What LEDs to supplement radiums

aslmx · Dec 7, 2016

what color leds would work well to supplement radiums. This will be a DIY. I have the drivers I just need to know what color and wattage would look best with and without the radiums running. Thanks in advance and a link to the best place to buy would be great.

twilliard · Dec 7, 2016

I have a lot of good info in here
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-first-diy-build-thread-30-led-fixture.250755/

aslmx · Dec 7, 2016

twilliard said:
I have a lot of good info in here
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-first-diy-build-thread-30-led-fixture.250755/

That's awesome. Thanks a lot

mcarroll · Dec 7, 2016

Man, I would recommend NO LED's to supplement Radium metal halide bulbs. They're beautiful all alone!

If you're going to the trouble of building an LED fixture, I'd honestly suggest switching to LED's altogether.

aslmx · Dec 7, 2016

mcarroll said:
Man, I would recommend NO LED's to supplement Radium metal halide bulbs. They're beautiful all alone!

If you're going to the trouble of building an LED fixture, I'd honestly suggest switching to LED's altogether.

No thanks I tried that and it didn't work out at all. I just was thinking I'd try some to get away from t5 supplements.

mcarroll · Dec 7, 2016

DO you mean you tried no supplement Radiums, or tried all-LED??

No supplements and no T5's is my vote!

aslmx · Dec 7, 2016

I've ran radiums forever and then tried all led and lost all my corals. I know I probably went to fast with acclimating but the shadowing was horrible and I just went back to radiums. I was just looking for some actinics to run with them and really don't want to put t5 back in my hood.

mcarroll · Dec 7, 2016

Right on....I see.

I guarantee it was light shock....same experience switching from Radiums here, only I had no budget to switch back so I had to tough it out.

Get a light meter to use to mediate the transition to any different light next time.....try not to let the lux vary by more than 2000 or so.

So I could help you switch without problems, but I still don't understand why supplement the Radiums?

They're literally perfect all by themselves? Perfect. (Aside from power usage and replacement costs, of course.)

Let me know!

TMC1313 · Dec 8, 2016

I run my Radiums flanked with reefbrite XHO actinic strips for extra pop. I have one strip in the front and one in the back. I have the reefbrites turn on an hour before the Radiums, they stay on with the Radiums and then they will run for an hour after the Radiums turn off. I can post a couple photos if you want, but you know that story. Usually photos look much different than in person, but IMO they are really close.

gus6464 · Dec 8, 2016

If you want to supplement Radium 20K then nothing other than the old school way will do which is with 420nm. The only 420nm LED strip I can think of is the new Orphek one but it is quite cheap cheap and right now they are having a holiday sale so I think the strip is around ~$120 for a two footer.

If you are set on DIY you can put together a unit with Steve's new strip heatsink and parmax strips.
http://www.stevesleds.com/HD-Heatsink_p_334.html
http://www.stevesleds.com/PARmax2-Extreme-14-up-LED-Array--Solderless_p_323.html

You can go up to 4ft on these but you will have to contact him to see if he can do semiled diodes on these as the site just lists luxeons. A combo of 400-420nm diodes will be nice.

If he can't do semiled violet diodes on his strips then blueacro is another option. He can for sure mount whatever you want on those.
https://blueacro.com/acrostrip

mcarroll · Dec 8, 2016

I can't even understand why someone would use Radiums and then supplement them. Here's why:

You're paying a lot extra for the specific 20,000K color the Radium provides.

If you don't love, love, love that spectrum, why are you paying a lot extra for it? It would make perfect sense to start with an ordinary 20,000K bulb – there are lots of good ones – and then add on from there.

2¢

Abhishek · Dec 8, 2016

I agree absolutely to whatever @mcarroll said .. I tried t5s and leds but somehow just radium looks amazing !!
If I am not replacing halide itself, I would run radium all by itself on a M80 ballast..
Magentic ballast is the key to Radium looks

Regards,
Abhishek

tankstudy · Dec 8, 2016

Supplementation would probably have to be the ultramarine blue, Hyper Violet, Ultra Violet, blue and royal blue LEDs.

To match the popular ATI blue+ spectral chart, you'd have to use the above LEDs. Their spectral charts can be found at RapidLeds. These will cover from the 400-470 nm range that the radiums do cover but not to the extent the ATI blue+ seems to.

You could probably do fewer Royal Blue Leds because radiums also run with a majority of their wavelength at 440ish - 460ish nm. However, since your wanting to have your tank look somewhat good when the radiums are off, you'll want some Royal Blue in your mix. Once you start approaching the 400 nm wavelength from the 450ish nm wavelength, your eyes start to pick up those less. For example, you won't see much of the Ultra Violet Leds even on max intensity or several of them clustered together. A majority of what you will see will be just the ultramarine blue, royal blue and blues. This combination produces a very BLUE look.

mcarroll · Dec 8, 2016

Abhishek said:
If I am not replacing halide itself, I would run radium all by itself on a M80 ballast..

That was my scenario....I still have the 2 x 150w DE fixture (a Coralife Aqualite...halide only...sorta rare) and the Radiums are still in it.

I loved it until the last time I shut it down.

(I just can't afford new bulbs anymore...or the power to run it, really. It was replaced with about $120 worth of LED's....with modern prices, I could build two new LED fixtures for the price of a new set of halide bulbs. I just wish someone had been around back then to clue me in to using a #lux #meter for the LED transition. It did not go smoothly for me.)