90G reef with LED lighting

[Jaybird]

Just starting a topic here to keep a journal of my reef with the new lighting. I've given us a gift of four 48" Reefbrite LED lights for our 90G reef. The tank was previously lit with HO T5 (6-bulb fixture from Tek).

I will be watching the tank and reporting on progress with coral growth.

The key livestock that I will be watching are a GBT nem, two types of acro, pocillopora, and some montis. As well, I will be watching the LPS, shrooms and zoas. The key ones will be the higher-light livestock. Another factor will be watching for algae growth.

Once I get some photos of the current setup I'll add them. The thread will be a test for anyone else considering a full LED setup for their reef.

Each 48" Reefbrite strip is supposed to be equivalent to around two T5 bulbs. With 2 blue, one white, and one 50/50 strip I can say that it looks to have about as much light as the 6-bulb Tek fixture. That doesn't mean that the LEDs are less powerful. Just a visual observation.

So far, the colour with the two blues, 1 50/50 and one white seems a little blue. It looks really good, but some people may prefer two blues and two whites. The shimmer is really nice and the heat generated in the LEDs is almost zero. You could touch these things after 8 hours of on-time without a problem.

Initial feeling: the blue (actinic) lighting of the LEDs is mind-blowing. I've never seen my corals fluoresce so much. As well, the LEDs are similar to MH in the way that the light is very straight. It doesn't have the same "spread" as T5 bulbs, which may be why they seem only as bright as a 6-bulb fixture. So far the SPS have been extending their polyps.

 

[maxst2]

If you could source a PAR meter you could give an accurate report on XvsY

 

[mr_X]

yes, i'm interested in PAR numbers as well. it's very strange that they use 3 watt Cree LEDs and only push them not even half way. seems like a bit of a waste. also, the gaps between the LEDs makes me curious that without optics, how much is the PAR dropping off between the groups.

 

[cmor1701d]

I was thinking the same thing Doug. The LEDs should last 5 - 10 years at full power. Why run them lower?

 

[Jaybird]

Very true about them running them only halfway. Sadly, I do not have access to a PAR meter. I can tell you that I will be moving some of the zoa frag plugs that I have lower in the tank. I have them on a small piece of eggcrate and the oral disks are now pushed as close to the ceramic disk as possible.

I haven't seen any difference in the lighting between the groupings of LEDs but I would assume that if you metered it out you would notice a difference.

 

[Jaybird]

I've got two photos here that were taken with my iPhone. Why the iPhone? Well, the basic camera on it isn't smart enough to try to fool with colour balance, etc.

These are straight from the phone. One shot is close to the tank and shows a one inch acro frag on a ceramic plug. The second shows the top to bottom of the tank (it's too wide to fit in the whole shot).

I haven't played with colour balance or anything, so it's not exactly as the eye sees things. It actually looks whiter than in the pictures.

You will all have to excuse the spots on the glass. I've lost the plastic bolt for my scraper to attach the razor blade and there are patches of coraline growing all over. I've checked at three LFS here an some carry replacement blades but none have the attachment part. I guess that I will have to bring it to Home Depot to see if they have anything that would work.

 

[kingman8610]

If you could source a PAR meter you could give an accurate report on XvsY

What does all that mean? PAR? XvsY???

 

[mr_X]

PAR is an abbreviated term. the expanded is "photosynthetically active radiation". basically, it's the usable light that our fixtures omit. it's not just intensity(that would be measured in lumens), it's the light that can actually be used in the process of photosynthesis.
here you go...
Photosynthetically active radiation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

jaybird, i don't see any dim spots. the camera does make the tank look a bit on the red side.

 

[kingman8610]

OK thanks X

 

[Jaybird]

The camera does make it look red. The iPhone really buggers with the white balance but I don't want to shoot with my DSLR and play with the shots in Lightroom. With the lights on it looks like it used to with the T5s but with a Fiji Pink bulb in the mix. It's a little more blue than white but it does look good. Perhaps I should have gone with two blues and two whites instead of the 50/50.

jaybird, i don't see any dim spots. the camera does make the tank look a bit on the red side.

Here is a closer shot with just one of the blue strips on. Again, the iPhone doesn't do justice to the fluorescence of the corals. There is more day-glo colouring in there than at a rave. With the two bulbs on (without the white and 50/50) the tank looks like a freakshow. I can see why people are buying them up to add to their existing fixtures. Instead of using two actinic t5s in a fixture you could add one of these.

In the attached shot is a one-inch frag of monti (kind of like what they call superman) and two ricordia (one florida and one not), as well as some acan. The acan really pops. As well, in the back you can see some purple montipora capricornis that's about the size of a desert plate.

 

[iDream]

LAWD thats blindingly bright!

 

[Jaybird]

Just an update. My SPS seem to be doing very well. I have had to break-off chunks of my purple monti. cap. (couldn't find anyone local who wanted the frags) and the acro that I put in when I changed the lights has grown upwards about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch, spread quite a bit over the ceramic plug, and the main column has really thickened up.

So, primary verdict is that you shouldn't have too many problems keeping SPS under LED lights. Having issues keeping zoas though. Perhaps there is too much light for some of them

 

[iDream]

if theyre close they may be being melted from too much light

 

[mr_X]

it could be just from the shock of the new lighting. is that scripps turning green yet? it appears brown.

 

[Jaybird]

I have the zoas at the bottom of the tank and they are as flat against the rocks as they can get.

What scripps? If you mean the acro in the back: it is always like that. The tips are a purple blue but the main body is brown.

 

[mr_X]

yes, it reminds me of a ORA scripps green acropora. maybe it isn't with the purple tips. the default color for sps corals is brown. over time with your new lighting, it should gain color over the entire colony.

 

[Jaybird]

It would be nice if it gained the same colour over the whole body. Ever since I got the acro it has been like that. Brownish on the main body but purple on the tips. Slimes up like crazy if you have to move it. The urchins knock it over every once in a while. Soon I will have to get brave and frag it. Some of the arms are over 6" long. What you can't see is the small acro crab that lives in it. Pretty cool little guy.

 

[mr_X]

how long has it been under the LEDs?

 

[Jaybird]

I've had it for a long time now. I used to have it under my 6-bulb TEK light fixture and now it's under my four fixture Reefbrite (equivilant to an 8-bulb T5 fixture). It's always been the same. Even at the LFS where it was under MH.

 

[rush]

we need to get par readings for LEDs