Corals & RapidLEDs

[poksal]

Who has good coral life under RapidLED DIY kits?
.. what colors of LEDs did you install?
...how high do you turned them up?
...what corals are thriving under them?

Please, this is for people who actually have coral under RapidLED kits.

After reading this link I realize we have no real way to determine which set of LEDs, HD, T5, T3 ..etc.. really compare to which... Aquarium Lighting, Light Information; Reef & Planted, PAR, Watt, Kelvin.

So, you CAN'T measure PAR in a tank with thriving coral and HD lights and go set your LED's to that PAR.. the same PAR will not be the same coral health giving light values .. it is not apples for apples... you have to find the right power for yourself.

Before I read this link I already had a PAR probe on the way.. but it, too, doesn't tell us what we need to know.. there are still several aspects of light that a PAR meter does not measure which affect coral health. However, it is clear the next generation of LEDs with the research behind them will have us covered if we make sure we purchase the ones sold as a result of that research. So I guess I will buy a LUX meter too????... geeeeze.

 

[poksal]

Who has good coral life under RapidLED DIY kits?
.. what colors of LEDs did you install?
...how high do you turned them up?
...what corals are thriving under them?

Please, this is for people who actually have coral under RapidLED kits.

After reading this link I realize we have no real way to determine which set of LEDs, HD, T5, T3 ..etc.. really compare to which... Aquarium Lighting, Light Information; Reef & Planted, PAR, Watt, Kelvin.

So, you CAN'T measure PAR in a tank with thriving coral and HD lights and go set your LED's to that PAR.. the same PAR will not be the same coral health giving light values .. it is not apples for apples... you have to find the right power for yourself.

Before I read this link I already had a PAR probe on the way.. but it, too, doesn't tell us what we need to know.. there are still several aspects of light that a PAR meter does not measure which affect coral health. However, it is clear the next generation of LEDs with the research behind them will have us covered if we make sure we purchase the ones sold as a result of that research. So I guess I will buy a LUX meter too????... geeeeze.

Be sure to skip down and read the part about the newer Power Compact SHO screw in worm bulbs and how the medical industry is grabbing them up because of the health aspects.. and their amazing use in aquarium lighting.

 

[Northstar24]

I skimmed over the article, I did not read it in its entirety. Generally speaking you want mostly whites and blues for a DIY fixture. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that Magenta, 'UV' or Violet, and Cyan LED's are helpful as well. These last three are not so much for coral growth (which is handled by the whites and blues) but for color rendition

The tricky part is the ratio of whites to blues. I think you will see the 1 white to 2 blue ratio most often, but you could also do a 1:1 or even a 2:1 white to blue, but that would be far to white for my taste

 

[poksal]

I skimmed over the article, I did not read it in its entirety. Generally speaking you want mostly whites and blues for a DIY fixture. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that Magenta, 'UV' or Violet, and Cyan LED's are helpful as well. These last three are not so much for coral growth (which is handled by the whites and blues) but for color rendition

The tricky part is the ratio of whites to blues. I think you will see the 1 white to 2 blue ratio most often, but you could also do a 1:1 or even a 2:1 white to blue, but that would be far to white for my taste

I already have RapidLEDs ....
I want to know if someone has them and good coral health, to compare notes with..

 

[fastrd400]

I have a custom Rapid kit on my JBJ 24 gallon Bio-Cube. 12 blues, 6 whites, and 6 UV. Of all my tanks, this one is doing the best. I also have Radions on my 120, and a single Kessil A150 (really need 2 of these) on my frag tank.

The LED industry for the most part leave a bit to be desired. The fact the the major players, Ecotech, AI, etc do not have a fixture the reached 420nm-430nm is what the major issue is.

Here is a picture of the hood, before I replaced 6 of the whites with 6 UV.

 

[Northstar24]

I was just going to say that Wade would be the one to ask!

 

[poksal]

Wade,
do you dim your Rapid unit?
If so how much?

 

[fastrd400]

No, I do not have dimmable drivers, they are on and go.

 

[poksal]

No, I do not have dimmable drivers, they are on and go.

are they all 3 watt LEDs?

How high are they above the tank?

 

[fastrd400]

They are all 3 watt LED's, and they are mounted into the original hood of the bio-cube. Maybe 3-4 inches off the water surface if that.

 

[poksal]

Wade,

Thanx.. wow that is a lot of LED wattage... for a 24.. and what kind of corals are loving it???

.. this counts.. it is the only way my brain can wrap around this stuff.. I have to logic it out... :D


.. three LED watts per gallon is a truck load... LEDs put way more specific light wave on the subject.

.. did you wire your own? ... I did mine..

... and the 6 UV out of 24... I think that may of been a magic number of UV... from the reading and digging I'm doing.. we may be finding out they are very important... I think it was a wise choice.. what contributed to you deciding on that number of UV?

 

[fastrd400]

Wade,

Thanx.. wow that is a lot of LED wattage... for a 24.. and what kind of corals are loving it???

.. this counts.. it is the only way my brain can wrap around this stuff.. I have to logic it out... :D


.. three LED watts per gallon is a truck load... LEDs put way more specific light wave on the subject.

.. did you wire your own? ... I did mine..

... and the 6 UV out of 24... I think that may of been a magic number of UV... from the reading and digging I'm doing.. we may be finding out they are very important... I think it was a wise choice.. what contributed to you deciding on that number of UV?

I have a pink birdsnest and red cap at the top. Both Nuclear green, and blue candy canes, 8 different chalices, numerous zoas.

The fixture is hard wired, however Rapid did the work for me since they are local, and it was a custom job.

It was originally done with 12 white, and 12 Blue LED's. However, it was so bright you could see it from the fucking moon, and nothing would stay alive in it for long. I talked to Mike and had him replace 6 of the whites with the UV's. I wanted more of a 2/1 (blue/white) ratio and new that UV was an important aspect to growing coral.

 

[poksal]

Wade,
You just hit on exactly what I was wanting to know...
...so you think the UV was the magic??

I am in near the same boat... I am on the verge or ordering some UV from him and changing several of my whites out.

I can't get a zoah to peak out of its polyp.. but for a few seconds then it hides for life. .. even if I turn them down... I think maybe we need the UV!

I have 4 UV I'm not using at the moment.... hummmmm.... so I think I'm about to go on a rearrange.

 

[SigEpLucas]

I have 7 3 watt Rapid LEDs over my 2.5 gallon. The tank is only about 2.5 months old and I currently have a few frags in it. I have some zoanthids, mushrooms, green star polyps, ricordia and a kenya tree.

I'm running 5 RB and 2 CW. The RB's have 80 degree optics, the CW don't have any optics and the dimmer is set to about 60% power. My biggest challenge has been that with the canopy I built my lights are only about 3 inches off the water and the tank is only 8 inches deep which means my lights with the lenses get a really bad spotlight effect. Thats is why I took the lenses off of my two whites to try and blend the color better.

I haven't seen any significant growth yet but everything seems to be very healthy. During the day everything is wide open and looks good. The kenya tree has been trimmed back a few times but that isn't saying much. The mushrooms haven't split at all but definitely have grown. The Zoo's seem to look great. The ricordia looks the "weakest" out of them all and I think it's because I have too much flow on them and haven't found the right spot for them.

I know this probably isn't the most help since it's such a small tank but I can say my parameters are all very stable with the exception of a few degrees in temp.78 during the day and 79.5 or so at night.

 

[poksal]

I have 7 3 watt Rapid LEDs over my 2.5 gallon. The tank is only about 2.5 months old and I currently have a few frags in it. I have some zoanthids, mushrooms, green star polyps, ricordia and a kenya tree.

I'm running 5 RB and 2 CW. The RB's have 80 degree optics, the CW don't have any optics and the dimmer is set to about 60% power. My biggest challenge has been that with the canopy I built my lights are only about 3 inches off the water and the tank is only 8 inches deep which means my lights with the lenses get a really bad spotlight effect. Thats is why I took the lenses off of my two whites to try and blend the color better.

I haven't seen any significant growth yet but everything seems to be very healthy. During the day everything is wide open and looks good. The kenya tree has been trimmed back a few times but that isn't saying much. The mushrooms haven't split at all but definitely have grown. The Zoo's seem to look great. The ricordia looks the "weakest" out of them all and I think it's because I have too much flow on them and haven't found the right spot for them.

I know this probably isn't the most help since it's such a small tank but I can say my parameters are all very stable with the exception of a few degrees in temp.78 during the day and 79.5 or so at night.

no, it is valuable help, thanx