LEDs for zoas - what do you know?

[A. Grandis]

I've got T5s today and will probably have it for a while, but I would love to hear from anyone that has a system running with LEDs and zoas.
Perhaps this could be a thread for future reference?

What did you have before?
What changes have you noticed?
Anything besides less heat?
Bad LEDs vs good LEDs?
Advantages of LEDs?
Please let us know your experiences...

Thanks,
Grandis.

 

[rogersb]

Good idea. I am also currently using t-5 and love them but we are in the process of buying a new home and with it comes an upgrade and I have been toying around with the idea of LEDs.

 

[KafudaFish]

5.5 gallon with PAR 38 bulb from rapid.

I am happy with it and glad I went with this vs. a T5 due to bulb replacement costs of $50/year.

I do get that MH shimmer that many people like due to surface agitation.

Only bad thing is taking pictures is very hard.

 

[650-IS350]

Although nice, from what I hear they give you the fake color look in your polyps that cannot be replicated in someone else's tank that doesn't use LEDs. Search in RC and other forums in regards to them.

 

[Ouscazz]

1. What did you have before?
2. What changes have you noticed?
3. Anything besides less heat?
4. Bad LEDs vs good LEDs?
5. Advantages of LEDs?

I've been using Maxspect Semi LEDs since december 2010.

1. T5's.
2. Boosted grow rate on all stonecorals, mushrooms and Zoa's.
3a. Shimmer, I just love the shimmer.
3b. Royal Blue light, it's a kind of magic in my tank.
4. No experience with bad LEDs
5a. No need to change tubes and MH bulbs every now and then.
5b. Good power efficiency

 

[AC2020x]

I've never kept any corals before but I recently set up a 29g (6 months ago) and built a LED fixture above it from RapidLED. I love the lights and so do my zoas that I got 3 weeks ago. They are armor of god zoas and they are definitly growing. I have had 1 large polyps grow out since I got it and 3-4 others that are in the process of growing out. Currently they seem to be doing great!

 

[organism]

What did you have before?

T5's

What changes have you noticed?
Anything besides less heat?

less power usage and that awesome halide shimmer effect that t5's don't have

Bad LEDs vs good LEDs?

diy from rapidled = good, 3:1 blue to white ratio = good, 1:1 blue to white ratio commercial fixtures = crap.

Advantages of LEDs?

Insane colors, no bulb changes, etc... Taking your time corals is a must though, LED's are so much stronger than people think.

 

[rysher]

I've got T5s today and will probably have it for a while, but I would love to hear from anyone that has a system running with LEDs and zoas.
Perhaps this could be a thread for future reference?

What did you have before?
T5 aquaticlife 4-39

What changes have you noticed?
colors and growth

Anything besides less heat?
shimmer

Bad LEDs vs good LEDs?
got the bridgelux and the light output is not as good as the cree's, got little to no growth. i think my problem was using the cheap drivers.

shifted to crees, color is stunning, i got unbelievable growth, every colony/frag i have sprouts babies here and there, multiplying like rabbits. i also had excellent growth with the T5's but not as good as the cree LED's.

Advantages of LEDs?
no spending $$$ on bulb replacement, next to zero heat, excellent shimmer, excellent growth, i can adjust the LED from 6500k to 20k.

my LED's simulate sunrise and sunset.
at 11am the actinic kicks ins tarting at 10% then slowly ramps up to 100% in 3 hrs, so i get full 100% at 1:30.
The white kicks in at 11:30starting at 10% and slowly ramps upto to 45% in 2.5hrs, so both the actinic and the whites are at at hi intensity from 1:30 - 6:30, this is 4hrs of intense light, with a par reading of 250+ in the sandbed.
At 6:30 both the blue and the whites slowly ramps down, the white ramps down from 45% to 10% then shuts off at 8:30, while the blues ramps down from 100% at 6:30 to 10% at 9:30pm and shuts off.

i also set my contrller to have a 50/50 chance of cloudcover/thunderstorms everyday, so the high intensity of 5hrs varies from day to day depending on the controller and the random number it generates to have the thunderstorms.

WARNING:
at first all my zoas shrunk, to itchy, bitsy, tiny polyps, i believe it was because of the intensity of the light. i set the white to 70% before i got someone to take a par reading on my tank. now i had thw whites turned down to 45%, all the zoas recovered and are spitting babies like rabbits.

ACCLIMATE, ACCLIMATE, ACCLIMATE...

the colors are just unbelievable, the zoas are like a stripper in a bachelor party!

 

[MikeandNicole]

I run a pair of AI sol blues over my 57g. Zoas look incredible and I have had great growth under them. My zoas have actually tolerated the light better than my SPS. Just have to position them correctly and you should be good to go.

 

[SoFloReefer]

I used a 400 watt halide and T5s previously. Neither compare to my DIY LEDs. The flexibility, the color, the best growth I've seen with my zoas, the dimmability. The list just goes on. For what people spend on their tanks, LEDs seem like a no brainer.

 

[A. Grandis]

Wow! I want to thank you all for the great response.
Lots of good info!!
Seems like LEDs are really good and better than any other available light for a reef system!!
I like the shimmering too. That is something I miss.
I though that we would need to change the bulbs after a while.

Please keep'em coming!!
I'm reading all the the way!
:thumbsup:

Grandis.

 

[AC2020x]

Seems like LEDs are really good and better than any other available light for a reef system!!

Grandis.

Although I would probably agree with this statement there are many who would not. Alot of people don't believe LED's can offer a full spectrum of light that corals need and crave. And that is why many people are hesitant to switch over to LED's. I have seen both tanks who have done great and better growing anything and also tanks where corals have lost alot of color when switching to LED's. I think their benefits however outweigh the possibility of this. Things such as Power saving, no replacement of bulbs, dimmable, sunrise/sunset color adjustment..... Pretty much you can make whatver you need as it fits your system the best.

Over time I've read lots of stuff on LED's esspecially over on the DIY forum.

 

[TampaSnooker]

Although nice, from what I hear they give you the fake color look in your polyps that cannot be replicated in someone else's tank that doesn't use LEDs. Search in RC and other forums in regards to them.

I buy a lot of stuff from tanks with overdriven 20K MH bulbs that don't look anything like it did once it hits my VHO's, T5's or LED's...

I just upgraded my 180 from a pair of VHO's (454, 50-50) with a 175W 14K MH to 4 SOL blue from AI. Lovin it. (I know that's not a ton of light, but my split aquascape lets it work very well.) Less heat, controllable color rendition, variable intensity... The zoa colors are so much better across the board - every color represented seems to pop much brighter. The only corals that don't look as good are red pocillipora and purple monti cap, but that's probably since I've been running so much more blue/royal than before - those ones never looked their best without very white light for me. It's only been a couple months, but I'd say growth is not an issue.

 

[explor3r]

I've got T5s today and will probably have it for a while, but I would love to hear from anyone that has a system running with LEDs and zoas.
Perhaps this could be a thread for future reference?

What did you have before?
What changes have you noticed?
Anything besides less heat?
Bad LEDs vs good LEDs?
Advantages of LEDs?
Please let us know your experiences...

Thanks,
Grandis.

Before..T5s ATI SUNPOWER, now AI sol super blue.

Changes umm lots I would say..to start with and mainly the color since I can play with the intensity of the light and can make the zoas glow or popped out.
I notice as well the algae growing in the glass is less I guess due to the temperature..Leds dont produce heat and more the AI have a great cooling fan.
I notice once I introduce a new zoa or paly to the tank they open almost imediatly.
Comparing bad Leds vs good Leds I can only speak for the good one..lol honestly the AI are just fantastic....I have 15 modules of them
In general LEDs are just incredible the coloration of the SPS is just out of this world, the details LEDs show on corals not other light can do it.ohh shimmer effect is a plus.
Energy efficient thats a big +A
Thunderstorms....another +A..
Rampage up to 299min I belive..anyways I set mine to 6o min rampage between timers...sunset/sunrise..
Let LEDs rock your reef!!!!!

 

[A. Grandis]

I do believe that with so many choices for the LEDs, if we get the right combination, it will be very efficient for the corals and zoas. The experiences here are a proof of that.
I've got only zoanthids here, so I'm thinking only about them, not hard corals.
There is lots to learn yet and every day someone comes with a new LED in the marked. That's good! I get confused with all the new stuff and kinda skeptical, at least.
I'm enjoying a lot reading about your experiences!
Please feel free to add your own pictures of your LEDs and even videos showing the thunders and so on...

I would love the shimmering and thunder effects!!!!

Here are some of the videos I've found:
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/s__XwPhXhe0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-9xTAZpAqAc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Grandis.

 

[Dustin1300]

Thanks for the info guys I'm really wanting to pick up a couple EcoTech Radions for my frag tank to test it out against my MHs to see how they compare...

While I like the lightning mode I'm not so certain that it is good for the fish as it seems they could be seriously stressed if used often.

 

[TampaSnooker]

While I like the lightning mode I'm not so certain that it is good for the fish as it seems they could be seriously stressed if used often.

In FL on the flats, the fish still feed when the sky is flashing. I can see them from my hideout in the mangroves... However, having used the lightning mode the first month of owning AI's, I turned the frequency WAAAAAAYYYY down. It's just a fun gimmick. The fish don't care - nor do the corals from what I see. Perhaps new or epileptic fish would get distressed, but the older ones would just wonder what new idea you're testing...

 

[Dustin1300]

Thanks for the feedback Tampa I can't hardly wait to get tank going with some LEDs soon but this hobby is all about patience.

 

[A. Grandis]

I didn't know we can turn the frequency of the lightning down!
That's really good!
I don't think it would be of any advantage to use the lightning every single day, but that's our personal choice. I would do perhaps every 1 or 2 weeks.

The moon cycle is very nice.

Yeah, they'll begin to ship the Eco Tech Radions soon.

What about the clouds?

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qcjdjSeKn38" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I also would like to hear from people that didn't like the LEDs, and why.
Perhaps that should have to do with the adaptation period from MH/T5s to the LEDs.
Every new light source needs to be very carefully changed and we all know that.

I really don't have time to search deep for the LEDs and appreciate all the "hands on" basic info here! Thanks!!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9FW2qCT2TD8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Cheers!!!!
Grandis

 

[rodneyri]

What did you have before?
Giesemann 2x250w MH + 4 T5HO
then to ATI Powermodule 8x54w


What changes have you noticed?
Zoas doing fine under the LED, growth rate and color the same as the other lights

Anything besides less heat?
got the shimmer back that i lost when going to ATI

Bad LEDs vs good LEDs?
Running Vertex illumina

Advantages of LEDs?
My power bill dropped, chiller does not come on...heater comes on now though

Im happy with the LEDs for my tank, the Zoas dont mind them either...the SPS paled out at first when the light changed over but are on their way back up again. Had LED for 4 months now