Is it just me... old school vs new school

[Coastie Reefer]

So I'm going through some of the equipment I've amassed over the course of my reef keeping journey and I pulled out an old BoostLED 135w led fixture (from the time when we paid a good bit more for Chinese black boxes). This unit is a non dimmable two channels fixture with whites, blue, and uv only. The thing is, I really like the color so much more than some of the newer full spectrum leds on the market theses days. I currently have an AI Prime on my nano, and while I like the sleek appearance and built in wifi, timer, etc... the color of the old school light just can't be matched. I'm not sure if it's the brick style layout over the pucks or what, but I absolutely love the color I got out of that old light. Am I the only one that feels this way?

 

[mcarroll]

Am I the only one that feels this way?

No.

Most folks have simply never used a blue+white LED fixture and presume that the "latest and greatest" is automatically better.

Of those who did use blue and white, lots were early-adopters that didn't have much guidance. Like me. I roached a tank full of corals switching from halide. Even today with tons more information available, switching is not an automatic success.

Now I preach about light meters. Would've saved mine: I was worried about over-lighting after the switch. (Search for the "LX-1010B" lux meter. Usually under $15, delivered.)

But as it turned out, my eyeballs were wrong.

As I found later after the fact upon measuring, I had dropped intensity from around 80,000 lux (halide) to around 14,000 lux (LED) as well as reducing the photoperiod during the acclimation.

Did you know intensity changes in either direction can be extremely stressful for corals?



P.S. Not everything succumbed....I maintained at least frags from all but two colonies. Remarkably, a couple colonies even showed no impact at all.

 

[Midrats]

I don't mind the older blue and white fixtures and have had success growing corals with them. I think for me the minimal adjustability factor was more like the traditional on/off lighting I was used to and the color was less blue. I'm going to date myself and say I thought 10K halides were too blue when they came out.

 

[Coastie Reefer]

I don't mind the older blue and white fixtures and have had success growing corals with them. I think for me the minimal adjustability factor was more like the traditional on/off lighting I was used to and the color was less blue. I'm going to date myself and say I thought 10K halides were too blue when they came out.

I just bring out much more color in my coral with the older fixture, and they even have more of that "pop" everyone is always looking for

Like that Cutter Eagle profile pic by the way!

 

[Midrats]

I grew up a lot on that old boat!

 

[Coastie Reefer]

My friend's dad was the capn of the Eagle in the early 2000s. Captain Luke. I was on the Dallas, Gallatin, and Kodiak Island.

 

[Midrats]

That pic is from the bicentennial in 1990. The skipper was D.V.V. Wood. We called him Da Voom Voom lol. Looks like you spent a lot of time underway. Always nice to meet a fellow Coastie.