audifusion
Aquarium Advice Freak
Pisces3473 said:Holy Shizzle!!! That'a a big tank!! I could scuba dive in a tank that big!
I have been in it with mask and snorkel before.
Pisces3473 said:Holy Shizzle!!! That'a a big tank!! I could scuba dive in a tank that big!
I have been in it with mask and snorkel before.
Hey Terrance, which optics did you get? 60, 90, or 120? I was thinking about getting 90's but maybe the 120's would be better. Nice tank BTW.
Thanks for helping me out. These full spectrum lights are what I want. They give a closer appearance of 14K up to a 20k or there 'bouts.
Terrance, I am using nothing but the white/blue units and have no problem with coloration. Their reports have more factors involved than just lighting, and many people are underestimating these units and bleaching corals. If they weren't getting enough usable light, they would brown out, not bleach.
I bet there's plenty of spectrum in the straight blue and white lights. Otherwise, how would I be growing and coloring up corals? I disagree that the multi colored ones look anywhere near 20k. They have a pinkish hue to them. None of the Taotronics or similar fixtures look close to 20k.
Yes, it's opinion, and I feel the need to let everyone reading know my perception as well. I'm trying to ensure that folks considering these fixtures will have more than a single eye witness to go by.Isn't perception, put simply, an opinion?
I was calling it as I perceived the colors to be. Not, saying Blue/White TaoTronics suck wind. These are just my preference. I also, wasn't even implying that one is better than the other, or grows or doesn't grow corals any better.
I do see the pinkish hue. I see tanks that run T5HO's with Fiji Purple bulbs running and this what the Reef Breeder lights appear like, (to me in the pictures I've seen). I hope to be seeing these lights in person soon. Then I will be able to make a definitive statement as to my true opinion.
Terrance, back to your tank and lights. I really do like it!
Cheers!
TrekBear
709,
I do agree with what you say about coral light needs for survival/growth. You are also correct in your details about UV light, for the most part. However a light rated as a 405nm light likely has some emissions slightly above and below that peak wavelength. Perhaps even in the UV band.
That being said, that detail is irrelevant. One reason some light manufacturers recommend the purple light us to help some coral colours POP through the effects of fluorescence. And this can occur when ANY shorter wavelength effects something that then radiates a longer wavelength. Therefore a purple light can lead to fluorescence in any colour while red can only fluoresce other reds. UV light is especially good as it does not light the tank but does make things appear to glow, which is the truest form of fluorescence.
Although not everything will fluoresce , it is more common in corals, hence the recommendation of some to include those purple and uv lights in your tank. Unfortunately it comes at the cost of less light in the 460nm coral food wavelength. Less of a concern for those of you fortunate to have led lights.
That sounds like an uneducated statement. efficiency per watt and penetration is what we are looking for and (the right) LEDs blow the others out of the water.I've seen it being said in many forums how LEDs suck and t5's or metal halides are better
That sounds like an uneducated statement. efficiency per watt and penetration is what we are looking for and (the right) LEDs blow the others out of the water.
As I said earlier, folks are simply underestimating them and bleaching their corals. Not enough light = sps browning out, not bleaching out. Color morphs are to be expected when going from natural sun, to halide, to t5's, to LEDs....
If some of the sps is doing very well under the LEDs, it stands to reason that the lighting is providing enough PAR to the corals. The pieces that aren't coloring up as well just didn't acclimate fully IMO.
I know a guy who had a sps dominated tank that looked great under an 8 lamp t5 fixture. He wanted to go LED so he went out and bought some SOL Super Blues and put them over the tank. His sps started looking like crap and within a couple months, he went back to T5's.
This is a perfect example of not acclimating the corals properly and being impatient. This guy's experience is not uncommon, and these are the people saying LED's suck.
It's not like changing from Halides to T5's. I am trying as many scenarios as possible- different fixture heights, turning the fixtures up and down, different photo periods, colored LEDs V.S. the straight blue and whites, and whatever else I can think of, and I have been noticing that with at least these fixtures, I didn't need the PAR numbers to grow my stony corals as I did with the halides and T5 fixtures.
So far my conclusion is that it's totally an acclimation issue.
I would put them on the sand bed for starters. Let them open fully, which can take up to a week, and then slowly move them to where they do best. I start everything on the sand bed.
Pisces3473 said:I set them out front of the reef on the bottom, It's actually where I'm hoping to keep them. Here's a pic from last night.