BTA's Under LED's and PAR

ruppertb · May 8, 2012

Just got my LED fixture built and installed in ym new jbj 28g hood. I will start a thread to show this later when I have the pics up and running.

So what kind of success has everyone had with BTA's under LED's. Do they keep there color, bubble more? Stuff like that.

Also I read somewhere that taking PAR Readings under LED's was tricky, something about adding a percent to the number or something like that. Just curious.

Brice

mainereefer · May 8, 2012

with my 250w mh I get a reading of around 400 on the par meter and with the led it shows around 3000 lol I dont think par meters work for led

TD2K · May 8, 2012

I took readings under my new LED's, they seemed fine. Here's what I got.

Too early to tell if the rose BTA's like them yet or not. Turned them down to about 1/2 power to acclimate everything. They're WAY more bright than the old compact florescents and I don't want to burn everything.

CJO · May 8, 2012

I've had mine under LEDs for about 2 years now with no issues. It was previously kept under T5's.

CJ

ruppertb · May 8, 2012

ok thanks all. Im thinking about going bare bottom in my bta tank. Its a 28gal jbj, or should i just do a dusting of sand.

also anyone know anything about par readings with leds being off

J Rog · May 8, 2012

My BTA just split under my LED's. Thats a good sign :mullet:

Ace25 · May 8, 2012

It all depends on the LEDs used on the light. If you use a standard 2:1 royal blue:cool while combo, then PAR readings are about 1/2 that of a MH to get equal lighting, ie. 800 PAR out of a 250w XM 10k light is = to 400 PAR from LEDs (due to the spectrum). Now if you put in regular blues, greens, and reds into the LED light, then that adds to the PAR but doesn't help photosynthesis, but that gets you closer to the same readings as other types of full spectrum lighting. It is the extreme and monochromatic output of colored LEDs that really throw a wrench into the whole "PAR" thing and makes using PAR really useless when trying to compare different lighting technoligies, unless you understand the spectrum and can take that into account. There is a new meter out that will give much more accurate readings between lighting technologies which is the EconLux SolarMeter in the blue model.

drtrash · May 8, 2012

I have a rainbow, BTA & RBTA under t-5 for a couple of years and now LED for a year and color is as good but different. Color can shift alittle

ruppertb · May 9, 2012

thanks everyone. ya there are 15blue 10 white but both on dimmers. i just wanted to match the par from my 150 and slowly ramp it up. so they could get acclimated. any suggestion on this one?

Ace25 · May 9, 2012

What was the PAR reading before the switch? Whatever the PAR reading was, I would cut it in 1/2 on the LEDs to start out with and raise it no more than 5% per week in intensity if you want to give the tank more light than it was getting with your previous lighting. It sounds extreme to cut the PAR in 1/2 with LEDs, and to your eyes you will swear the LEDs look much dimmer than your old lighting, but that is not the case to the corals. Best advice I can give in regards to LEDs, RESIST the urge to turn them up so they match to your eyes what the previous lighting looked like. It is so hard to resist doing it. Even myself, I knew better but still couldn't resist, and lost a few corals because of it.

On an anemone, it is much easier to tell when you have gone to high. Unlike corals, the anemones will simply get restless and walk away from the lighting if it is too bright. If you see your anemone reacting negatively at all, I would almost guarantee it is because your LED lighting is much more intense than your previous lighting and you need to turn down the LEDs.