Hearing from Adam at Battle Corals telling me he runs his LEDs at 100% on all channels was like a duh! moment for me. Why spend that kind of money and not use it? Slow and steady raising of power is what I am doing....
LED Height Above Water
- Thread starter Flux Capacitor
- Start date
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Hearing from Adam at Battle Corals telling me he runs his LEDs at 100% on all channels was like a duh! moment for me. Why spend that kind of money and not use it? Slow and steady raising of power is what I am doing....
SDboatguy
Active Member
For what its worth - 60x18x20 tank- I run 3 hydra 26 HD s 7" for the top of the tank (9" off the water) with 4 ATI T5s retro fitted in a canopy. 1 set of T5(B+) is on for 10hr , the other set(C+) comes on an hour before the LED peak and off an hour after. LEDs are 5 hour ramp up and down with a 4 hour peak- all channels at 100% except white which is at 65% . I have 18 frags and a couple colonies that seem to be adapting well . Most of the frags are from Adam - some growing better than others , but none have bleached or died after getting settled in the tank.
stevieduk
Active Member
why have them that high. I rested mine on the top of the tank about 2 inches abouve the water line. If you raise them up you loose light. i went from T5 s resting on my tank to LED s in the same position and my corals really came to life
OP
OP
Flux Capacitor
Well-Known Member
Little update... I have finished the canopy, but due to some rain here today it's not quite finished. Once I get it done I'll get some photos uploaded. I can't wait to get the lights to a higher position. I dry fit them, and it looks like I'm gonna get a more even par throughout the tank. Once I get everything settled in I'm gonna try to find a par meter at a local shop to get the real numbers.
OP
OP
Flux Capacitor
Well-Known Member
It seems a lot of the led setups put out an extremely potent light beam vs T5. That's why I started the thread, to see what others are doing. I have found that if I bring the intensity above 45-50% I start to bleach my corals. I'm hoping bringing them up higher will distribute the light better, and allow me to increase the intensity.
Z3speed4me
Well-Known Member
I use the Corona light system by Rapid LED. It works pretty well for what I need and it will eventually be connected to a fishbit system. I keep them about 18 inches above my tank to make sure that everything is well lit. I don't know too much about where my light levels should be, but after fighting algae for a long time, I keep my intensity around 70% or lower.
I am also running 2 Corona's on my 75G for about 9 months now. I am about 14" off the water and my percentages are almost half of yours though; I am slowly trying to ramp everything up a bit more though as I move into some more SPS.
I think the difference in all the LED's fixtures is the spread of light. Some have different reflectors, etc. I have my lights at 100% power 7" off the water, but the spread is real wide.
If there isn't allot of spread on the light, I think you can probably burn up corals pretty quick. With the different types of lights listed in this thread, maybe a chart can be built on
what people like the most for each fixture.
If there isn't allot of spread on the light, I think you can probably burn up corals pretty quick. With the different types of lights listed in this thread, maybe a chart can be built on
what people like the most for each fixture.
chefjpaul
2500 Club Member
Great point.
OP
OP
Flux Capacitor
Well-Known Member
Finally finished the new canopy. The lights are now 1o inches above the water. I plan to set the lights to a max of around 70%, and acclimation starting at 50% for the next 6 months. See how that works.
Nice work on the canopy.
Velcro
2500 Club Member
Because better spread, better color blending, less hotspots, more room above tank, less disco, etc.
OP
OP
Flux Capacitor
Well-Known Member
Thanks!
I wanted to make sure I kept as much heat out as possible. I am considering putting some supplemental t5s in the canopy, so I didn't want the hydra 52s to add any heat. I installed the 5 3" pvc drain covers to keep the airflow up, and if need be I have 2 3" fans I could install.
OP
OP
Flux Capacitor
Well-Known Member
A little update since moving the hydra 52s up to 10 inches....
I have seen better light coverage throughout the tank. My corals are all responding positivity, and the colors seem to be getting a little better.
I have seen better light coverage throughout the tank. My corals are all responding positivity, and the colors seem to be getting a little better.
OP
OP
Flux Capacitor
Well-Known Member
It's been a while since I have posted here. As some of you have seen I had a problem with my salt level casing my corals to recede from the bottom up. I have that under control now, but due to that I don't have any updates on if raising the lights has helped my tank any. I'll have more in the coming weeks.
jdpeters
Active Member
I know this is an old thread, but I just started questioning if I put my lights too low or high. Now you got me thinking
stevieduk
Active Member
i know when my lights are turned up to much cos the polyps close up. ive got a double black box, and it seems the best setting is about 40 % on the blue and minimum on the rest
stevieduk
Active Member
i know when my lights are turned up to much cos the polyps close up. ive got a double black box, and it seems the best setting is about 40 % on the blue and minimum on the rest
