Red planet rumor, is it true?

[SchnitzelReef]

So you got green with higher lighting???

No. The Radions had less par than T5s. Higher par = more red/pink. Less par=more green.

 

[Wiz]

No. The Radions had less par than T5s. Higher par = more red/pink. Less par=more green.

Are you for serious? Your T5 out Shine Your radions? People I know that run radions insist that you cannot go even halfway up with them or you will burn everything

 

[Wiz]

I appreciate all the input from everyone. I am still very confused about my tank though. My red planet is completely red with white tips. And I run $250 LED boxes at half power. I really need to get a par meter

 

[SchnitzelReef]

Are you for serious? Your T5 out Shine Your radions? People I know that run radions insist that you cannot go even halfway up with them or you will burn everything

Careful who’s opinions you listen to. [emoji1303]
I had 5 Radions over my 8’ 250g tank. Ran the AB+ schedule at 100% intensity. Def wasn’t enough par for my SPS.

 

[jda]

I agree - more light is nice red with white tips. Lower light has green in the middle, shadows and lower.

Burning with LED is not a quantity thing, it is a quality thing. 3x Radion XR30s over a 2x2 area still do not put out the PAR that a 10K MH overdriven on M80 will and they do not burn coral. If you go 100% you have a better chance since the red can help with processing energy and the green can also help with some photosynthesis. If you turn them up piecemeal, then you could have troubles. Dr. Joshi used to run his at 100% like Schnitzel did... no idea what he does now.

Like any other light issue, water clarity and placement in tank the matters. Up at the top and down low can really matter... just like everything else.

This is a good bellweather coral - it can get really deep red and lose the white tips when nutrients rise too far.

Wiz - what concerns you? Color? Growth? Shadowing?

 

[Wiz]

I agree - more light is nice red with white tips. Lower light has green in the middle, shadows and lower.

Burning with LED is not a quantity thing, it is a quality thing. 3x Radion XR30s over a 2x2 area still do not put out the PAR that a 10K MH overdriven on M80 will and they do not burn coral. If you go 100% you have a better chance since the red can help with processing energy and the green can also help with some photosynthesis. If you turn them up piecemeal, then you could have troubles. Dr. Joshi used to run his at 100% like Schnitzel did... no idea what he does now.

Like any other light issue, water clarity and placement in tank the matters. Up at the top and down low can really matter... just like everything else.

This is a good bellweather coral - it can get really deep red and lose the white tips when nutrients rise too far.

Wiz - what concerns you? Color? Growth? Shadowing?

I am using them as an indicator. I am having trouble keeping my Monty's yes. Caps, digies, even Sentosa. They are sucking their polyps in so far the coral looks almost dead with just specks of color. My lighting has not changed for years so I did not think it was that. However I seem to be having issues with other corals getting too much light. I think

 

[Wiz]

At first I did not even consider lighting. Because it had been so long and they were all doing so great. But at some point light became a consideration. Different little signs are saying I have too much. But as I lower it some signs are saying I have not enough. My red planet has always been mid tank. When I bought it it was green entirely with just red polyps at the tips. It quickly turned red with white tips and has been that way ever since. I never really thought about it until I started considering my light might be too bright. I have a really hard time believing that considering the lights that I use. But the red planet seems to say it's true

 

[jda]

This sounds like typical LED burn from bad spectrum - this is not a "too much" thing. Do you have any T5s on there to help with some PAR and spectrum? You might consider it if you do not. I think that it would really help.

Here are the typical three steps for a conversation like this:
1). Inconsistent results with the panels when stuff gets larger than frags and SPS is growing
2). Add some T5s, keep the LEDs lower and stuff gets a lot better
3). Realize that the T5s are doing the heavy lifting and then,
a). Decide that you like the LEDs and keep them with the T5s
b). Just go all T5s or even look at Halides

 

[larangcon]

I always thought lights are what makes the color pop and LED can help get that "pop"look in the tank, but not naturally the true colors, for example WD looks super cool with LED blues, but when the whites are on it's a different coral. For growth there's no doubt T5 and halides are the best lighting, but the light doesn't necessarily dictates the color of the coral in my tank. Type of lighting fixture or par level does not changes coral colors in my tank. The alkalinity level plays a major roll in coral colors in my tank and this is what I need to look into first to get the colors from a coral, different level of alkalinity can change the color from corals to corals. In my tank, I don't look at polyps as my indicator of something's wrong with the chemistry in the tank, I'm pretty lazy when it comes to water testing, my indicator is my austrea coral, if the green color is turning light brown then I know my alk is at the 7.0 level and I need to increase the level to my "desired" level this is where you decide where your level you want your coral color to show the best. In my tank, when my alk is in the 7.0 range the red planet does not show any green it turns into all red no matter where I place this coral at. Higher alk level brings the green color back, but again some corals react differently and changes color depending on the alk level in my tank. Hence, the saying not all tank are the same. Notice I always emphasize "in my tank"