quick question about lighting

[danielll]

I have a 24x24x12 shallow rimless. I am lighting it with one radion xr30w. I currently have it about 20 inches above my tank.

My question is, is this too high up? too low? I am thinking seriously about adding a RBTA this weekend (small one) and I want him to be very comfortable. Ideally i want to place him, and have him set up shop as I do not want to worry about my corals in the tank.

Any thoughts, should I just see about getting a par meter or can I safely assume a certain height is good?

Thanks!

 

[shanepike]

I can't comment on that particular light, but I did want to chime in on the anemone. This week, I've put two</em> RBTAs in the same tank that you have and both are still walking around. Can't imagine it has anything to do with the tank, but I just thought that was an interesting coincidence. I got lucky on the first RBTA I ever got (in my 90g), and he stayed right where I put him. Not with these two so far.

 

[eric b]

I would put the RBTA in the tank and if that light is dimmable then I would lower it to about 10" and you can control the intensity with the dimmable feature which you can slowly increase over the next month or so a little each week until you get to the brightness you want. If not dimmable then you can slowly lower it a little each time over the next month or so to accomplish the same thing. Don't know much about that particular fixture but MOST led fixtures are mounted about 6-10" above the water. Ultimately you will probably want a par meter to check it but just remember par meters only read white light so if you are measuring the par just note that the other spectrum's are putting out light as well but not picked up by a par meter.

 

[danielll]

Thanks for replying guys. I kept my lights elevated to 20 inches because they are quite strong and the tank is rather shallow. So I should lower them?

 

[ringo®]

Sounds a little high to me unless there are really tight optics on it.

 

[camellia]

I think it would depend on what percentage your Radion is set on. I have mine on 70% which is pretty strong and 9" above the tank. However my tank is 24" deep.
I think Radion's instruction manual recommends at least 8", 20" sounds high but with your tank being shallow idk. You could call, they have great customer service and the user forum is helpful.

 

[danielll]

Thanks for all the responses. It is 16 inches off the surface of the water, and the water is 11 inches deep. My lights are at 100% during the day.