LED Spectrum?

greydmv · May 10, 2012

All,

Ok, I keep reading about great initial color, and bleaching, and even the fading of colors when LEDs are introduced. My head is starting to spin, so can some of you more experienced individuals give me some insight or point me to more solid information so that it doesnt hurt anymore?
:decision:

Thanks

Jake1 · May 10, 2012

The color in all my corals have gotten better!! Growth is unbelievable. I have a 24 dimmable led kit from aquastyle. 10 (10k) 10 blue 2 red 2 uv. Going to make a 36 for one side of a 75 and the 24 will go on the other.

greydmv · May 10, 2012

How long have you been running LEDs on your tank?

Jake1 said:
The color in all my corals have gotten better!! Growth is unbelievable. I have a 24 dimmable led kit from aquastyle. 10 (10k) 10 blue 2 red 2 uv. Going to make a 36 for one side of a 75 and the 24 will go on the other.

Jake1 · May 10, 2012

A little over 2 months. See the same amount of growth in a favia in 2 months with led then I did in 6 moths with pc and t5ho

ReefLEDLights · May 10, 2012

Its rather common for a LED upgrade from a lower PAR setup to brown out the corals if the corals were not acclimated slowly.

LEDs generally have more usable PAR than MH.

The good thing is once your SPS adapt they will colour up better than before.

Bill

greydmv · May 10, 2012

Oh ok, thanks for the clarification.

ReefLEDLights said:
Its rather common for a LED upgrade from a lower PAR setup to brown out the corals if the corals were not acclimated slowly.

LEDs generally have more usable PAR than MH.

The good thing is once your SPS adapt they will colour up better than before.

Bill

Reef Breeders · May 10, 2012

ReefLEDLights said:
Its rather common for a LED upgrade from a lower PAR setup to brown out the corals if the corals were not acclimated slowly.

LEDs generally have more usable PAR than MH.

The good thing is once your SPS adapt they will colour up better than before.

Bill

+1, always start dim and move up the intensity slowely. Colored LEDs really help too.

hypnoj · May 11, 2012

anemonekeeper said:
+1, always start dim and move up the intensity slowely. Colored LEDs really help too.

Which colors outside of maybe the royal blue spectrum help in coral growth?

Blake11rebel · May 11, 2012

I switched from T5s to LEDs about 2 months ago. My sps and my BTA looks better than they ever had also my growth has been really good on everything. I dont have a dimmable fixture but I acclimated my corals by shading the lps and a shorter light schedule for about 3 weeks. I only have RB and CW leds and I love the look of the tank, but my acans have lost some of there pop. I dont know why they have morphed. I do not believe that I couldve done anything differently to stop them from doing that. It has to be something missing from my fixture.

greydmv · May 11, 2012

Can anyone shed light onto what is going on with Blake's Acans? I have heard of more than one instance of this happening under LEDs.

Reef Breeders · May 11, 2012

hypnoj said:
Which colors outside of maybe the royal blue spectrum help in coral growth?

It is not the growth that they improve, it is the coloration. You will want reds, greens, UV, and regular blues.

ReefLEDLights · May 11, 2012

anemonekeeper said:
It is not the growth that they improve, it is the coloration. You will want reds, greens, UV, and regular blues.

+1

Those colours will affect the pigments in the corals.

Bill

stephnjeph · May 11, 2012

I can break down how exactly lighting works being that I has been one of my many studies for so many years. What exactly would you like to know in regards to spectrum?

greydmv · May 13, 2012

Stephn-

Im just trying to understand the which color LEDs should be used when working on your DIY LED project. Meaning, which whites, blues, UVs, reds and so forth, are best for coral coloration and growth. We as reefers tend to focus on what is good to our eye, not what may be good for the inhabitants of our tanks. For example, another person on this thread mentioned previously that their Acan was loosing color, could this be due to spectrum possibly missing from his lighting, poor quality LEDs or do some corals just not respond positively to the "type" of like that LEDs provide.

Thank you in advance,
Grey

stephnjeph said:
I can break down how exactly lighting works being that I has been one of my many studies for so many years. What exactly would you like to know in regards to spectrum?

reefkoi · May 13, 2012

acans just dont like high light IME

drtrash · May 13, 2012

drtrash · May 13, 2012

This did not work, will post a pic of the one that worked

Reef Breeders · May 13, 2012

drtrash said:
This did not work, will post a pic of the one that worked

Way too many colors, on a fixture that small one of each would do it. I hope you improved the new one successfully!

ReefLEDLights · May 14, 2012

greydmv said:
Stephn-

Im just trying to understand the which color LEDs should be used when working on your DIY LED project. Meaning, which whites, blues, UVs, reds and so forth, are best for coral coloration and growth. We as reefers tend to focus on what is good to our eye, not what may be good for the inhabitants of our tanks. For example, another person on this thread mentioned previously that their Acan was loosing color, could this be due to spectrum possibly missing from his lighting, poor quality LEDs or do some corals just not respond positively to the "type" of like that LEDs provide.

Thank you in advance,
Grey

Grey this chart may help.

The 420-470nm is your grow spectrum. The Cree Cool White and many MH Bulbs have a very nice 450nm spike in their spectrum which gives them their grow properties.

I've had excellent results growing coral with a 2:1 Royal Blue Cool White ratio.

In the ocean the spectrum warmer than 500nm is limited at 30 feet and almost non existent at 90feet

Great looks and colour pop can be achieved by keeping the Royal Blues close to 450nm and the Cool Whites close to 7.5K. Adding a few UV, and maybe a hint of Red and Green will highlight certain pigments in the coral and give them a better look.

Acans and every other Coral can loose colour for numerous reasons. Acclimation is key. If the coral are not slowly acclimated to the light they will over react and expel too much of their symbiotic algae.

Bill

Ace25 · May 14, 2012

Can someone point to any place that shows UV helps? I know Actinic/Violet (420nm) helps, but all the articles I have read say UV does not help at all, actually hurts corals (under 400nm), yet, I keep seeing people recommend UV LEDs and I am so confused.

Feature Article: Playing With Poison - Ultraviolet Radiation — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog