LED lit tanks and growth

[knukles55]

If you're still down in the south FL area, you should give Rovster a visit (or at least start following/discussing with him on RC). He's been exploring LEDs a lot, has had reasonable success with his, and has a mostly SPS dominated tank. He's over in Miramar.

He just posted a long post with pics of his experience with LEDs here

Been reading and reviewing rovsters tank thread for a while now and the attention to detail he goes into his system is worth looking over. He's been on the radion level for quite some time now so his story should help you decide.

Here's his full tank thread http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2423942

 

[SoloGarth]

My tank is a rimless 120 (4x2x2).
I have 2 radion gen 2s about 12" off the surface of the water.
Main lighting period 6 hours running in radium/14k mode at 81%. For 3 hours on either side is a dusk/dawn effect blues/red used for viewing only.

 

[SoloGarth]

It is easy to light shock corals with leds. I believe this is where all the "problems" come from. There are a ton of threads detailing how to determine the appropriate starting intensity. Just start low and increase gradually while observing your corals. I use a red planet colony as a guide and increase by 1% per week. I started at 40%.

 

[rovster]

It is easy to light shock corals with leds. I believe this is where all the "problems" come from. There are a ton of threads detailing how to determine the appropriate starting intensity. Just start low and increase gradually while observing your corals. I use a red planet colony as a guide and increase by 1% per week. I started at 40%.

Yes, also LEDs just look darker. They don't flood the tank with light like a T5 or MH with a good reflector. If you crank them up because they seem dark, you will run into trouble.

On my previous tank, I went from LED to a MH. When I first fired up the halide, I was SHOCKED at how much more light it put out. I thought I was going to FRY my coral. Well, I didn't do much of an acclimation and things were fine, no bleaching whatsoever.

In some ways, I actually like the LED "look". Its darker, more mysterious and ads a certain "ambiance" to the aquarium, VS T5 that just lights up every nook and cranny. I just got a 6bulb ATI for a side project and just for kicks I threw it over my tank last night. I was amazed at how well it lit up the tank and the corals looked great, but not sure if I loved the look.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you are a purist MH is the best light for SPS. That said, I'll sacrifice a few things because I like some of the perks of using LED.

 

[SoloGarth]

Agreed. I don't like t5 personally. Too sterile looking. I don't have much experience with MH though but cannot justify the cost of running them particularly when I have gotten very good results with led.

 

[rovster]

Agreed. I don't like t5 personally. Too sterile looking. I don't have much experience with MH though but cannot justify the cost of running them particularly when I have gotten very good results with led.

I'm with you. I like to experiment though and this will be a side project. I've done LED, then MH, then LED, now I'm ready for the sterile pastel look

 

[Wazzel]

One year of growth, August 2014 (month 3) to August 2015 (month 15)

cut and pasted from another thread.

 

[Radioheadx14]

Agreed with others on doubling recommended fixture numbers. I use kessil 160s on my 18g cube and I went with 2at ~ 55-60% so I get lighting from 2 sides. more fixtures = less shadowing and more light coverage.

My upgrade when I move will be more kessils and a couble t5 tubes for added par and coverage.

 

[Leopardshark]

Agreed with others on doubling recommended fixture numbers. I use kessil 160s on my 18g cube and I went with 2at ~ 55-60% so I get lighting from 2 sides. more fixtures = less shadowing and more light coverage.

My upgrade when I move will be more kessils and a couble t5 tubes for added par and coverage.

Yes but doubling recommended fixture numbers will double the expense, so I think t5´s would be a much better cost-wise choise.