Any benefit from single red and green LED?

impur · Jan 4, 2014

I have a 24 bulb bridgelux led kit over my Biocube 29 and really like it. One driver runs 12 blues and the other runs 2 blue 2 UV and 8 white. The UV bulbs are worthless so I am replacing them and wondering if a red and a green would do anything worthwhile for the spectrum since its really only 2 bulbs? They are placed in the perfect spots though, middle row and on either side of the very middle bulb. I also have a couple cyan bulbs. But if it won't do much for the tank I will just put on a couple more blues.

impur · Jan 5, 2014

Anyone?

NanaReefer · Jan 5, 2014

Nope. Just add the blues

Ron Reefman · Jan 5, 2014

Why do you feel the UV leds are worthless?

Sketch804 · Jan 10, 2014

I wonder the same thing. I have had great success with just blue and white LEDs.

TJ's Reef · Jan 10, 2014

Well, I'm definitely a fan of full spectrum and would not run a LED fixture without both Red and Green/Cyan. I want the more natural light and more than just the Green and Orange pigments to pop. Also though wondering why you think the violet is ineffective, They are barely within our visual range but do fluoresce corals nicely so would still keep them in the mix personally. As for ratio, I also think that just one or two Reds and Greens without optics or with wide 120* optics work best in spreading them out more evenly.

Cheers, Todd

bigfoot86 · Jan 10, 2014

Yea, no need for those lights, radions try use them as a marketing tool and people buy them. But they can be detrimental.

tyler1503 · Jan 10, 2014

I would just add more blue. Some warm white wouldn't go astray if you want something a bit out of the ordinary. It has some red and green spectrum in it already

What's wrong with your UVs?

reef4beer · Jan 10, 2014

Personally I like uvs makes the green colors on coral pop in a unique way.

I would say keep some uv and replace a few with red and green.

Reason I like the green and red is for visual purposes. Run red with blue for dawn and dusk effect. Green in my opinion is a nice alternative for a brighter look on the tank.

impur · Jan 10, 2014

Ron Reefman said:
Why do you feel the UV leds are worthless?

They barely put out any light and the glass became clouded or even dark after about 3 months. This is just the bridgelux uv that I chose with my kit, I can't say for other brands out there. And one of them has already burned out after about 10-12m.

impur · Jan 10, 2014

Thanks for the input everyone! I haven't added the bulbs yet, but was thinking of doing it this weekend. I am still on the fence on whether to add the other colors, but its running now without those bulbs even installed so anything I add will give it a little bit more intensity. I think it would be nice to add some more color I just didn't know if 1 bulb would do much. But hey thats the beauty of DIY, I can try it and if I don't like it or see benefit I can change it up

tyler1503 · Jan 10, 2014

impur said:
They barely put out any light and the glass became clouded or even dark after about 3 months. This is just the bridgelux uv that I chose with my kit, I can't say for other brands out there. And one of them has already burned out after about 10-12m.

UV will do that. We can't process UV light the way corals can. It looks dull to us, but they are probably putting out a ton of light, we just can't see it.
I've never heard of them clouding glass before :S Is it possible something else did that?

inurocker · Jan 10, 2014

I went with full spectrum on my DIY set. Following along.

impur · Jan 10, 2014

tyler1503 said:
UV will do that. We can't process UV light the way corals can. It looks dull to us, but they are probably putting out a ton of light, we just can't see it.
I've never heard of them clouding glass before :S Is it possible something else did that?

I don't think so, it happened on both bulbs I installed. One of them burnt out and the whole string went down, that is the only reason I noticed it on both. I knew the one was a bit cloudy but when the string went down they were both very brown.

impur · Jan 10, 2014

inurocker said:
I went with full spectrum on my DIY set. Following along.

Do you have a thread with pics of your DIY?

tyler1503 · Jan 10, 2014

impur said:
I don't think so, it happened on both bulbs I installed. One of them burnt out and the whole string went down, that is the only reason I noticed it on both. I knew the one was a bit cloudy but when the string went down they were both very brown.

Oh, sorry. I thought you meant a glass lid over your tank went cloudy haha. Maybe some extra blue would be the way to go. I would still add a very low kelvin white if your after something a little more full spectrum. Being blues or whites I don't know if 2 LEDs will make much of a difference though :S

inurocker · Jan 10, 2014

impur said:
Do you have a thread with pics of your DIY?

Not yet, I am still working on the tank build and waiting on pumps and other gear. It is the Rapid LED 40 kit with 4 extra blue and a typhon controller.

Reefing Madness · Jan 10, 2014

Need em for the coloration. Go see a unit thats just blue and white, then look at one with blue, white, green and red. AMAZING COLORS!!

TJ's Reef · Jan 10, 2014

Reefing Madness said:
Need em for the coloration. Go see a unit thats just blue and white, then look at one with blue, white, green and red. AMAZING COLORS!!

Well said and fully agree to this statement. Green/Cyan is an important part of the light spectrum and IMHO/IME Red in the 625-670 range is very necessary for enhancing colors like Yellow and Pink.

Cheers, Todd

Reefing Madness · Jan 10, 2014

TJ's Reef said:
Well said and fully agree to this statement. Green/Cyan is an important part of the light spectrum and IMHO/IME Red in the 625-670 range is very necessary for enhancing colors like Yellow and Pink.

Cheers, Todd

Totally agree. Yellow Figi looks awesome under ones with red. Not so yellow under just blue and white.