallowed that pill and as a responsible reefer have promised myself not to buy any hard corals anymore for this tank.

Thanks,
JIM

[steevareno2002]

Wow that sux! Did you try your lights on lower percentages?

[steevareno2002]

Also did u remove the 40 optics for 70's? Beautiful tank BTW...

[camsan]

Wow! Just read this thread and it has been very helpful in seeing different experiences

[Reefer1225]

Ok, to supplement my previous posts in these threads, I've decided to post pics (good and bad). I obviously need help/advice on my course of action with my 4 AI SOl Blues in my 90. So, you guys tell me, too much light? Too little light? Not a lighting issue.

My AI Sucess & Failures:
Purple Polyp Birdsnest (I bleached but slowly recovering and growing) (PE comes and goes)



Powder Blue Stag (Little to no Growth, Just Encrusting a little)

[Reefer1225]

Bali Green Slimer (Excellent Growth)




Red Planet (Little to no growth)

[Reefer1225]

Spumosa (Good Growth)



Pink Lemonade (Good Growth)

[Reefer1225]

Unknown Deepwater (Bleached but growing)

[Reefer1225]

Misc. Problematic frags (Tricolor Valida, Ice Fire Enchinata, Rainbow Monti)
BEFORE




AFTER

[Donkeykong]

4 on a 90,Wow! I saw a 180, I think, with 4 on it at a LFS and he had great coloration and significant growth. I think 4 on a 90 is a bit of overkill, but to each his own.

[jlnielsen13]

I think that has to be taken into consideration. I have 4 on a 90 where others only have 2... So is my 30% w with four about equal to 2 at 60%.. When we compare settings is it also important that we convert for number of units. If so, I think few people do that conversion.

With that said, I cannot imagine not having four on my tank. I like the full coverage.

Let me know what everyone thinks about the conversion.
Thanks,
Jim

[beachbreak]

Originally Posted by jlnielsen13

I have never had the lights above 32 for white levels and never above 80 for the b or rb.

Your statement above says it all. Blue and royal blue will cook corals just as fast as white and 4 above a 90 at 80% is just blazing.

[Reefer1225]

Agreed with Jlnielson, I can't imagine not having 4 on my 90, which is what AI recommends. I originally had 2 only, and just recently added 2 more. There is a noticeable difference in coverage from 2 mounted laterally and 4 mounted perpendicular to the tank.

I did take it into consideration in regards to intensity, so I dialed down my settings after I installed the 2 new units as stated in my previous posts. I agree with beach break that blues can bleach at high intensities too. With that said, I don't think 30w is enough to cause bleaching. When I dialed down, I went to 45w 50B 55RB from my previous max at 60w 70B 70RB with only 2 units. I gradually brought it back up every week to where it is today at 60w 65B 65RB. The result is my pics above. Some frags continued to have good growth, some bleached, some are returning their color, some brown, etc. So, it's trial by error at this point. Just monitoring it every day.

Will update pics in a few weeks and let you guys know.

[Opiesfish]

Originally Posted by jlnielsen13

I think that has to be taken into consideration. I have 4 on a 90 where others only have 2... So is my 30% w with four about equal to 2 at 60%.. When we compare settings is it also important that we convert for number of units. If so, I think few people do that conversion.

With that said, I cannot imagine not having four on my tank. I like the full coverage.

Let me know what everyone thinks about the conversion.
Thanks,
Jim

How far above the waterline are your lights? I just hung mine yesterday (4 over a 90 gallon)about 12" above the tank...I'm still waiting on the sump so nothing's running yet...

[steevareno2002]

4 seems like alot! Are u guys running the stock optics? Those center pucks will bleach corals for sure like it did to the tips of my tenius.

[reesestewww]

Originally Posted by steevareno2002

4 seems like alot! Are u guys running the stock optics? Those center pucks will bleach corals for sure like it did to the tips of my tenius.

+1. I understand wanting to have 4 Sol, for the coverage. I'm considering placing two Nano's over my 29g BioCube. But, for your application I strongly recommend replacing your optics with all 70*. IMO, it's a must do.

You can find them here. Hope that helps

[Jakef150]

reesestewww,

I have biocube 29 with sol blue 12" ,10" AWL

I started at 10-15-15 and realized it was too low so I jumped it to 25-35-35 and since last summer, it's now 50-65-75 4 hrs peak time 12-4pm .

Before and after peak it's 30-45-65 for 3 hrs.

Everything is great!

I didn't change the pucks..

If AI SOL company release new upgrade pucks with better lens/colors I would buy it.

Jake

[reesestewww]

Originally Posted by Jakef150

reesestewww,

I have biocube 29 with sol blue 12" ,10" AWL

I started at 10-15-15 and realized it was too low so I jumped it to 25-35-35 and since last summer, it's now 50-65-75 4 hrs peak time 12-4pm .

Before and after peak it's 30-45-65 for 3 hrs.

Everything is great!

I didn't change the pucks..

If AI SOL company release new upgrade pucks with better lens/colors I would buy it.

Jake

That's good to hear. I've been debating adding a Nano or putting on a Sol. For me the Nano mount works great. It's all very contained. But with just one, I get a lot of shadows. My recommendation of changing the optics to 70* came from AI. For some, they've seen the 40* cause issues that sound like what jlnielsen13 may be experiencing.

BTW. I like the sound of your color settings. I do run extra blue, but not at my peak nor as much of a delta between the white as yours. Any particular reason you chose to bump up the blues?

Here's my current schedule. The Yellow row is strictly for graphing purposes to represent the peak time, it's not an actual timer.

[windyridge]

I have mine 14" AWL, started at 30% for 6 hours (2 hour ramp up) and took 2 months to ramp up to where I am now at 68% for all 3 lights. Went from a T5 4x30W light to the AI Sol Blue. Getting excellent growth for everything but my Kenya Tree because I must have started out too low for too long for that particular coral because now it is back and growing well. I have SPS, LPS, RBTA and softies. I really like this light. The RBTA hasn't budged since I placed him in the tank.

[jlnielsen13]

My 4 SOLs are about 6-8 inches off the water line. You can see it in this picture:


Lighting: 4 aqua illumination sol super blues




My highest white is 28 now and my highest blue and royal is 68%... Do you think I need to dial mine down some more??

JIM

[Hagisan]

Cell pic taken 1/29/12. Been setup approximately six months and I would consider it a success for me thus far.

I came from 150w mh and started them out very low at 20% and gradually went up each week/bi-weekly.
It took a while to get the corals acclimated to the lights and find the sweet spot for my corals.
Now they peak at 65/75/75 @ 12". I'm considering remounting the units length wise. ty

[windyridge]

Hagisan,

What exactly did you use as signs of a sweet spot? Did you go past the sweet spot and see some adverse effects and then dial back? I am at 68% for the 3 bulbs. I know PE and bleaching is a factor to look for. So far none of that has happened yet. It looks like people are stopping mostly between 70% and 100%.

[JDK]

This thread is great thanks for all the info you guys have submitted. I recently added Acro frags to Biocube 29 which is lit by a single AI SOL Nano. I used the info here as a guide.

After mounting the frags I lowered my lights down to 30/35/40. They run at those levels for 6 hours straight. It ramps up and down to these levels in 180 minutes each giving me a 12 hour photoperiod.

It has been almost 2 weeks since I added the sps frags. I am currently at 35/40/45. The next increase will be Monday when I go to 40/45/50.

I have seen no signs of bleaching at all. A cpl are a little brown but hopefully will get better as I increase the %s. A Tyree Seasons Greetings Monti I had was very brown I believe bc it was off the side of the tank. I have since placed it in the middle and it is beginning to color back up to its original Neon green color.

Pics:

FTS
[IMG]http://i39.*******.com/n2h4xi.jpg[/IMG]

Red Planet, Pearlberry, Garf Bonsai, Tyree Pink Lemonade
[IMG]http://i43.*******.com/ebcwfr.jpg[/IMG]