Led Lighting

[JJsReeftank28gn]

I just bought and set up a Viparspectra led light setup, I have removed the top to my 28g nano tank and have hung the led about 8 in away from the water. I have my settings for the the blue and uv at 85 percent and the white channel i have it set at 70 percent . what are anyones thoughts on this?

 

[Razorback reef]

I'd set it low and bring it back up if needed. If your burn/bleach your corals then you can't go back and try it again.

 

[ReefWreak]

Yep, agree with Razorback. I'd start it somewhere around 25-35% and work up from there.

Also something to consider, with LEDs, you are more likely to burn your corals with blues than with whites. It's not like Halides or T5s (since I know you've been around a long time and I'm sure have used other lights). Haldies and T5s had a trade-off, the more blue you wanted, the lower the PAR (generally). With LEDs, the blue LEDs are actually the higher PAR lights, with whites being sometimes equal but frequently less intense. Also some/most Blue LEDs are driven at higher current than whites, so that adds to the confusion.

I would set all lights in the 25-35% range, find a color that you like from there, then adjust them all up together until you're happy.

Worth noting, while above they mentioned how important it is to not bleach your corals, they didn't mention how easy it is to bleach corals with LEDs, because they're focused lights. That's why it's so important to start low.

 

[JJsReeftank28gn]

Thank i did not know that i had the blue set up at a higher level, i am used to the old power compacts and halides. I will adjust my lights and see how it goes and how much would you go up each time if there is not enough light , 5 per channel?

 

[JJsReeftank28gn]

thank you for the advice reef wreck.

 

[ReefWreak]

I think something like 10% per week would be reasonable. 5% per week if you want to be conservative with it.

Happy to help

 

[dutch27]

I would go 10%/week until you reach 50-55%, then hang out there for 2-3 weeks and see how everything reacts.

 

[JJsReeftank28gn]

How long should i have the blue lights on and the whites on ? i have the whites on at 2pm and off at ten the blues are on at noon and off at 12 am. is that correct i keep reading about the lights should be on 16 and off 8 when your using leds. what is the thoughts on this.

 

[JJsReeftank28gn]

Also getting mixed info a lfs told me to run my blues higher than my whites by ten to twenty percent??????

 

[ReefWreak]

How long should i have the blue lights on and the whites on ? i have the whites on at 2pm and off at ten the blues are on at noon and off at 12 am. is that correct i keep reading about the lights should be on 16 and off 8 when your using leds. what is the thoughts on this.

I run my lights for 10 hours total, 8 hours on whites, and one hour ramp-up on blues on either end

Also getting mixed info a lfs told me to run my blues higher than my whites by ten to twenty percent??????

Pick a color mix you like, start with blues at 25%, and work up as we mentioned earlier. keep them mixed how you like the color looking.