Vega lighting percentages suggestion

[topshotta]

I have been tweaking my Vegas lately trying to find the sweet spot for my sps. Right now I am running 10% red and green, 35% white and blues at 55%. My lights are mounted 9.5" above water and are setup long ways across a 48" wide 90 gallon tank. Right now most of my sps is doing well I have one that has faded color but not bleached. I just started dosing amino acids and already seeing great improvement in color and PE.

What amino acids are you dosing? I typically keep things simple (ie: 2 part dosing only), but was talked into trying "Fuel" (from Seachem I believe) and since using it have seen a lot more polyp extension. I don't know if my corals just took some time and are happy now, hence the PE, or if it's truly a result of the Fuel. Whatever the case - I'll continue using it for now.

 

[FlyPenFly]

Just start low, 30-40%, ramp up slowly 15% every 1.5 weeks.

For coral food, I prefer the one BRS sells and makes. Only one actually proven to make a difference in SPS growth.

 

[jda]

Whenever you find something that works, you might have to lower it back down again for each new inhabitant, depending on what it is, so write it down or just do a good job of remembering.

 

[topshotta]

For coral food, I prefer the one BRS sells and makes. Only one actually proven to make a difference in SPS growth.

Which food would that be?

 

[baggedtb]

What amino acids are you dosing? I typically keep things simple (ie: 2 part dosing only), but was talked into trying "Fuel" (from Seachem I believe) and since using it have seen a lot more polyp extension. I don't know if my corals just took some time and are happy now, hence the PE, or if it's truly a result of the Fuel. Whatever the case - I'll continue using it for now.

I am using Brightwell Aquatics amino acid. I do not dose anything else just a every other week water change.

 

[dkeller_nc]

Read through that thread linked in post 6. See if the science and research posted by Reef Breeders and Pacific Sun seem like more than a sniff test. They have charts of both MH bulbs and LED and they are quite different. BTW - nobody that I know is using pre-2000 MH bulbs anymore either.

I have read it completely through (before this thread), and no, it doesn't pass the sniff test. There are two or three scientific principles as to why this would be, but I will point out one as an example.

A photon is completely defined by its wavelength - its characteristics are set by this parameter, and is independent of the source that generated it.

What this means is that the blue part of the spectrum of a white LED, at a given intensity, is exactly equivalent to that same portion of the spectrum, at a given intensity, emitted by a blue LED. Or a metal halide lamp. Or fluorescent lamp.

The same exact thing can be said about the equivalence of the red portion of the spectrum irradiated by a white LED and the equivalent part of the spectrum emitted by a red LED.

So about the only thing that can be said about white LEDs is that one may need to supplement the intensity by including red and blue LEDs to augment the intensity in the spectrum that corals use. But that's not the same thing as saying that a white LED is putting out "junk spectrum" that may actually be harmful to corals.

 

[FlyPenFly]

Certain deep water SPS can actually be hurt by certain spectrums of light. It would have to be a lot though and its actually much more likely to happen from say a 400 watt MH bulb than a slowly acclimated modern full spectrum LED.

 

[topshotta]

Certain deep water SPS can actually be hurt by certain spectrums of light. It would have to be a lot though and its actually much more likely to happen from say a 400 watt MH bulb than a slowly acclimated modern full spectrum LED.

What food from BRS were you referring to in your earlier comment?

 

[FlyPenFly]

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/index.php/catalog/product/view/id/1799/

But honestly, you don't really need to feed unless everything else is perfect first.

 

[topshotta]

I was just curious. I have ordered a lot of stuff from them and never paid attention to their line of food.