LED Intensity

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by intarsiabox

Marko had a thread awhile back showing his 3 Sol's over his 180g and it looked good.

Ya, I used that as a guide, although he doesn't really have much for coral at this time to see how SPS react.
Dez also uses 3 and has great results, although he did add supplemental strips to fill in the shadows.

[intarsiabox]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Ya, I used that as a guide, although he doesn't really have much for coral at this time to see how SPS react.
Dez also uses 3 and has great results, although he did add supplemental strips to fill in the shadows.

I think 4 units would eliminate shadows but would personally try 3 and then see if the extra cost is needed or not. My tank is only 20" deep so I can't say if raising the lights a couple inches higher and cranking up the intensity to 100% (over time) would give you the effect you are looking for or not. While I'm sure it'll grow coral just fine, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[Aquattro]

Ya, for my tank I'll try three, see how it looks. The MH setup is all contained in the canopy, so I can simply put it back while saving for a fourth unit, then try again

[Madreefer]

Your gonna need 4. Biggest mistake I see is people not getting enough of them. Once your corals are used to them, which in my case has taken since Sept you can crank them up to 100%. You just have to be patient as you run in to problems with bleaching and brownout. Since ive started to get closer to the 100% mark i've seen better growth and color. I've copied a lighting schedule off of a member on that other site and it's turned out great.

[Duker]

Originally Posted by Madreefer

Your gonna need 4. Biggest mistake I see is people not getting enough of them. Once your corals are used to them, which in my case has taken since Sept you can crank them up to 100%. You just have to be patient as you run in to problems with bleaching and brownout. Since ive started to get closer to the 100% mark i've seen better growth and color. I've copied a lighting schedule off of a member on that other site and it's turned out great.

Your the first person i've heard running LED's at 100%. A year of getting ur Corals used to it. Wow, but hey ya can't rush it. Feel like sharing ur lighting schedule?? And do u lightning storm ever? And, what led's r u using....cool white, royal blue, blue, uv, red, green? And its the Aqua Illumination Sol? Thanks.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Duker

Your the first person i've heard running LED's at 100%.

A couple are, I think Rich said he was on his setup.

[Duker]

Oh yeah, I wonder how long it took him to get them to 100%. Do u recall?

[Bblinks]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

A couple are, I think Rich said he was on his setup.

Hey Brad,

I run my AI's full blast for 5 hours a day with ramp up 3 hours prior and 3 hours post. My lights are hung indside the canopy about 8 inches awl. IMHO you wouldn't have any issues running AIs' at full intensity during the same photo period as your halides. Those 400W must be putting out close to a 1000 PAR just under the water line. I can tell you that's about the same or just under the AI's Par output regardless of the spectrum, any healthy SPS colony(in your case the entire tank) will tolerate the slight change in light intensity and flourish with the exception of montiporas.

When I started using AIs on the 210 last November I was in the same predicament as most of us would since xmas is right around the corner and I have exhausted all my fish funds long ago for the year. However I did come up with enough money for 3 of the AI's after explaining the benefits for them to the better half. After reading a few different stories about LED's intensity taking out prized corals I decided to hang'em 18 inches awl at 50%. In the first couple of days, I was not happy with the color of the tank, it was just way to dim for me. So in the weeks that followed I bumped it up to 100%. I did noticed some of the SPS which are directly under the led started to color up, some of them has been in the tank for months without any colors. At this point I was really impressed with these lights although it has only been a short period of time I know I have made a good choice. One thing still really bugged me was the dimness over the entire tank. Even with them at 100% I still wished that they were brighter.

By the end of 2011 when I upgraded to the 300. I told my wife the same thing I told her when I upgraded to the 210, "this will be the last tank" I knew I wanted the AIs but just didn't know how many. I contacted C2 for info and I was told 12 units for the size of my tank and on the forum I was told 6 units would be plenty, I opted for 9 unit as it is some where in the middle. Now after running them for 4 month, all the sps are keeping there colors nicely and growth rate are awesome. All the frags I got from Brad at the swap are under the led within a few days after arriving without any problems and the more importantly they are keeping there original color as they were in Brad's tank. Honestly I don't think I can keep the same coloration if my light are ran at half intensity. lately I am been contemplating on getting 3 more so I can get full coverage and even if I wanted to keep an efflo on the sandbed I wouldn't have to worry about the lighting. I blame this on Brad since it was his amazing efflo got me thinking about this.

Brad, you have a very nice SPS tank with beautiful coloration, I would think any one with such a nice tank would have a sense of trepidation changing a major component on the tank. I know 3 of them would suffice but as far as the intensity goes, if you want to keep the colors that you have I would keep them at about 8 inches awl and run them at 100% for the same duration as your Metal halide and I will pre-warn you that they will seem a bit dimmer than you halides even at full blast.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Ya, for my tank I'll try three, see how it looks. The MH setup is all contained in the canopy, so I can simply put it back while saving for a fourth unit, then try again

which ones are you looking at?

[Duker]

Great thread Brad, really helpful. So many people are where u are, thinking about it, questioning it, wanting them LED's I'll keep following. :0)