Top down shots

[Big E]

My Red Planet under T5/LED hybrid (was mainly T5, LED's were supplemental) was close to the stunning and vivid colours on as below...however under the Radions the Red Planet turned kinda purple colour...dont like the look anymore. A frag I gave to my buddy a while ago turned the same...he also runs Radions. Blues/greens etc are fine though and look great. I miss how amazing my Red Planet used to look...

Hope to see some more eye candy Ed. :thumbsup:

Sorry for the late reply........I was going to respond and add some pictures, but I haven't gotten around to it. Without getting into it too much, Radions aren't going to come close to what a bank of Blue+ and Coral+ can do to all acro colors across the board.

You know how I bang the drum about the coral+ producing red/pinks in corals. That Red planet was getting about 240par & mostly side angle Coral+ light as it was sitting on a frag rack.

The best red planets I've seen in person were under T5's....... a close second was 250w radiums with T5 supplement.

Awsome colors Ed! Your rockscape looks great! Wish i had gone barebottom! Lol

Thanks, you can always goes BB if you want. I experimented with some light rubble but it didn't work the way I wanted, so I'm back to full BB.

Well you sold me, Ed. I'm switching out my Purple Plus, and Aquablue Plus bulbs for Coral+ right now :thumbsup:

Hi Ed,...hey would you elaborate on Joe's post,...I'm still trying to understand lighting,...thought you had B+. Thanks,---Rick

Hi Rick,
I do have blue+ alternating with coral+.........I believe Joe is swapping out his Purple+ anad AB specials for Coral+.

 

[007Bond]

Ed,...are you running equal number B to C ? and you said yours come on all at the same time. I forgot how many hours you run them. Thanks,---Rick

 

[Big E]

Hi Joe,thanks for the kind words,

On the par meter----------

Yeah, I think what you and Matt got are pretty close to the same. The ATI fixtures make up some par by being cooled correctly. My bulbs are just air cooled and my reflectors are ancient and spotted, so I'm not surprised you got a little higher further down.

I've had ATI ballasts on my open air fixtures and only pull about 820 or so, that's why I know it's the way they are cooled that make ATI fixtures good par performers.

The reflectors on my Let fixture are 1/4 wider than the ATI's so that may be a factor also.

Even when the bulbs are older the par changed very little...........what is more drastic is the spectrum change.........mainly the last month or so when the bulbs need to be swapped out. That's why I don't focus on par as much as on spectrum.

With par it's more about being in a good range at the top and bottom.........for
acros it's between 500 and 200 for me. Some corals that would get over 500 would bleach on the inside branch skin if the branch was exposed length wise like this---

Navy tort close R by Big E 52, on Flickr

I believe there's about a 50 leeway on either side of any number before a coral reacts differently for color or growth.

I see that bleached skin a lot on Sps top down pictures and it tells me they're giving the coral too much par.

Corals can also handle more par by growing branches straight up and pointed which exposes only the upper branch tips to the light above......if you apply less light the coral will grow with a more spread out shape to catch more light as it grows. I prefer that as you can see more colors when looking slightly above the coral or straight sideways. There's nothing worse than having an awesome colored coral that branches straight up and all you see from the front view of your tank is the branch undersides.

 

[Big E]

Ed,...are you running equal number B to C ? and you said yours come on all at the same time. I forgot how many hours you run them. Thanks,---Rick

Yes, 8 hours of the SAME par and spectrum. I think this is something people with any kind of lighting can benefit from. It's not the exact hours but having a length of time that works for your acros.

The kaleidoscope settings some people use through the day make no logical sense to me. The earth moves around the sun to hit a coral from all sides throughout the day and why a wild coral can handle much higher par levels but the spectrum doesn't change much in those peak hours.

If you've ever looked through a telescope you can really appreciate the movement that happens continually as time passes in a short time span. Our light fixtures are static and why the corals don't need no where near as much par.

Sure, clouds and when the sun rises/sets may cause a slight change in spectrum, and that's what I think an hour on each end of blue or whatever you prefer is okay. But for the most part it's consistent in those areas of the equator where corals thrive.

About an hour after the sun comes up it's at full intensity and almost every day is clear blue skies.

 

[007Bond]

Thanks Ed,...I need to do some more reading on spectrum.---Rick

 

[cFloor]

I'm not sure how I just now found this thread but I'm sure glad that I did. This has been a very good, informative read. Your corals are second to none. Just stunning!

 

[reefmutt]

Well.. I'm leaving for work late this morning because I just read through this entire thread..
Amazing tank, Ed!
Simplicity, stability and seriously keen observation.
You're a master..
I really love your scape, coral selection and placement..
Amazing thread and most importantly stunning looking corals!!

 

[Big E]

I'm not sure how I just now found this thread but I'm sure glad that I did. This has been a very good, informative read. Your corals are second to none. Just stunning!

Thanks, I'm very glad you got something out of the thread as well as enjoyed the pics.

Well.. I'm leaving for work late this morning because I just read through this entire thread..
Amazing tank, Ed!
Simplicity, stability and seriously keen observation.
You're a master..
I really love your scape, coral selection and placement..
Amazing thread and most importantly stunning looking corals!!

Thank you, I appreciate your comments

 

[Bratyboy2]

Well after seeing the awesome colors from your sps corals i have decided to go with your bulb combo in my upcoming t5 build.

Can we get some recent shots of your zoa/ paly groups? Thats mostly what my tank will be so im curious to see how just those look under them.

 

[Big E]

These are some older colony shots first.......they were grown from about 2-3 polyps. All photos are under these lights.

Same lights but on racks and such----

This light combo will color up all corals........if you want to add more blue or bling use some LED or actinic to put the aesthetic touches for your eyes. Don't over due it though as too much can affect the overall coloration of the coral.

 

[markalot]

Ed, we need acro pics now!

 

[Big E]

If you're keeping favias..........some examples under coral+-blue+ combo

Here's JF Day glo--

When I first got it---

9-28-15

12-30-15-- It has more yellow on the heads, but the coral pulled in when I moved it to take the pic.

Baby Breath--

Neon Viper--

Some rainbow acans--- still working to get the right par level but close to really becoming nice.

 

[Big E]

Ed, we need acro pics now!

I'll get some out soon..............I just got a new bigger frag tank and want to really thin out and off load my display. I'm kicking some colonies out and adding some new frags I like more

 

[hbrochs]

Thank you Big E for sharing, I've been reading your thread closely. I have the ATI Powermodule with 4 t5 bulbs and three banks of LEDS. It's been about 8 months since I bought bulbs, so I was due. Bought 2 coral plus and 2 blue plus. Have them in only two days, and most of the tank is responding noticeably well. I've taken my first few top down shots. Sometimes tricky to avoid the reflection of the lights on the surface of the water. Do you use some sort of acrylic contraption to get below the surface?

Going to keep taking photos for comparison, thanks again!!

Howard

 

[hbrochs]

Forgot to mention my fixture is 16 inches above the water. Think I'm going to start slowly lowering it. Any suggestions on the time frame to lower it?
I was thinking an inch a week?

 

[Bratyboy2]

These are some older colony shots first.......they were grown from about 2-3 polyps. All photos are under these lights.

Same lights but on racks and such----

This light combo will color up all corals........if you want to add more blue or bling use some LED or actinic to put the aesthetic touches for your eyes. Don't over due it though as too much can affect the overall coloration of the coral.

Your zoas look amazing under those lights! How much led would you add for just a touch of zing? Think i might just start with the t5s and see how they look first curious your opinion. You fragging any zoas soon?

 

[Big E]

Forgot to mention my fixture is 16 inches above the water. Think I'm going to start slowly lowering it. Any suggestions on the time frame to lower it?
I was thinking an inch a week?

I try to be overly patient with everything I do...........I'd probably do an inch every two weeks.

On your new bulbs...............best setup is to have the Coral+ on the inside next to the LED banks.

Run the white LEDs at 20-25% of whatever you have the Blue LEDs set at.

One of the best visual tests is to stand about 4 or more feet from your tank..........all the colors should pop. If the greens, orange yellow, pop more you're running the LEDs too high.

Too much Blue LED will make it more difficult to color up reds and to some degree pink acros. I'm speaking about acroporas, not other pink or red corals like poccis, stylos and birdnests, montis...........they are easy to color up under any lights.

Remember, throwing an excessive amount of blue or actinic on a coral is just putting light on the coral for looks........it doesn't necessarily color up the coral better.

 

[Big E]

Your zoas look amazing under those lights! How much led would you add for just a touch of zing? Think i might just start with the t5s and see how they look first curious your opinion. You fragging any zoas soon?

Thanks, most people use 450nm reefbrites......one in front and back. I don't care for it as long term I've seen corals especially LPS(Acan & chalices) turn orange.

Too much of the single spectrum blue LED can also have long term detrimental effects on SPS.

I would go with something that has 400-460 Leds in the strip.

These are my opinions based on helping people dial in LED/T5 combos and also seeing friends tank first hand over months of these light configurations.

Keep in mind I'm first and foremost about coloring Acroporas so everthing else takes a back seat.........if your more a just a zoa guy you would be fine with the reefbrite type of 450nm strips as supplements.

 

[pandimus]

Hey nice tank,I've been following you. I have a quick question. You said 450 is not to your liking but recommend 400-460. I'm using 4 AI Sol's, and a c+ b+ two bulb 80w fixture was thinking of swapping out my LEDs on the sols and was curious on your recommend leds

 

[Big E]

Hey nice tank,I've been following you. I have a quick question. You said 450 is not to your liking but recommend 400-460. I'm using 4 AI Sol's, and a c+ b+ two bulb 80w fixture was thinking of swapping out my LEDs on the sols and was curious on your recommend leds

If it was me here is the two options I'd choose--

1. Buy an ATI Sunpower fixture if your tank is dominant Sps.

2. Add two more T5 bulbs to make 4 total and keep what you have. The sols are skewed with too many cool white diodes and no violets or neutral whites. Two more T5 bulbs can fix that and add what is missing. Then run the white in the sols at about 20-25% of the blues.

------------------------------------------------

Just to be clear on the 450 strips .......they're workable as supplements for T5s, but the 400-470 diode mix would be better. I'd also want a controller for each color.

Something like this---

http://www.bmlcustom.com/custom-report-details/?partNo=PS4890S101LMJLMLLJLLMLJML

BML is out of the aquarium business, but there are other companies that can make custom strips or you can make one yourself.

If you just use a single spectrum strip at least have a controller and run them for dawn /dusk and/or for viewing pleasure when you're home.