I love being right!

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by rastaangel

You could swap the 70/40 reflectors to 70s and get more spread but less penetration if you have a shallower tank

No, I have SPS on the bottom of 24 inches. Just need more light

[fishytime]

shudda bought radions

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by fishytime

shudda bought radions

Then I'd be out double the money and in the same spot

[don.ald]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Ya, it looks good, and the sunrise/sunset/moon are nice effects. I don't like the color separation, but I knew that already. I suppose I'll get used to it.

Certainly nice things to say about LED, but they are not as nice visually as MH, IMO.

Originally Posted by Borderjumper

Damn... At least you like the color!

The two of you had such nice tanks with the MH. Soon you will get over te LED craze and switch back

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by don.ald

The two of you had such nice tanks with the MH. Soon you will get over te LED craze and switch back

No, unfortunately it was either LED or HRV, and the long term savings of the LED made that choice inviting.
Honestly, as the lights ramp up this morning (too early BTW), it is a very nice light to look at. I probably do like the color tone more than my Radiums, but I just need more of it to keep the corals where there are.

[cuz]

If you thought three would work but they didn't would that make you loving being wrong? lol

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by cuz

If you thought three would work but they didn't would that make you loving being wrong? lol

lol, no, the reference was that while I love being right, it didn't quite work out that way
However, as I said, for anything less than a full SPS tank, I think three would do it. So kinda right, in a oh so wrong kinda way -lol

[sphelps]

Well I think it was discussed to cover a 24x24 area properly with one sole you'd have to switch out the 40 degree lenses to 70 and lift them a little higher than 6-7", I think even manufacturer recommends 12". Plus it was a pipe dream if you ever thought 72W of LED can replace 400W of halide, I think basically you've downgraded to 250W halide equivalent which you can probably make do with but as you predict some SPS may loose color or at the very least take a while to adjust. Using radions instead wouldn't have produced better results either, their usable wattage is only slightly higher but produce better spread at the sacrifice of lower intensity.

All that said though, you should still be cautious using these lights with the stock lenses running 100% at 6-7". While it may not appear so, some areas are probably getting significantly more usable light than before and this sudden adjustment can have negative consequences. At the very least I think you should lift them up to get proper coverage and then lower them in increments if you find corals are suffering for too little light.

[Rice Reef]

Hi Brad,
Congrats in making the switch! It sounds like you will be needing one or a few more units... Running short for now may not be a bad thing ( short term) as I think this will give your corals the time to adjust. The intensity of the LEDs should be started low and gradually ramping it up over time. Since you are running short of a few units may be running them with a slightly higher intensity and if possible to raise the lights higher to balance out the spread may help. When I switched over to the radions ( running at 30%) my montis and birdsnest still bleached.

You may want to chat with Rich( bblinks) as I think he may have ran short of a few units at the beginning. He may be able to share some of his thoughts with you. BTW, I was just in Van and saw his tank and the Sols lighting do look great!

[Bblinks]

Hey Brad,

Congrats on the switch over, I know it was a heavy hit but it will be well worth it in the long run.

As far as for the spread, I have mine at 4 inches awl since I added another unit. I kept the lens stock just like yours so I can blast the sps on the sand bed like my efflo. To be honest I don't see much of separation from the lighting, although the shimmer on the sand bed does have a distinct difference then the shimmer from halides. You said you have your lights sitting at 6-7 inches which in my mind will give you the spread and the coverage around 10X16 area and if you left it up a bit maybe another inch or so then you can increase that to 10.5X18. If you do supplemented with some T5's, you might be able to get away with 3 for a while.

I think you know my stance when it comes to LED intensity, LED's will produce more par when you compare them to 250 MH but I highly doubt that the a brand new 400 halide are putting out anything less then 1000 par at the water surface which is similar to the sols and that par from the halide is evenly distributed across a large area even on the sand bed. I am not telling you to blast your corals right away but instead lift the sols up a bit and have them around 10-12 inches awl but keep them on the same schedule as your halides so if you run your MH for 6 hours a day then run 100% for those 5 hours on your sol and see how everything reacts to it then lower it in a week or two as the coral transitions over to LEDs.

Let me know how it goes, I am hoping to see you on this side of the water soon.
Rich