Full spectrum LED lighting
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Rimlessreefer
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I run ai hydras over my tank. I have zero algae, and amazing growth!
Rimlessreefer
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I have been running them 4 months now
Rimlessreefer
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Yup, I run gfo and Carbon In a brs dual reactor. I replace the media every 2 weeks. I also do 20-25 % weekly water changes.
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TJ's Reef
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I run/have run a full spectrum DIY LED fixture on my system for 2+ years now and hands down the best lighting I've used in almost 32 years of Reefkeeping. If you are familiar with my posting I am a huge and outspoken proponent of LED lighting and in particular full spectrum fixtures rather DIY or commercial units. I built my own to emulate a 14K Phoenix MH lamp but with a little more control of overall needed spectrum. You can see more of my build linked in my signature below or several LED related threads here on R2r.
Cheers, Todd
Cheers, Todd
Awesome! Thanks guys. Guys at the LFS are about half and half on opinions about LED's. I've had a cheaper LED set up for about two years (Marineland reef capable). Doesn't seem too reef capable though. Softies are ok but I really want a clam. Think I'll go with the full spectrum LED over the MH.
Ron Reefman
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Marineland leds are way too weak except over very shallow tanks like 12" to 16".
Full spectrum is a bit of a false statement, but newer fixtures use more colors than they did when they were all a single shade of white and a single spectrum of blue. They do not 'cause' algae to grow unless you are right on the brink of starting some algae and the few red leds can be just enough to bump you over the edge. It's just like the old fluorescent bulb spectrum change causes algae growth... well it doesn't unless you were really close to having algae isses already.
I have 4 tanks and have used OceanRevive fixtures over 2 and EverGrow fixtures over the other 2. It's been just over a year and zero algae issues. And coral health and growth has been as good as it was when I used 4 250w MH bulbs over my 180g DT. Now I use 480w of leds run at about half power (so roughly 250w to 300w).
This is my 180g DT after about 9 months of leds:
Rimlessreefer
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I would say a better definition will be broad spectrum
Ron Reefman
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OK, I don't claim to be an expert. But to me the true meaning of a 'full spectrum light' is all visible wavelenghts from violet at 400nm to red at 700nm.
Below 400nm is UV and above 700nm is infrared and the human eye ca't see either of those.
In led fixtures there are discrete spectrum leds like 440nm blue or 660nm red... all the specific color leds are a specific wavelength (more or less). The 'white' leds are various amounts of red, green and blue that mix to be some shade of 'white'. The definition of white is 'all visible spectrum', but just 3 specific wavelenghts can make a 'shade' of off white. A little red 650nm, a little green 520nm and a lot of blue 440nm will mix to look like 'cool white' and a little blue, a little green and a lot of red will mix to make 'warm white'. Most good marine led fixtures will have violet (400-420nm), at least 1 sometimes 2 or 3 shades of blue (between 440nm and 480nm), either green or cyan, and 1 or 2 shades of red (640nm to 660nm). And then some mix of 2 to 4 different whites. All together these will hit anywhere from 6 to as many as 12 different discrete wavelenghts and white leds in the range from 400nm to 700nm. Now the leds are not perfect and they do 'bleed' into other wavelenght, like a 440nm blue will have a small amount of 438, more 439, a lot of 440, some 441 and a little 442 (just as an example). There are much more expensive 'high CRI' white leds that do create a lot of different spectrum and come much closer to being a 'true' white led. The best white leds get up to about a 90 to 92 CRI value and are much more expensive than basic white leds used in today's marine led fixtures (like 10 to 20 times more expensive).
For true 'full spectrum light' you need MH or t5 bulbs that do produce almost all the spectrum visible to the human eye. That is what the led fixtures are aiming for and the better ones (not necessarily the more expensive ones) are getting closer and closer. I have 7 different colors and 3 different white leds in my fixtures which are inexpensive but well made Chinese fixtures. And after just over a year, I'm completely happy with them and wouldn't go back to MH if you gave them to me for free along with a life time supply of new bulbs.
Ron Reefman
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+1 Very well said.
Ron Reefman
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Tampa Bay Reef Keepers
MAC of SW Florida
I have 2 EverGrow IT2080's over my 180g DT and an IT2040 over the 70g hexagon anemone tank. I also have 3 OceanRevive Arctic S026's over my 65g and 25g frag tanks. The EverGrow fixtures have built-in controllers for doing sunrise/sunset. The OceanRevive fixtures use dimmers and timers, the frag tanks are working tanks so I don't care about sunrise/sunset. You can find the OceanRevive S026 on sale for $156. at times. Take a look at it, they are a sponsor here.Ask their guy about prices, he's been very helpful to people who ask questions.
