Truth or Dare

Airborne · Mar 27, 2012

Are LED's at a spot that they can keep my SPS Dominated Tank alive well and most important colored? I can not keep LPS in my tank. I have a Tek Light 8 bulb T5 fixture on my 120gal 4x2x2. Everyone says that my tank is off the hook. But the colors seem off by a shade or two. I am told that the tank has too much light.

I am thinking of switching to LED's probably the Radions or the AI's. Someone said look at the AquaRays? Anyone heard of these? Also, I have not been impressed with SPS tanks that are running LED's. I don;t mean to be rude but they just do not have the colors that my T5's do.

Reef Breeders · Mar 27, 2012

If you want color, go for radions, or DIY a fixture and save $$$. My sps looks the same or better as it did under mh, you can throw in some reds or greens if you have a lot of red colors.

M@! · Mar 27, 2012

I think there is still a lot of experimentation to be done to find the correct spectrum and lighting mix. People are just starting to add more colors, red, turquoise, violet, etc...

Saying that if you DIY a fixture with enough experimentation I think you can customize the exact look you are going for. I would wait for more options before going with more commercial based fixtures.

ReefLEDLights · Mar 28, 2012

M@! said:
I think there is still a lot of experimentation to be done to find the correct spectrum and lighting mix. People are just starting to add more colors, red, turquoise, violet, etc...

Saying that if you DIY a fixture with enough experimentation I think you can customize the exact look you are going for. I would wait for more options before going with more commercial based fixtures.

+1

DIY gives you the most Flexibility. Personally I like this ratio to replace a 250-400 watt Radium

24 XT-E Royal Blues, 6 XP-E Blues and 15 XP-E/G Cool Whites (7.5).

This will grow SPS very well as with optics its about 330PAR at 30"

Red, Green and UV LEDs are the spice that you can tweak the colour in any way you want.

Dimmable drivers are a must.

Bill

Reef Breeders · Mar 28, 2012

Hey Bill, how are those xt-es, they look promising, as the phosper coating seems to provide the spectrum that most reefers seek, I will be trying them soon, do they work better than xp-es?

CaliO · Mar 28, 2012

I think the trick with LED's and SPS's is the uv, red, and more natural yellows like 6500k ect. . That naturally occur with Mh and T5's .. Without adding those LED colors IMO your just not giving them what they need!!! Filling your car with diesel, when it uses gas (might run but isn't going to last as long) But I'm a new reefer too so this is just an educated guess.

Reefer831 · Mar 28, 2012

just build a combo with all of them...I like a t5 led combo the most!

ca2or · Mar 28, 2012

I have been thinking of building a MH LED combo using the LED's as actinics

ReefLEDLights · Mar 28, 2012

anemonekeeper said:
Hey Bill, how are those xt-es, they look promising, as the phosper coating seems to provide the spectrum that most reefers seek, I will be trying them soon, do they work better than xp-es?

They are Awesome.

About 10% brighter than the XP-E and same colour pop.

Bill

ReefLEDLights · Mar 28, 2012

CaliO said:
I think the trick with LED's and SPS's is the uv, red, and more natural yellows like 6500k ect. . That naturally occur with Mh and T5's .. Without adding those LED colors IMO your just not giving them what they need!!! Filling your car with diesel, when it uses gas (might run but isn't going to last as long) But I'm a new reefer too so this is just an educated guess.

Gotta respectfully disagree.

Back in the 80s on a scuba trip we stopped at a LFS and saw an awesome LPS tank only lit with 110 watt 420 nm VHO. Growth was amazing.

The Zonathellea Algea adapted to the ocean were most of the Red Green and yellow are virtually non existent past 20 meters. Only the Blues penetrate.

This Pic shows which spectrums their photosynthesis use the most.

This said the Royal Blue or 450nm is what you need for growth. Note that its the sweet spot useful to both chlorophyll A&B. Most MH lights including the Iwasaki 6.5K and the Cree Cool White have a very nice 450nm spike. This is why they grow coral so well.

Other colours like Red Green and Violet are used to excite certain pigments in the corals. Like a spice to a meal, too much may ruin the feast. In cases like Warm Whites and Reds, this spectrum may promote nuisance algae and should be used sparingly.

Over all I prefer a T5 LED Combo compared to LED MH. The reason is the MH produce a lot of heat and compared to the T5 and are slightly less efficient. Once you factor in bulb replacement costs LED only setups win.

Bill

CaliO · Nov 7, 2014

CaliO said:
I think the trick with LED's and SPS's is the uv, red, and more natural yellows like 6500k ect. . That naturally occur with Mh and T5's .. Without adding those LED colors IMO your just not giving them what they need!!! Filling your car with diesel, when it uses gas (might run but isn't going to last as long) But I'm a new reefer too so this is just an educated guess.

UPDATE:
I have since ditched leds all together. Havent found all corals to do well when using them.. Some do well with this combo while others do better with another combo... So for now I am not using leds for anything but moon lighting..