debating on spectrum

[LegoZ81]

debating filling out the spectrum offered by my AI's with Stunner strips, I was wanting some opinions. the thought was 12.5" - 4 UV and 4 Magenta to broaden the spectrum.

The question is this is 48watts of additional light, is that enough to make any difference?
Is this just a waste of ~500 dollars?

Was thinking of Fiji Purple T5 but I would really like to stay LED if possible.

 

[FishBeard]

Ditch the LED, get a nice 6-8 bulb T5 fixture with good ATI/KZ bulbs. You'll never get the same kind of color spectrum from you sols and stunners as you will with a good t5 bulb combo. Plus you will likely end up ahead price wise selling off the sols. The only LED worth comparing for color spectrum right now is the Radion, but that's not even part of this discussion.

 

[chadfarmer]

add a few t5s


i have 2 apollos on my frag tank and the corals looked better than my tank with AI's

 

[thewackyreefer]

What about adding a MH between thefixtures?

 

[CJO]

Magentas might help, but I would stay away from and LEDs that are in the real UV range.

CJ

 

[slugwall]

Ditch the LED, get a nice 6-8 bulb T5 fixture with good ATI/KZ bulbs. You'll never get the same kind of color spectrum from you sols and stunners as you will with a good t5 bulb combo. Plus you will likely end up ahead price wise selling off the sols. The only LED worth comparing for color spectrum right now is the Radion, but that's not even part of this discussion.

FishBeard... I have on order a 8 t5 bulb 48" lamp configuration coming in the mail for my 55glhigh what do you think I should order for bulbs?

 

[ReefLEDLights]

T5s work but over the long run they are expensive. In some cases more than MH

With the right research you can emulate any spectrum you want with LEDs and not replace the bulbs every 9 months.

Bill

 

[LegoZ81]

]Bill do you have any recommendations? I just can't seem to get it right with the AI's but others have been successful. I need to work again on getting whites up as high as possible as that is where the broadest spectrum coverage comes from. I have a hard time understating what is missing when i look at the spectral plot from the manufactures in comparison to Mh...

Asking AI for the unit of measure on the graph below.

250w 20k Radium

 

[Onedesign1]

IMO if you could do a little DIY you could fill it out. The sols have too much white IMO and the temptation to drive them causes other issues. If you are a little handy I would suggest a DIY strip containing a few NW, couple reds, and and some greens. The neutral whites will warm it up, the reds and greens will give you some spread between 525nm and 650nm....this strip would then be driven around 450ma so as to not over power everything. I would also run the Sol whites down low as well and drive the royal blues. Not knowing your tank dimensions can't really recommend how may of each.

 

[LegoZ81]

the tank is a 240 96x24x24 and I have the Sol Blues

 

[Onedesign1]

the tank is a 240 96x24x24 and I have the Sol Blues

how many Sols are you running? and is that all you're running? and are you comfortable with DIY?

 

[LegoZ81]

5 blues. Yes that is all I am running. I'd prolly be fine doing a DIY setup

 

[Onedesign1]

Looking at your tank I would recommend building 4 DIY strips and placing 1 in between each of the Sols....like this

RB=Royal Blue, GR=Green, NW=Neutral White ... the RB should be Cree XTE, the NW Cree XPG, and the Greens Cree XPE.

Would drive them all off a single Meanwell 60-48D driver configured in 2 strings of 14. Each string would have a potential of ~650ma but expect to drive them below 500ma. Would just use a simple manual dimmer to dial in the color mix with the Sols.

For heatsink use 2" x1" x1" aluminum U channel each 12" long and hang them in between each pair of sols.Recommend adding 60 degree optics.

I can help you offline if you want to give it a shot

 

[LegoZ81]

I need to figure out how to get a spectograph of AI in comparison to MH on the same scale...

Can you explain the difference between the Cree XTE RB and the RB XPE?

Where does the NW XPG differ from the CW XPG in the AI (more orange/red spectrum???)

Currently my Sol Blues are @ 50W-65B-35RB
I have 2 48" Blue ReefBrite bars available that I can fire up but they make things WAY too blue @ 100%. I do need to determine what their prominent spectral peak is.

Are the greens spectrum for viewing only or for actual pigmentation changes?

 

[ReefLEDLights]

The Cree XT-E has a tighter spectrum. The XP-E Royal Blue can be between 450-465nm The D316 is 450nm which gives the best colour pop.

The XT-E D36 is 450nm D37 is 455nm

The XT-E is also about 10-15% brighter depending on the bin of the XP-E.

NW XPG are yellow looking. If you DIY you can choose a warmer bin of the Cool White with better results.

Certain SPS and LPS pigments will react to different light colours. Greens, UV, Reds are more for pigments excitement than growth.

Bill

 

[LegoZ81]

Bill

Bill did you see my post back on pg1?
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/led-lighting-specific/80842-debating-spectrum.html#post881115

Does the charts released by AI reflect an accurate picture? or is it low enough resolution with enough smoothing to not tell the whole story?

 

[ReefLEDLights]

Bill did you see my post back on pg1?
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/led-lighting-specific/80842-debating-spectrum.html#post881115

Does the charts released by AI reflect an accurate picture? or is it low enough resolution with enough smoothing to not tell the whole story?

Its about as accurate as a car manufacturer telling you MPGallon of their cars.
AI does not specify which bins they put into their lights so one you unit you purchase can have yellower whites than the next unit you buy from them. And with that, the chart does not reflect the unit you could be getting.

-Rick

 

[LegoZ81]

well about the same as it is not my specific fixture but looks like Sanjay did this for this months article on A.A.
Feature Article: Spectral Distributions of LEDs: AI-Sol, Radion, Orphek, EcoRay, Mvava — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog

 

[ReefLEDLights]

Rick is 100% right.

These charts are only representative. The range of the Cree Cool White is 5-7.5K depending on which bin. AI as a large manufacturer cannot and does not specifically bin their LEDs like we do. I asked them at Macna and they do dot bin their LEDs.

The result is some, depending on production run, may be more yellow than others.

This pic is a good representation of the range of Cree Cool White. Note: this is an example of the coolest bin v the warmest bin of Cree Cool White.

Bins really matter and I'm surprised there is not more talk on which Royal Blue or what Bin of Cree Cool White.

Bill

 

[Onedesign1]

no doubt Bins matter and you bring up a very good point regarding commercial fixtures. In the DIY world I recognize you guys pride yourselves on guaranteeing bins and as for the other suppliers they do not go to the lengths you guys do to offer various bins but they do state what they sell so I take them at their word too. Point is we don't see this on the commercial fixtures as you very well point out and I don't recall where I saw it but I thought I read someone complained that no 2 radioms were the same as far the poster was concerned...he was frustrated in the post I read.

Anyhow, I personally use reds and greens in my fixture to fill out the spectrum. My personal experience has been a completely new tank since I added them. If reds can't be had or used in the configuration I have found NWs do a nice job of throwing some red into the spectrum....which is why i recommended them in this case. I do a decent amount of local builds and personally feel its more important to include red and green in the spectrum than worry about what bin CW you have and the XTEs are tight enough to not worry about it. I believe Sanjay confirms the importance of a fuller spectrum in the link above.

As always you guys at Reef LED are a great resource and source of information. Good stuff.