MHs, LEDs and Zoanthids.

[MUCHO REEF]

That is a great point you made Chriskid and a good answer. All corals need an adjustment/accilmation period, whatever you want to call it. Your point is well made in that the exact same morph needs to be shaded in one tank, and at near surface level blasted with 250 watts of MHs in your system.

This is a perfect parallel to my fast growth/slow growth thread/opinion. No two systems are the same and the exact same morph will often behave differently based solely upon all variables imposed upon said polyps.

There are several reasons why those polyps were being burned. If you want to, we can discuss it.

Thank you both for sharing,

Mooch

 

[Chriskid]

That is a great point you made Chriskid and a good answer. All corals need an adjustment/accilmation period, whatever you want to call it. Your point is well made in that the exact same morph needs to be shaded in one tank, and at near surface level blasted with 250 watts of MHs in your system.

This is a perfect parallel to my fast growth/slow growth thread/opinion. No two systems are the same and the exact same morph will often behave differently based solely upon all variables imposed upon said polyps.

There are several reasons why those polyps were being burned. If you want to, we can discuss it.

Thank you both for sharing,

Mooch

well said. the tread you mentioned wuz very interesting aswell.

another thing ive been contemplating is spectrum. i have my main display (zoa/paly-sps DT) and i cant get Caption america palys to grow well anywhere in my DT. (20k MH/wt5 blue) but they spread like mad in my fragtank(in line so same water) 10k MH.
same with sps, mostly wild or shallow sps prefer 10k in the beginning of there adventure with me. deapwater like 20k end. mabey thats also a big part of LEDs.

 

[rogergolf66]

Good read tagging

 

[kevin32]

subscribe to this thread... I want to hear more from LED user, I purchase a chinese LED few months back and love it.

My only complain is SPS wont show color that well compare to MH or T5s. My zoas go pretty well.

 

[MUCHO REEF]

I would really like to hear from more LED owners past or present. A lot can be learned from your experiences, thanks.

Mooch

 

[rogergolf66]

I would really like to hear from more LED owners past or present. A lotk can be learned from your experiences, thanks.

Mooch

Most of mine have done well under led I'm havering some new ones melting away now but over all they have been good.

 

[eg8r210]

Most of mine have done well under led I'm havering some new ones melting away now but over all they have been good.

How long have you had them under LED and what did you have them under before?

 

[rogergolf66]

I have had zoas under 400 w radium mH in the past then took break from hobby. Back for a year and have only used LEDs so a year. New zoas obviously just a few weeks.

 

[MUCHO REEF]

Most of mine have done well under led I'm havering some new ones melting away now but over all they have been good.

Could you elaborate a little more on what changes, improvements or pitfalls you've witnessed with the LEDs vs MHs? Thank you sir.



Mooch

 

[rogergolf66]

Well with mH I never lost a single zoa. With the LEDs I have had some vanish. Now I don't know for sure if that has any corilation to each other or not. I have had very good growth with the LEDs. Color I do think is easier to get with mH being the spectrum is spread out over the whole tank. With the LEDs the spectrum is very narrow and if u get the zoa in an area they don't like they don't color as well. Jmo

 

[MUCHO REEF]

Hey thanks for sharing that Roger, good to know. Would love to hear of any other observations you have in the future on this.

Are there any others who have made the transition away from or to and have any feedback to share on this topic? There are no right or wrong answers here people, just share what you've observed. Thanks again.


MUCHO REEF

 

[Overgrown]

I've done prob a dozen LED builds over the years, most recently two fixtures from CNCReef.( the best heatsinks I've ever seen btw) I spent some $ on dimmable drivers and various colored diodes in order to achieve more ofthe spectrum. My take is this: LEDs can hold their weight up against halides, and rich coral coloring can be achieved, but there is minute vague details that seem to be missing. The coloring in coral achieved with Halides is unrivaled in my opinion and I don't see LED ever filling that void. Interested to see what Plasma can do though once that Tech is further developed. I still run LED over two tanks for the electricity efficiency, but T5s for the high ends. Will be going back to MH though shortly!

 

[MUCHO REEF]

Hey thanks.

Do you know or have you heard of anyone who has received/achieved compatible growth when switching from MH to LEDs? Really looking to hear if anyone else has received equal, increased or decreased growth after the transition from MH to LEDs. Hey thanks again for your input and good luck your endeavors my friend.


MUCHO

 

[megadeth72]

getting great growth from my zoa's under halides, most of mine will eat so that helps, a few do not respond to food

I think if more had par meters leds would see far better growth results, leds trick the eye's and people think they have a lot of light, those little 1 & 3w leds dont cut it IMO most coral burning is just acclimation issues

 

[CRJ]

Never dabbled in MH's, and im glad i didnt. a 250 watt unit would just about heat my house, and the cost of running it in a year would pay for my LED unit. I went straight for a ecotech radion, found it NIB for $550 last year and im sure glad i did.

Desert storm paly's going nuts, my zoa's grow like weeds. And its only on 60%

 

[Overgrown]

Hey thanks.

Do you know or have you heard of anyone who has received/achieved compatible growth when switching from MH to LEDs? Really looking to hear if anyone else has received equal, increased or decreased growth after the transition from MH to LEDs. Hey thanks again for your input and good luck your endeavors my friend.


MUCHO

Vivid has a side by side MH/Led side by side display at their store here in CA. The growth looks about equal, there's no denying that. The corals under the MH's have much more rich coloring though IMO. If you're ever out here pay them a visit.

 

[rorroreef]

My hubby bought me a radion for my bday last year n my zoas hav tripled in that time

 

[RiddleEagle18]

Bringing this thread back!

I just put a DIY LED fixture over my tank 1.5 weeks ago. It is a "Full Spectrum" build using a 6:3:3:1 formula popular on the nano forum.

6 royal blue
3 warm white
3 violet
1 OCW(Ocean coral white) Which is a triple chip that has 1 red 1 cyan 1 turquoise.

I was using a 150W MH before and now I am at 135W of LED. The LED's are far more powerful so this may not be a fair comparison in the end. So far I am at 45% power on the LED's and will slowly ramp them up over the course of a few week.

I have 4 colonies that were under to MH and I will compare growth and color over the next few weeks to months. I also bought 8 new zoas this week after the switch. I wont be able to compare growth but I will record growth and color on these new one as well.




On a side note. Those of you using a dawn/dusk feature, what are your photo periods? Right now Im running

RB/Violets for 1 hour in the morning
All for 8 hours
RB/Violets for 1 hour in the evening

 

[accordsirh22]

i have 108w of white/blue LED running at about 50% with 30w of t8 50/50. and i am getting pretty good growth and good color out of my zoas. its pretty intense so some have a bumpy patch with acclimation, but from what i have seen this is the case regardless sometimes. never had MH so i can't compare to that, but figured i would post up my set-up to compare to others

 

[zoafarm]

I have been using LEDs for the past 10 months or so. My setup is a DIY with 3:1 (RB:CW). I would love to tell you I'm really happy with my zoas/palys. My observations have been some of the zoas/palys seem to be okay with the light, while others don't seem to like the LEDs. Additionally, the colors appear to be better under T5 an MHs. Now with that said, I really like my LEDs, and everything remains healthy (especially my SPS).

I really believe it is all about spectrum. When I started my research, everything centered around white and blue LEDs. However, for zoas/palys I think there would be a great benefit from more color spectrum. Additional, the LEDs are very bright and slow acclimation is necessary.

My new tank will be up and running by the end of next month, and plan to test this theory. The new LEDs will have a much wider spectrum. Guess I'll find out soon.