SPS tank - Switch from T5 to 2x Kessil A160EW - Thoughts?

[Myka]

Originally Posted by xenon

I did it slowly and noticed very little difference at the 5ppm range so I kept going until I could see a real difference.

You will only see a difference if your tank was nitrate limited to begin with. If your inhabitants used up essentially an equal amount of nitrate as was being produced, then they weren't nitrate limited. You don't need to have lots of nitrate.

Have you heard of the Redfield Ratio? "In 1934, Alfred Redfield discovered that the ratio of carbon to nitrogen to phosphorus is a nearly constant 106:16:1 throughout the world's oceans, in both phytoplankton biomass and in dissolved nutrient pools."

Nitrogen isn't the same as nitrate (some test kits do measure nitrogen though), but it reminds us to bear in mind the relationship between the two (or three). This points to the fact of your gross overdosing of nitrate.



But I digress, this thread is about light. I'm still on the fence about that. I have seen many tanks in person under LEDs that had amazing coloring, though it was always limited to the top side of the branches since LED won't "wrap around" the coral like T5 or halide light does. IMO, it's easier to achieve good coloring using T5 or halide, but it's certainly not impossible to achieve such with LEDs. The proof is in the pudding. It has been resoundingly proven that it is possible.