Just pulled the trigger and bought two fixtures. Anybody got some pics over their tanks so I can see what I have to look forward to.
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With the exception of tryung to balance calcium and alk. My params are close to perfect. I'm workin on that balance. So thats ok. Ill have to read up on uv its affects and necasity. ThanksYour other forum was half right. They don't have UV. T5 bulb emit a super tiny amount of UV, and MH bulbs emit quite a lot.
The bit about them not working will depend on your own personal Blue thumb. They can work fine if you're able to maintain excellent water control, stability, and thoughtful coral fish and invert stocking
Ca and alk balance and stability will have a much stronger and more immediate impact on coral health than lighting. Read up on UV. you'll find very little science and a whole lot of conflicting opinions and anecdotes. One thing to remember. Look up led success stories. There are plenty. Only kessils contain UV light. The lions share of success stories are with radions and AI sols. No UV in either.
Lastly. Ignore manufacturer stats. Companies like reef breeders, reef radiance, ocean revive, ecotech radion, ai hydra 52, ghl, ect all claim to contain "x number of 420 nm UV's or x number of 400 nm UV's" in their lights. Those are all violet. Not UV. UV light is specifically that which falls BELOW 400 nm and is invisible to the human eye. That's just catchy marketing jargon on their part. Violet is more beneficial to photosynthesis than true UV is anyway. That's why if you look at a kessil multichip close up, a handful of black spots will appear amongst the array of colored diodes. Those black spots are actually 395 nm UV diodes. The eye cannot see it so they look like dead LEDs. They're not. Just FYI.
I like the look of the LEDs very much. I have noticed growth on my SPS has stayed about the same. it's a little early but it looks like growth on my LPS has slowed a bit. I have always had trouble with my Zoas so it is hard to say with them. I have a neon yellow toadstool that was degrading for a good month before the LEDs that appears to be recovering now so that is great and my other softies are doing well too. I have had a duncan since the beginning of my tank that is starting to show trouble. the last 4 days it has not opened at all. it is still too early to tell if it is lighting issues but this is definitely a difference from how my tank has been. I have read that duncan are prone to closing for days without any reason. So I will hold judgement on this issue. I need to get a par meter if you can use those with LEDs. I have both fixtures hung fairly high about three feet above the tank. it is really hard to tell if different corals are getting the intensity that they need. but overall I would say the tank is doing pretty good. so at this moment I will say that I am very satisfied with my 165 P plusses.
is it possible for different types of coral to be healthier under different types of lighting?
to be honest I have never really got into par readings. I am Not sure what optimal par readings are 4 different corals. all my corals seem pretty happy there are one or two that might even be getting too much light it appears. my tank is only a 40 breeder and is not that deep. what size is your tank? how many lights do you run? Are they the 165 P pluses? My SPS are growing fantastic so I know they are getting enough light. my LPS are also growing as well as they did under my Vhos.I also have a plate on the sand that seems to be just fine.Without a par meter it will be hard to tell but I think your not getting the full light you need for your corals ,I have my leds 10 inches above the water inline. 12inches below the water line center I get a par reading of 260-300