Perhaps, we need a guest speaker that can show us how to build LED Lights Missouri Aquarium Society: Our speaker, Matt Bielski, showing us how to build a low cost LED light at our Friday bonus talk
from everything that iv read DIY led systems really are not that hard the only thing that u have to worry about i not over loading your power supply http://www.aquastyleonline.com/categories/DIY-LED-Lighting/LED-Controller-Kit/
do u have a hood that u r going to put them in r is it going to be a open top tank? if u r going to put them in a hood and wont to do it cheap id go with a DIY kit http://www.aquastyleonline.com/products/120--LEDs--DIY-Dimmable-Kit.html r u could do 2 of the 55x3w led lights that should be enough for a 36'' tank http://www.ebay.com/itm/2PCS-Free-S...770?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f2679e6b2
Couple of notes since I am using Vega's on one tank and Chinese on another. While I am sure it only a matter of adjustment, I find my SPS and Zoas love the high intensity light in one tanks where I burn anything else....yes I run my lights up to 100% for 30 minutes twice a day. In the other tank with the Chinese LEDS turned down as low as possible my LPS and Zoas are thriving, not so much the SPS where even on low they seem to burn. So my thoughts are that these lights are entirly different and LEDS are completly different, so you really have to "test" to see what works for you. Another note, I have the AI Director; yesterday my lights were going crazy. I sent AI and email with the serial number and they were able to see what my Director was doiong and told me what I needed to adjust (user error). How sweet is that.
I'm just getting mine set up and getting used to it. There are so many possibilities I don't know where to start. I have been playing with the full day cycle for the lights and am learning a lot. Takes us old guys a bit longer !!
So I'm looking at the AI vega and notice there is a color and a blue. Which one is better? Why? Also the hydras have differrnt ones aswell. I'm getting confused now.
Unless I'm reading it wrong, the website Graciesdad linked recommended 1 d120 fixture for a 36" tank. Is this accurate or would I need 2? I'm seriously considering going to LED. Is the d120 still a solid choice or has something else replaced it? Thank!
I've gotten a very good grasp of LED's and I'm currently testing a model I custom built over my tank right now. The only colored LEDs that you will need will be Deep red. Deep red is generally for corals found in shallow waters up to 50 m. So if you know you have a few shallow corals, your LED system must have Deep red. Other than royal blue and any of the whites, the other colors are just aesthetics. If you'd like to know more I can go into extreme specifics, I will need a chalk board to explain it all lol, but for the simple part. For growth with leds you must have these: Ultraviolets: 420 nm Royal blues: 440-460 nm (depends on brand) Whites: Peaks somewhere at 447-460 nm depending on which white ( also has a broad range in red and green light for each type of white(cool/Warm/Neutral)) Deep Red: Peaks at 660 nm ( Shallow corals up to 50m deep) Aesthetic LEDS: Green Cyan Yellow Red Hope this helps.
Unfortunately the only way to know if a coral is shallow or not is from the collectors themselves. Like zoas can come from both deep and shallow. It would be safe to say it maybe similar to other corals as well.
I'm just curious about the statement you made that shallow corals must have deep red. I have a maxspect razor which does not contain deep red. I have always heard there is a benefit to 660nm, I've just never heard it was a must. Do you mind sharing where you got that info from Xystic. Sent from uh......
Sure We know that corals all contain some form of symbiotic relationship with some type photosynthesis buddy. However, the symbiotic partner (the photosynthesis buddy) is not the same in all corals and will vary based on water, depth and especially lighting. Corals will usually contain the symbiotic partner that most suits them for where they live. In this case, shallow water corals will have a higher chance of having corals that have symbiotic relationships that have evolved using photosystems in the 660 nm range. It safe to say that we don't have to worry about deeper sea corals because 660 nm will have a hard time penetrating beyond 50m into the water depending on clarity and etc. This is the reason why you start seeing newer LED's have the Deep Red LED being added or have heard why they are good. The reason for this is because the findings of photosythetic symbiants that work best in the 660 nm in corals in shallow waters. Like I said earlier all corals have different photosynthetic buddies so not all corals will use the 660 nm in shallow waters but corals that carry this photosynthetic symbiotic partner will more then likely occur in shallow corals. Blasting a coral with 430 nm lighting may not really be beneficial to corals that only really max out their photosynthesis or can only do photosynthesis in 660 nm range. Because we can't tell at what depth most of our corals come from or have the money to dissect, produce the equipment and controls to test our corals for what symbiotic partner we have, its better to have Deep red then not. So far we have not had any evidence showing deep red with side affects to deeper water corals. This is why it is a must for shallow corals because their is a possibility of a shallow coral you spent $$$ that may actually use only or highly benefit from this wavelength. Most of this information is based off readings from Sanjay Joshi and an article specifically for photosystems 2 but it talks about the large variations in the symbiotic partners. "Increased reliance upon photosystem II repair following acclimation to high-light by coral-dinoflagellate symbioses" But for the most part this information is the common stuff I'd say XD Yeah, I spend alot of time reading scientific articles xD
The warm white and to a lesser extent the cool whites LEDs used in the Maxspect Razor produce red. Look at the attached power distribution curve I cut from a CREE data sheet. I labeled both the warm white and cool white. I would guess most of us adjust the lights so the tank looks good to us which may not be what is best for the corals. If you get healthy corals and good growth I wouldn't change a thing. Did you buy the 10K or 16 K version? I'm thinking of buying the Nano Razor for my 30 gallon.
Looks like you produce the 660 nm regardless of what radiant power or flux you run the warm-whites at. If you look at the intensity of each wavelength produced by the LED's from rapid-led, you will notice that Cree warm-whites aren't able to produce a very high intensity of 660 nm overall though. Light is additive though so you can have multiple warm whites to produce a viable amount of 660 nm but at the same time that increases your overall intensity of all spectrums in the warm-white which could mean too much light by the time you produce a viable amount of 660 nm. Then again this is assuming any of us have any shallow corals that use this light as well. lol. Thanks for the graph. Now I'm going to test out some things on my lights lol. I was looking for a graph like this for cree-leds (Radiant power vs. wavelength)
