Red and Green LED's....

[rtparty]

Ryan,

here is a link that may be interesting
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5513672_far-underwater-can-light-travel.html

and another on photography
http://www.uwphotographyguide.com/underwater-photography-lighting-fundamentals

These principles of light physics clearly define the conditions one would find on a reef. As you can read, at 15ft/5m, there is no red light present. None what so ever. Yellow is gone at 35ft/12m, which is not very deep and represents the average depth most of our corals would call home.

Also, go to this webpage and find some graphs on T5s and further links to studies.

http://www.practicalcoralfarming.com/t5spectrums.html

You will note that most T5 are weak in the red spectrum, as are most halides. There are exceptions, such as the world reknowned Fiji Purple from Korallen-Zucht, which was designed for the specific purpose of coral aesthetic. It brings colours to our eyes that would otherwise not be seen, as they cannot be transmitted under the natural light of the corals in question. It has been copied by many companies.

Don't confuse visual perception with coral well being. Even if a coral looks nice under a certain spectrum, it doesn't mean it likes it or will thrive under it. A well balanced spectrum will bridge the gap between human desire and coral well being, with the balance being stilted toward the aquarist. After all, we have paid for this hobby and want to get the visual pleasure out of it, often to the detriment of the creatures we choose to keep.

The original question of this thread was concerning RBG led lighting. As I have written, it is in itself not a good lighting system. In conjunction with a more balance white spectrum, it will bring visual pleasure, but let's not confuse it with coral well being.

I don't think I worded my opinion the very best. I am not saying that red light is good for corals. I am saying it is good for color rendering and makes the tank look better to ME.

On my RGB I rarely, if ever, switch it to the pure white selection. The corals don't look that great under all white light. I run it on either a cyan color, all blue, or a blue/purple mix.

The blue/purple is my favorite. The corals glow under this spectrum. When I add more lighting I will throw in an 8k white module and then 3 stunner strips that are all blue and maybe some UV.

 

[Kolognekoral]

I don't think I worded my opinion the very best. I am not saying that red light is good for corals. I am saying it is good for color rendering and makes the tank look better to ME.

On my RGB I rarely, if ever, switch it to the pure white selection. The corals don't look that great under all white light. I run it on either a cyan color, all blue, or a blue/purple mix.

The blue/purple is my favorite. The corals glow under this spectrum. When I add more lighting I will throw in an 8k white module and then 3 stunner strips that are all blue and maybe some UV.

Ryan,

OK, we've been talking past each other. Sorry, I just didn't understand what you actually were using and how. Poor communication. Silly, yeah, as we actually agree on the basics of lighting. Beer break! :beer:

I'ld still love to see some pics.

 

[SPotter]

This has been a great discussion guys. I would really live to see some pics of your tanks. Could you post pics and provide the dims of your tank and the fixtures you are using?

Steve

 

[bluebastion]

Jamie,

With all that you have stated.. what color combo on the next Vertex pad do you want to see? It seems everyone (including me) have stated they want red and UV... do you think the best request would be to be UV/Green or UV/Warm White?

 

[SPotter]

I thought you couldn't get the vertex leds in the US?

Steve

 

[bluebastion]

Jeremy B. at Premium Aquatics has them. That's who I bought my 36" 260 model... oohh... yeah.

Here's a video link to my setup with the demo mode on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLelQNgkDkY&feature=channel_video_title

 

[SPotter]

looks very nice!!!! what are the dimensions of your tank?

 

[SPotter]

Ryan,

OK, we've been talking past each other. Sorry, I just didn't understand what you actually were using and how. Poor communication. Silly, yeah, as we actually agree on the basics of lighting. Beer break! :beer:

I'ld still love to see some pics.

Jamie,
which vertex fixture would you suggest on a 60x36x30 tank?

 

[bluebastion]

48x18x18

Seems with the Vertex, you can get by with purchasing 1ft shorter than the length of your tank.

 

[SPotter]

48x18x18

Seems with the Vertex, you can get by with purchasing 1ft shorter than the length of your tank.

How do your corals look under this fixture? I read some posts where people were experiencing browning tips. Do you have any recent photos to post?

 

[bluebastion]

How do your corals look under this fixture? I read some posts where people were experiencing browning tips. Do you have any recent photos to post?

This is a new build so the only thing I have at this time is a Clean Up Crew. I'll be going on a vacation for a week and a half very soon and don't plan to stock life in this tank until my return.

Browning has been an issue for all types of LED fixtures.. and usually due to not acclimating the corals to the LED lighting. I plan to dim down my lights and start at 15% and go up 1-2% increments daily until the corals are accustomed to the lights at 50% (the highest ramp-up I plan to go to at this time).

 

[pmrossetti]

I don't think I worded my opinion the very best. I am not saying that red light is good for corals. I am saying it is good for color rendering and makes the tank look better to ME.

On my RGB I rarely, if ever, switch it to the pure white selection. The corals don't look that great under all white light. I run it on either a cyan color, all blue, or a blue/purple mix.

The blue/purple is my favorite. The corals glow under this spectrum. When I add more lighting I will throw in an 8k white module and then 3 stunner strips that are all blue and maybe some UV.

rt,

i was under the impression that you felt red and rgb were good for corals missing spectrum, not just for looks. please clarify?
post 33?

thank you

 

[WingoLED]

Has anyone added Red and Green LED's to their fixtures and have you noticed any difference in appearance and growth?

I did. The green brings out red color and metallic colors of fish VERY WELL. Flame angles will look way better than before. I don't have metallic skin fish in SW but I have a discus tank where I employ some green.

The left side of the tank is lited with green while the right side is lited with blue

[/url] Flickr 上 WingoAgency 的 LED and Discus B IMG_2041[/IMG]

 

[JaneG]

Just some food for thought here...

This is a photo from a Japanese LED reefing site showing the spectrum of the sun, along with (what I believe to be) the spectral peaks for optimal coral coloration.

For comparison, here's what cool white and royal blue looks like according to the same website:

It's a little ridiculous to expect good results in terms of color when so much is lacking here. Mainly, it's lacking ~650nm, ~420nm, 500nm and in UV. As opposed to RGB, I would suggest adding a deep red LED that peaks around 650nm (ex. the Osram 660nm 3w- most commonly used red LEDs are in the ~620-640nm range, so they won't work for filling in that gap), an LED that peaks around 420nm (the SemiLED BlueViolet is the only one I know of- 415-420nm), and an LED that peaks around 500nm (the 3w Cyan Rebel is the only one I know of- the "Cree blues" commonly used to fill in this gap are 465-485nm, which won't completely work). I'm not completely sure about the need for UV yet (I haven't done enough research on this, although I've heard that the colorful coral "sunscreen" is in fact transparent- but again, I don't really know). However, these 3 LEDs (when mixed with Neutral White and Royal Blue) should give stunning results for coloration/aesthetics.

 

[bluebastion]

Just some food for thought here...
Mainly, it's lacking ~650nm, ~420nm, 500nm and in UV. As opposed to RGB, I would suggest adding a deep red LED that peaks around 650nm (ex. the Osram 660nm 3w- most commonly used red LEDs are in the ~620-640nm range, so they won't work for filling in that gap), an LED that peaks around 420nm (the SemiLED BlueViolet is the only one I know of- 415-420nm), and an LED that peaks around 500nm (the 3w Cyan Rebel is the only one I know of- the "Cree blues" commonly used to fill in this gap are 465-485nm, which won't completely work). I'm not completely sure about the need for UV yet (I haven't done enough research on this, although I've heard that the colorful coral "sunscreen" is in fact transparent- but again, I don't really know). However, these 3 LEDs (when mixed with Neutral White and Royal Blue) should give stunning results for coloration/aesthetics.

I should be happy then... the Vertex Illuminas utilize main pads (2 per ft.) that each have 16 cree LED's: 8x 7k white; 4x 420nm blue; 4x 450 royal blue

They have red-only auxiliary pads out now... but most of us Illumina owners are waiting for a mixed pad of red and UV. Auxiliary pads consist of two channels of 4 LEDs and fit between the main pads. So with my 36" Illumina that has 6 main pads, I can upgrade to 4 auxiliary pads.

I will say that green is starting to sound more interesting though.

 

[pmrossetti]

thank you Jane,

So your suggested mix in summary is:

NW, RB, + Red (Osram 660nm), Blue/Violet (SemiLED)420nm, Cyan Rebel 500nm

 

[JaneG]

thank you Jane,

So your suggested mix in summary is:

NW, RB, + Red (Osram 660nm), Blue/Violet (SemiLED)420nm, Cyan Rebel 500nm

That's what I would personally recommend, but they all need to be in a good ratio. I have yet to try this out myself (I will soon, however), but some reefers in Japan have had great success by using "full spectrum" LED lighting like this. Here's an example of one that uses a similar LED combination. According to the owner of the tank, it has been under LEDs for over a year... his results are spectacular.

 

[pmrossetti]

looks like a eco lamp, Acan plus others

 

[JaneG]

looks like a eco lamp, Acan plus others

According to the owner's build profile, it is the Eco-Lamp like you stated. It uses Neutral White LEDs, Cool White LEDs, 420nm BlueViolet LEDs, 405nm UV LEDs, Royal Blue, Blue LEDs (475nm) and Cyan LEDs (500nm). I can't really think of any parts of the spectrum it's missing- it's a great example of what LEDs can do. Here's another photo from a reefer in Japan using the same wide spectrum fixture:

His results are equally amazing.

 

[pmrossetti]

wow, what's making the red pop?