Led fixtures, What exactly burns coral? is it high PAR or too much of certain color or spectrum?

[Reef_a_holiks]

Hey guys so im upgrading tanks and that means upgrading to a bigger more powerful led fixture. Im pretty much in the market for a used or new orphek led fixture, currently working on a local deal on a used orphek Pr156, just love how they look, so sleek and modern, but then ive also heard to be careful as they are quit powerful. So was wondering, what exactly burns and bleaches corals? Is it high PAR or to much of a certain color spectrum? I know whites are more dangerous than blues, but why ? also what is the safest white kelvin? As im in the market for a orphek fixture, im learning that they run high amounts of white leds compared to other lights, im scared im just going to burn everything, as i run mostly lps, and softies, but do have some Sps. please inform me on this queston , also give any opinions you may have.

Thank you,

 

[ReefLEDLights]

With proper acclimation you will not burn your corals.

There is no safe or unsafe Kelvin. Just another urban myth.

The Whites are not more dangerous than the Blue. The Royal Blue 450nm is your primary grow LED.

If you give the coral too much too fast they will bleach.

Start with a PAR reading then dial back the LEDs about 20%.

At the end of acclimation you want about 200 PAR on the sand bed for clams and anemones.

Bill

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

With proper acclimation you will not burn your corals.

There is no safe or unsafe Kelvin. Just another urban myth.

The Whites are not more dangerous than the Blue. The Royal Blue 450nm is your primary grow LED.

If you give the coral too much too fast they will bleach.

Start with a PAR reading then dial back the LEDs about 20%.

At the end of acclimation you want about 200 PAR on the sand bed for clams and anemones.

Bill

Thanks so much for the quick reply Bill , have you had any experience with orpheks though? I dont think its a common light that people run . i havent been able to find someone that has or is currently running them.

 

[ReefLEDLights]

Thanks so much for the quick reply Bill , have you had any experience with orpheks though? I dont think its a common light that people run . i havent been able to find someone that has or is currently running them.

I'm familiar with them but other than a quick evaluation I do not have any hands on experience using them. I would get some feedback from experienced reefkeepers first.

When we developed our LED Fixture we decided to go a slightly different route. Not that there is anything wrong with theirs. That said I would see any fixture first over an established reef before purchase.

Its one thing to try a disposable Import. Its another thing to invest $700 + on a quality fixture. Most of us have far more invested in our corals and the last thing we need is to have an expensive fixture fail prematurely or simply not grow or make our corals look as good as they did with the previous light.

Bill

 

[Orphek]

The PR156 unit that you purchased is several years old and it is a very high PAR fixture with high kelvin whites in a ratio that is higher than any company including us is using today. There are many clients out there with these fixtures. Upgrading the fixture through the addition of 450-460nm blues will change the output significantly to the positive.

You will find that the fixture still out performs most fixtures on the market. Reducing par is a simple as raising the height of the fixture and/or cutting back on the amount of time the fixture is on.

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

The PR156 unit that you purchased is several years old and it is a very high PAR fixture with high kelvin whites in a ratio that is higher than any company including us is using today. There are many clients out there with these fixtures. Upgrading the fixture through the addition of 450-460nm blues will change the output significantly to the positive.

You will find that the fixture still out performs most fixtures on the market. Reducing par is a simple as raising the height of the fixture and/or cutting back on the amount of time the fixture is on.

If you said changing the fixture with more blues is such a big upgrade and positive step, why even make it with so much whites to begin with, also with such high par that this fixture has which i love, why not dimmable? corals must be acclimated to lighting and especially to such a powerful lighting like these and dimming helps tremendously when acclimating. Im not seeing orpheks being used much as i see other led fixtures, im worried i made the wrong choice.

 

[Pete polyp]

From what I have read is that LED don't produce as much radiation compared to mh or t5. To get the par needed the intensity has to be turned up and that is what is scorching corals, not the radiation itself.

 

[TJ's Reef]

I'll chime in a bit here. Pete, it's really more just the opposite as LED's have very defined wavelengths of light radiation and little wasted or garbage light produced compared to any incandescent or fluorescent lamps. The bleaching is typically a result of an overdose of the Blue 450-480nm spectrum which most LED fixtures have in abundance. White emitters are Blue LED's with a Phosphorous coating to break up the wavelengths thus have have their primary intensity in this range as well. The Corals zoox gets blasted by this extra Blue Radiation intensity and overreacts in which the coral then dumps them for its own protection. We LED Guys talk PAR all the time and can be very misleading with LED's in general (yes you can dial in a fixture for approximate light intensity) but PUR would be a much better value to assess LED's with if only it were easier to measure. PAR meters measure all visible spectrum equally so it can include high values of non needed spectrum which have little to no affect on photosynthesis production or even coral fluorescence. So in essence a LED fixture with an output in PAR of 200 can/will actually be producing much more PUR value than a MH or T5 setup with a PAR value of 300 or more.

I've been playing around with and designing 'Broad Spectrum' LED lighting for longer than most all of the current manufacturers have been in business or at the time AI's first generation hit the market. I will honestly say that 'yes' you can grow most any Coral just fine with only Blue and White emitter fixtures as the Whites will produce enough of the other needed spectrum such as Green/Cyan and a bit of Amber to Red to get the job done. Adding in a selectively controlled manner Violet in the 410-430nm, Blue in the 480-490nm, Green/Cyan in the 510-530nm and Reds in the 630nm and 670nm ranges will greatly increase the overall blend of produced light that will greater fluoresce, excite and reflect the full range of colors we deem desirable. I have not yet personally dissected an Orphek fixture but if these lights are already past any warranty would not be afraid to change/update them to today's standards a bit. You can contact me through pm for help or I'm sure Orphek would give you some guidance a well. Before adding/changing up emitters you just need to know the specs to the original LED's and Drivers such as forward voltage and amperage capacity, meaning you would not want to add a bunch of 1050ma emitters to a string of 350ma or 700ma ones as you would over drive and fry them.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Big E]

If you're buying that Orphek for a 40 breeder it's way to powerful to run more than a few hours a day & way too much for a tank of that size.

I worked with a frend that had these over his 220g tank which is 30" deep. Everything in his tank was bleached when he had five units over his system

We eliminated two and raised the other 3 units around 20" above the water line and also took off all the optics for a less intense and wider spread.

I then had him order 4 60" T5s to get the other spectrums needed.

His tank looks fantastic now. He runs the T5s around 10 hours a day and the PR156 for two hours or so.

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

If you're buying that Orphek for a 40 breeder it's way to powerful to run more than a few hours a day & way too much for a tank of that size.

I worked with a frend that had these over his 220g tank which is 30" deep. Everything in his tank was bleached when he had five units over his system

We eliminated two and raised the other 3 units around 20" above the water line and also took off all the optics for a less intense and wider spread.

I then had him order 4 60" T5s to get the other spectrums needed.

His tank looks fantastic now. He runs the T5s around 10 hours a day and the PR156 for two hours or so.

Im gonna run the orpheks over a 57 gallon rimless if i run them, thinking of 18inches above the water. Also thinking of selling the fixture and going a different route