i am using 3 50w led flood lights. and 2 30w blue floods. paid 300 for all. i have 3 kenya trees in the tank that look good. and i just added a new coral... not sure what it is.. it has a thick stem and green pulsing hands. (looks like). added 2 weeks ago. and they are looking amazing! looks like they grew an inch already and are very active!. i bought my floods off ebay .. i was very doubtful in the beginning. but am now enjoying the light and shimmer from these!. only thing ive noticed is they need to be elevated at least a foot or better to disburse the light thru-out the entire tank. mine are only 6 inches from top of tank and there are some dark spots in the top corners.
Lighting your reef... Best bang for your buck.
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CorallineAlgae
Aquarium Advice Addict
Hey, JJ, can we get a pic? I have those on my planted tank (great results) and I'm considering either them or a Finnex Ray 2 on my next low light reef.
You can get them in 10w. 20 30 and 50w I ly problem is the space for them.. My blues have to sit right above the plastic supports.. In another thread I asked if anyone has replaced those with acrylic. That's what I might do so I can get rid of the dark spots
Paglaum22
Aquarium Advice Regular
Are LEDs really growing sps with good coloration?
CorallineAlgae
Aquarium Advice Addict
JJ-MIK said:
Thank you for the pictures! I use the 20w and 10w floodlights on the freshwater and even set my brother up with a 10w 10000K and 10w royal blue for his sump. I played around with different chips (6000K, 10000K, 20000K, royal blue and power blue). Which combo of white and blue did you decide to go with?
Animal-Chin
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yes, my acropora is super purple and getting bigger every day. It was almost dead, brown and about 1 inch. Now its bright purple and has sprouted at least 6 new "branches" from the top that are growing in every direction.
mr_X
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yep, I'm also growing colorful sps approximately 30" away from those blue/white Taotronics or similar fixtures. People who say you need the extra colors are incorrect. Unfortunately, My camera is just not picking up the colors as I would like, but I challenge/invite anyone to come to my house and see for yourself.
Animal-Chin
Aquarium Advice Addict
Ok, I'm coming over Mr.X....lol
Paglaum22
Aquarium Advice Regular
Are you from LA Mr X? I would really love to see myself. I'm planning to upgrade my tank put on under LEDs but I need to see a proof that they're really working..
Gregcoyote
Aquarium Advice Addict
I too am growing SPS under LEDs similar to the Taotronics. I also grow them under DIY fixtures with optics. Both work fine. PAR is PAR. Extra colors are for your eyes, not necessarily the coral. Not that lighting your corals to show off coloration is a bad thing. It just doesn't effect the coral growth that much IMO. In fact, accidentally bleaching your corals with a LED is far more likely.
Robbiesamp
Aquarium Advice FINatic
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2012
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- 707
Yea I want proof the china ones work good 
Gregcoyote
Aquarium Advice Addict
Fine. Go for it.
I'm subscribed in another thread in a reef forum that have people saying that the red, green, blues and other LED colors help in photosynthesis and help corals retain their colors. Some people have already noticed the drop in colors without the full spectrum of colors when testing under T5 compared to white/RB LEDs.
MaiTank
Aquarium Advice Activist
I am going to go with buildmyled.com two fixtures that produce the color I am looking for with the needed PAR values. They don't need fans running and are super low profile. Appears to be a great USA product.
Sonomakid
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Personally i am going to try the Chinese light for my first ever saltwater build as i have seen way more positive than negative, which to me speaks volumes as negative rep for things normally travels twice as fast. So i went ahead and Ordered this light. Amazon.com: 120 Watt Aquarium Coral Reef LED Grow Light 120W, 55x3 Watt Dimmable: Pet Supplies
mr_X
Aquarium Advice Addict
That's the same thing we are using, but that one has optics.
Terrance, I have both the colored fixture, and the straight blue/white ones and they are both coloring and growing at the same pace. I like the look of the straight blue/white fixtures better actually.
Those people that are noticing color changes are comparing LED fixtures to T5's? Apples to oranges. How is that going to tell anything?
Anyone who tells you that you NEED the colored LEDs hasn't done enough research. There are many things to factor in when it comes to coral coloration.
Terrance, I have both the colored fixture, and the straight blue/white ones and they are both coloring and growing at the same pace. I like the look of the straight blue/white fixtures better actually.
Those people that are noticing color changes are comparing LED fixtures to T5's? Apples to oranges. How is that going to tell anything?
Anyone who tells you that you NEED the colored LEDs hasn't done enough research. There are many things to factor in when it comes to coral coloration.
I actually read on a site. That basically corals will grow under any light.. And in a book of the top ten best aquariums in the us. One of the reef tanks is run under 6500k lights.. If you do it right.. Anything will work.. IMO its just the other stuff that thrive in other kinds of light conditions... Good and bad..
mr_X
Aquarium Advice Addict
Just like Greg said "I too am growing SPS under LEDs similar to the Taotronics. I also grow them under DIY fixtures with optics. Both work fine. PAR is PAR. Extra colors are for your eyes, not necessarily the coral. Not that lighting your corals to show off coloration is a bad thing. It just doesn't effect the coral growth that much IMO. In fact, accidentally bleaching your corals with a LED is far more likely"
If your fixture has enough PAR, it will grow photosynthetic creatures.
Photosynthetically active radiation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
If your fixture has enough PAR, it will grow photosynthetic creatures.
Photosynthetically active radiation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mr x... By any chance do you have par par meter you would mind loaning.. Renting?? Lol nobody within 100 miles of me has one... I am very curious to see what my LEDs are putting out.. My LFS is too.. They keep asking me to find our.. Lol
