New reefer lighting advice

[AviL]

Hey all!

After a few years developing my skills with freshwater, I've started a reef! I have a 21gal with some soft/LPS and I'm looking for advice on a lighting schedule for my kessil a160we. Any advice?

 

[AviL]

 

[icedearth15324]

Looks good, and welcome to the club! I believe the 160we can't be programmed, so you'd have to use a normal timer, unless they've updated it.

 

[AviL]

Looks good, and welcome to the club! I believe the 160we can't be programmed, so you'd have to use a normal timer, unless they've updated it.

I have the spectral controller, so I can program color and intensity.

 

[CF2]

Never had a Kessil, but I would just in general be careful with how much light you put in the tank. A 21g is relatively small, and LEDs can be deceptively powerful, i.e. they look normal from the side but are actually putting out very high PAR underneath. Your model has a 40w max, which is a lot of LED light for a 20g tank. Also, from what I see none of your coral really needs high light. I would start with about 10hrs of blue and then turn up the whites/others for maybe 2hrs in the middle and see how the coral responds.

 

[AviL]

Never had a Kessil, but I would just in general be careful with how much light you put in the tank. A 21g is relatively small, and LEDs can be deceptively powerful, i.e. they look normal from the side but are actually putting out very high PAR underneath. Your model has a 40w max, which is a lot of LED light for a 20g tank. Also, from what I see none of your coral really needs high light. I would start with about 10hrs of blue and then turn up the whites/others for maybe 2hrs in the middle and see how the coral responds.

Thanks so much for the advice!