Color LEDs

Blue Tang · Mar 25, 2013

What benefits does the color LEDs has? Should I install red, green, uv, etc. Also how many would I need for a standard 90 gallon tank.

bigfoot86 · Mar 25, 2013

There's no need for green. I know Ecotech Radions put a multitude of colors in their light spectrum but its only for effects and could actually disturb your corals quite a bit.

Blue Tang · Mar 25, 2013

bigfoot86 said:
There's no need for green. I know Ecotech Radions put a multitude of colors in their light spectrum but its only for effects and could actually disturb your corals quite a bit.

So it's ok just to have royal blue and whites? I was looking into adding some color LEDs if it was beneficial like making the corals pop a little more.

tidus10 · Mar 25, 2013

reds and yellows are being played with to make the tank "pop" more but would make it look goofy if overdone... i dont think we will ever see yellow strips or red strips like we see blue.

saltyair · Mar 25, 2013

i run only whites 7500k and 50/50 blue - I don't realy see the need for any other color since white light fractures once it hits the water. the only reason to add colors for your enjoyment - but some testing is showing negitive effects to red.

Blue Tang · Mar 25, 2013

saltyair said:
i run only whites 7500k and 50/50 blue - I don't realy see the need for any other color since white light fractures once it hits the water. the only reason to add colors for your enjoyment - but some testing is showing negitive effects to red.

Yeah, I was wondering because I see all these new fixture coming out with all kind of color just wondering if the color is better than just the blue and white.

Liquid360 · Mar 25, 2013

The color is a marketing thing. White light is made up of all colors in equal measure. Intensity means a great deal more than color when speaking of photosynthetic lighting.

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bigfoot86 · Mar 25, 2013

I agree with liquid360, the colors other than the whites and blues are definitely a marketing scheme. Its should be more than satisfactory with blues and whites. There is some research done on the color spectrum needed for corals.

GHill762 · Mar 25, 2013

While many colors may be unnecessary, violet seems to be popular now for hitting certain photosynthetic peaks and getting more florescent effect. A mix of rb, cb, nw, and tv would be pretty good.

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Blue Tang · Mar 25, 2013

bigfoot86 said:
I agree with liquid360, the colors other than the whites and blues are definitely a marketing scheme. Its should be more than satisfactory with blues and whites. There is some research done on the color spectrum needed for corals.

Well sound great, I guess I'll save the money and do something else with it. Thanks.

Swine · Mar 25, 2013

Liquid360 said:
The color is a marketing thing. White light is made up of all colors in equal measure. Intensity means a great deal more than color when speaking of photosynthetic lighting.

N8/Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'd agree to a degree. but if you have a red LED then you will get more intensity of that wavelength. now the real question is what wavelengths are beneficial or damaging. I wish everything looked amazing under just whitelight but find that the blue really does make things pop.

I've ordered some red and green less to try in my kit. I've got a bank of royal blue, cool white and will have another dimmer channel with UV along with one or two red and greens if it looks nice.

I will also put in 4 moon light LEDs so I can see some things in my tank when I'm up late partying haha

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GHill762 · Mar 25, 2013

Swine said:
I'd agree to a degree. but if you have a red LED then you will get more intensity of that wavelength. now the real question is what wavelengths are beneficial or damaging. I wish everything looked amazing under just whitelight but find that the blue really does make things pop.

I've ordered some red and green less to try in my kit. I've got a bank of royal blue, cool white and will have another dimmer channel with UV along with one or two red and greens if it looks nice.

I will also put in 4 moon light LEDs so I can see some things in my tank when I'm up late partying haha

sent from my phone.

make the greens cyan
make the red deep red
toss some neutral white in there (either in place of or mixed with cw)

Liquid360 · Mar 25, 2013

Whenever there's a question I believe in a perfect world we're trying to imitate Mother Nature. Until I see other suns in the sky I'll have faith in white lights and the spectrum it covers. Agree to disagree

GHill762 said:
make the greens cyan
make the red deep red
toss some neutral white in there (either in place of or mixed with cw)

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Swine · Mar 25, 2013

Liquid360 said:
Whenever there's a question I believe in a perfect world we're trying to imitate Mother Nature. Until I see other suns in the sky I'll have faith in white lights and the spectrum it covers. Agree to disagree

N8/Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Totally agree! But my LEDs won't make a mini sun

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jeffblly · Mar 25, 2013

Half my tank is lit by a full spectrum DIY led fixture and half is cool white rb with a few exotics thrown in. I like my full spectrum DIY led fixture better as I can easily adjust the color to my liking. The exotics add a little more pop to the colors but both fixtures have no problem growing sps. If I only have white on, the corals look ugly. The nice thing about full spectrum leds is that with the turn of a few dials you can change the look of the tank instantly.

gmoney243 · Mar 25, 2013

Corals will grow undet rb/cw just fine. But they will not.look as good as a full spectrum led fixture. I have seen many fixtures in person from diy to radion pros. I have rb/cw and i run with t5 because they just dont have as good looking of a light nor do the corals look as good. I can tell u from seeing in person the new radion pros have a much more pleasent look to the light and the corals look fabulous. Its the only fixture ive seen that i wouldnt use t5 with. So yea the colors do matter for looks dont let anyone tell you different.

Liquid360 · Mar 25, 2013

And you'll find equal number who say don't. Kessil would explain it you in detail. Maxspect and kessil have STELLER results! I've got razor that par'd with 400w halide. Please answer my question concerning the make up of white light and then explain why the need for the colors.... please?

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Pappy · Mar 25, 2013

I have 4 red and 4 green along with cool white, blue, and royal blue over my 120. I can tell u they make $1,000,000 difference in color. Every fixture I've seen with blue/white only doesn't hold a candle to the DIY I had built over my tank. You wouldn't know it until u saw one with and one without. The store I go to was selling ai sols and was trying to convince me to go that route but I just wasn't seeing the colors in his corals the guy that built mine did. He came over to pick up some coral and a setup I traded for mp40.....he then had dude that built mine build a few for his store. Like I said b4 you don't know til u see but huges difference adding red and green!

GHill762 · Mar 25, 2013

Liquid360 said:
And you'll find equal number who say don't. Kessil would explain it you in detail. Maxspect and kessil have STELLER results! I've got razor that par'd with 400w halide. Please answer my question concerning the make up of white light and then explain why the need for the colors.... please?

N8/Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

the razor utilizes a good mix of cw, ww, tv, cb, rb... granted it doesn't have the cy or dr, but it's also not just the same old cb and cw.. that's pretty close to what I was just recommending.. not sure what is all in the kessil so I can't really comment on that.

The only reason I was recommending the dr and cy is they are better choices than red and green..

edit: cw and ww together will cover a lof of the spectrum.. cw without nw or ww will look anemic..

Blue Tang · Mar 25, 2013

Pappy said:
I have 4 red and 4 green along with cool white, blue, and royal blue over my 120. I can tell u they make $1,000,000 difference in color. Every fixture I've seen with blue/white only doesn't hold a candle to the DIY I had built over my tank. You wouldn't know it until u saw one with and one without. The store I go to was selling ai sols and was trying to convince me to go that route but I just wasn't seeing the colors in his corals the guy that built mine did. He came over to pick up some coral and a setup I traded for mp40.....he then had dude that built mine build a few for his store. Like I said b4 you don't know til u see but huges difference adding red and green!

Do you think 2 red and 2 green for a 90 gallon would be ok? I'm using cw, nw rb and blue at the moment. Thanks.