Setting hight & intensity on LED's

[puffster]

I have had Chinese led's since the came out. With those all I did was hang them, high/low enough to get good light coverage. It was like Ronco; "Set it and Forget it" with great results. Now I finally have good lights and am looking to see if anyone had any experience with AI SOL Blues and hydra's; how high off the surface do you have them and at what percentage('s) are you set at IE: W/B/RB -- R/B/RB/G/V/UV. I have three SoL Blue's and two Hydras, I have them alternated across the tank for even distribution between the different spectrums. Just looking to see what others are doing with theirs. Mine are hanging 9 1/2" off the surface of the water.

Thanks!
Ernie

 

[Hammer100]

I have wondered this too...I have two AP700s about 9 inches above the surface with diffusers running at 40% at the max.
Also some T5 supplements for 5 hours

 

[puffster]

Sorry to mention that they are over a 150 gal. and my photoperiod starts at 5:00am until 10:30. This is of corse ramping them up and back down. I keep them on about 2% for a good night time moon lighting.

 

[mcarroll]

Set the color however you like it (a nice 20K look is great....avoid funny purple, red or green looks) and then use a light meter to set the intensity.

A PAR meter is great if you can afford or have access to one, but get a lux meter if you don't! Usually around $15, delivered.

 

[120reefkeeper]

If your using led's you really should invest in a par meter. IMHO

Watch this...

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Set the color however you like it (a nice 20K look is great....avoid funny purple, red or green looks) and then use a light meter to set the intensity.

A PAR meter is great if you can afford or have access to one, but get a lux meter if you don't! Usually around $15, delivered.

this

If your using led's you really should invest in a par meter. IMHO

Watch this...

And this.

Both work IMHO

Dana Taught me LUX.
25000 lux is about 300 par.

 

[mcarroll]

Dana Taught me LUX.

Me too.

 

[bif24701]

If your using led's you really should invest in a par meter. IMHO

Watch this...

I have watched the video and it certainly brings up some very good questions for me.

#1, Finding the right light level for your corals. Obviously not every coral is the same but because of his studies some conclusions can be made. First! Every coral has its own sweet spot and finding it is key. Some may need more light and some less in order to take full advantage of any lighting system and schedule. But what is the right lighting?

2#, More ALK help coral build calcium carbonate skeletons faster. I tend to run my dKH @9.0+, higher and I get precipitation on my heater. How can I keep a higher ALK with out getting that precipitation?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I have had Chinese led's since the came out. With those all I did was hang them, high/low enough to get good light coverage. It was like Ronco; "Set it and Forget it" with great results. Now I finally have good lights and am looking to see if anyone had any experience with AI SOL Blues and hydra's; how high off the surface do you have them and at what percentage('s) are you set at IE: W/B/RB -- R/B/RB/G/V/UV. I have three SoL Blue's and two Hydras, I have them alternated across the tank for even distribution between the different spectrums. Just looking to see what others are doing with theirs. Mine are hanging 9 1/2" off the surface of the water.

Thanks!
Ernie

I have wondered this too...I have two AP700s about 9 inches above the surface with diffusers running at 40% at the max.
Also some T5 supplements for 5 hours

im running three ai sol's on my 55g.
Sounds like you,ve done well in getting a good spread. With a lensed led that's the best route. with a lux meter you can look to find small or large drops in intensity, that an indicator of spread. most lensed or puk leds dont hit the frll top of the tank as is my preference and is how t5 are designed, I pulled most of my lenses to increase the spread. ais come with 40 and 70 degree lenses I used the 70's and with no lenes im at prob 160 180 degree.

On color. most manufactures make the fixtures 14,000 to 16,000 kelvin. This allow us to balance W and B ratios to achieve higher kelvins like 20k.
If you look at the manufacturers spectral data on the fixture it should look pretty much like a 14,16 or 20k Mh bulb at full intensity. I dont belive they give us full intensity control of the R Y O andG to the fullest extent. If they did we would be avle to mix 5600 kelvin full spectrum AND 3200K tungsten balances.

true uv btw cannot be seen or measured with a par or lux meter as its not in the visable spectrum and the uv provided is just pop

So, what I do is set all channels at full, balance my colors by eye to make the tank look its best, then set intensity. Knowing I pretty much cannot with these systems make a color combo corals wont grow in, and I use the fullest spectrum available in the fixture.

Yea I paid for it, I want it all.

in short balance the color temp by eye( as you ll likely get 12 to 23 kelvin) and then set the intensity evenly at the top of the tank.
a hint, walk away for a while and let your eyes reset. small changes in ratio wont effect much.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I have watched the video and it certainly brings up some very good questions for me.

#1, Finding the right light level for your corals. Obviously not every coral is the same but because of his studies some conclusions can be made. First! Every coral has its own sweet spot and finding it is key. Some may need more light and some less in order to take full advantage of any lighting system and schedule. But what is the right lighting?

2#, More ALK help coral build calcium carbonate skeletons faster. I tend to run my dKH @9.0+, higher and I get precipitation on my heater. How can I keep a higher ALK with out getting that precipitation?

Youll have to ask randy on that last one! Personally I belive at a point a calcium reactor (long story) or larger water vol to allow better mixing.

Corals adapt to lower light in the tank. they just do. I personally would like to explore that more. russ265 explores those theories in hi corals are paling thread, but does not explore turly lower light creatures. My xenia are at 400 or 500 par.

I know for a fact some folks running MH are at 1000 to 2000 par. at the top of the tank. my little 150w 14k mh gives me about 50,000 or 60,000 lux. divide that by 40

for most on led I recommend 30,000 lux 40000 lux and 50000 lux depending on the depth and rock work. and live stock desired. for most 24in deep tanks id start at 30,000 lux and youll probably go up to 40000. still if thers live stock might want to start a 20,000

You can convert or substitute par into any thing I said. start at 600 700 or 1000 par.

Many recommend 20k kelvin for acros, yet Diesel is running his around 10,000 kelvin.

 

[mcarroll]

After he explained conversion factors, it clicked.

 

[bif24701]

I have 200-400 PAR covering my entire tank and think it's more than acquit. I have tried going higher and burn some coral. I'm pretty certain I have found my sweet spot but with this video if I could have too much. I have acros with awesome growth right in the top middle (highest PAR) and Hammers doing very well in lower PAR. My colors are also great. I have it all. Maybe I should just be happy but given my nature I can't help but questions everything.

 

[mcarroll]

On color. most manufactures make the fixtures 14,000 to 16,000 kelvin. This allow us to balance W and B ratios to achieve higher kelvins like 20k.
If you look at the manufacturers spectral data on the fixture it should look pretty much like a 14,16 or 20k Mh bulb at full intensity. I dont belive they give us full intensity control of the R Y O andG to the fullest extent. If they did we would be avle to mix 5600 kelvin full spectrum AND 3200K tungsten balances.

Well said!

 

[mcarroll]

My colors are also great. I have it all.

All you need is the confidence to keep doing what you're doing while you continue reading. Sometimes the correct question is: "Why do those folks need all that other new/different/better stuff when what I have works great?"

As Salty alluded, corals are adaptable like crazy, so they like you to keep doing what you're doing, as long as it's consistent and they can adapt. (It takes time, of course.)

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I have 200-400 PAR covering my entire tank and think it's more than acquit. I have tried going higher and burn some coral. I'm pretty certain I have found my sweet spot but with this video if I could have too much. I have acros with awesome growth right in the top middle (highest PAR) and Hammers doing very well in lower PAR. My colors are also great. I have it all. Maybe I should just be happy but given my nature I can't help but questions everything.

Yup. That's the ap700. And it's right in line with the science and manufacturing trends.
And always question everything.
After that talk at macna. There were a lot of questions. And those guys are scientists. It seems they have a lot of questions.

 

[bif24701]

Yup. That's the ap700. And it's right in line with the science and manufacturing trends.
And always question everything.
After that talk at macna. There were a lot of questions. And those guys are scientists. It seems they have a lot of questions.

I did my research before making my purchase and I could not be happier. Since I bought the light I have not ever had to question its performance and power. Even right after my move when I couldn't get my pH up and growth has nearly ceased I still had great color.

Every coral I have purchased has show color improvement after being in my display. Even some from a well establish mature SPS system.

I think Kessil Logic is the single most under rated factor when considering these Kessil AP700s. Being able to adjust the color to your exact liking and never having to question if the spectrum is going to grow colorful coral is the best feature IMHO.

 

[mcarroll]

I have three SoL Blue's and two Hydras, I have them alternated across the tank for even distribution between the different spectrums. Just looking to see what others are doing with theirs. Mine are hanging 9 1/2" off the surface of the water.

This is worth thinking about a little bit more....forgot about the mix of lenses as well as the mix of colors you have going there.

90º lenses (aka 80º lenses) of the China Boxes (and Hydras) give you a coverage diameter equal to the mounting height.

So 9.5" mounting height = 19" coverage diameter.

The AI Sol's (as Salty said already) were built with a pretty different use-case in mind. It uses a hybrid approach of two lenses: 70º and 40º and was intended to be stacked pretty densely across the top of the tank.

70º at 9.5" will only cover about 13"
40º at 9.5" only about 7"

Your tank is only 18" wide, so by the math (i.e. hypothetically) you could probably drop the Hydras a bit to cut back on light being wasted over the side of the tank....and raise the Sol's quite a bit to maximize their coverage.

Here's what you're up against, coverage-wise:

72" (tank) - (24" + 24" + 13" + 13" + 13") = -15" of overlap you have to work with.

Not a lot to divide between five lights that are quite different.

No real suggestions since what's "best" will depend a lot of rockwork and corals....just wanted to throw numbers out there in case it helps.

 

[puffster]

Wow, I'm going to use all this when I start tweaking my lights. The root cause of the problem that I was experiencing was within my sump, which I will post a thread about. Thanks for all of the information, I now have a lot better technical understanding of the product I am using.

Thanks,
Ernie