An Answer to Acan Color Morph with LEDs

[iheartseahorse]

If you have any Acans that are not keeping their color in your LED lighting this post may help. I have purchased some amazing WYSIWYG corals online only to have them color morph. For example deep reds turn orange, or purple turning a brown or grey.

I Personally had the Radion G1 and recently decided to just upgrade to the Pro (instead of going back to T5 or MH for coloring) since I loved the Ecotech Marine line. When doing online research I noticed there are a lot of people that have this same problem with their LED lighting. Also there is very few articles about the new line if LEDs coming out with built-in lower PAR spectrums such as UV, Violet, Indigo.

I can only speak for the Radion Pro since that is the light I got results I was hoping for, and didn't want to change lines. To my amazement the Radion Pro blew my mind away! I have fallen in love all over again with my reef tank. I no longer have any dull looking color in my Acans and best of all everything pops! SPS turned radiant colors instantly after one day of new lighting, and best of all, my prized Acan collection turned to their original coloration 3 days later!

I knew I was doing everything right with my water parameters and PAR levels and other contributing factors, my Acans were definitely growing fast in my tank, I feed them all the time, but they were not keeping their color. I was blown away by the results I have gotten with the new light system, and cannot believe that little missing PAR spectrum configuration was the key to unlocking the answer to my mystery of my dull color morphs!

I have pictures to show you the difference just 3 days out made and what it originally looked like on one specific Acan. This coral piece was used in one of Marine Depots' emailers and is my favorite coral in my tank. I hope this info helps. Happy Reef Keeping!

 

[Tacticalbaton]

Would you be willing to share your Radion schedule with presets? Having trouble with my Acans and I know its the lighting. Curious of your color setting and percentages and also length of day and over all percentage on graph. If you could export your schedule it would even make it easier to go through..... Thanks

 

[deaddat]

I made a thread asking about my corals darkening and I changed my marineland reef-capable leds *not good for "exotic" colored corals IMO* to aquaticlife t5HO with ATI bulbs.

My brain has DEFINITELY made a come back!!! The dark picture was taken almost a month ago and the last two were taken today with my cellphone and camera.

 

[Sand.man]

From my understanding it's to do with improper "full spectrum" that some LED units might be missing, such as "UV" or some of the higher nm wavelengths that the common "cool white" might not have.

Can you post which LEDS (colors/nms) that your previous LED fixture had, and the difference? I'm trying to figure all this out as all "reds" morph into "orange" under my LED lights.

 

[deaddat]

From my understanding it's to do with improper "full spectrum" that some LED units might be missing, such as "UV" or some of the higher nm wavelengths that the common "cool white" might not have.

Can you post which LEDS (colors/nms) that your previous LED fixture had, and the difference? I'm trying to figure all this out as all "reds" morph into "orange" under my LED lights.

I know that you're speaking to the OP, but I would just like to comment on my experience. My Marineland LEDS had 23 10k white and 4 460nm actinic blues. The tank coloring was VERY ugly. Later I got ecoxotic "accenting" leds with more blue and maroon to help with the tank look part, but they are not strong enough for corals.


Now I'm using ATI bulbs which are 2 blue, 1 fiji purple, and 1 aquablue plus. It's definitely more of a spectrum.



On a side note to the OP: I can't tell if you are just changing the color using white balance etc, just showing the fluorescent coloring makes it hard to judge.

 

[Tweaked]

I have a buddy that's swears by the pros after switching as well. He is a die hard radion guy and swers that coral under the light for one day changes color due to the uv difference. Being he runs a LFS, he gets to see the changes frequently from new arrivals, drop offs, trades, etc. he claims it's like the coral is getting a tan lol.

 

[rogersb]

I have a buddy that's swears by the pros after switching as well. He is a die hard radion guy and swers that coral under the light for one day changes color due to the uv difference. Being he runs a LFS, he gets to see the changes frequently from new arrivals, drop offs, trades, etc. he claims it's like the coral is getting a tan lol.

Like how people look better tan, and not browning out, right

 

[Tweaked]

Hahaha all I know is I run radiums on both of my tanks and love the results. That's just me though

 

[Tacticalbaton]

Hahaha all I know is I run radiums on both of my tanks and love the results. That's just me though

If you are getting good results with your Radion LED would you mind sharing you schedule. Would love to see how you have set up the lights and what percentages you use. If you could export your schedule into an upload that would even be better so we can see it online through Echotech... Thanks

 

[Tacticalbaton]

Check this out on Facebook, already got a lot of good advice. Didn't even know about the calibration of the lighting units even before doing your schedule..

https://www.facebook.com/groups/288792284611484/

Ecotech Radion Lighting Schedules

 

[Tweaked]

If you are getting good results with your Radion LED would you mind sharing you schedule. Would love to see how you have set up the lights and what percentages you use. If you could export your schedule into an upload that would even be better so we can see it online through Echotech... Thanks

Umm... Ya Radiums as stated. Halides all the way for me

 

[UKMarineGuy]

I wanted a Pro, i had a G1 which did not do wonders for my acans so with a limited budget i went back to a Razor which has a few 410nm violets and within 3 weeks my gorgeous colours are back. As my pico is too small to house T5's this seemed the best bet. If i were to upgrade i'd do a custom LED with mainly 400-420nm UV's, Blue Plus and may one or two whites... Its all about the low end with acans

Cheers,