Light is only one of many ingredients for acro
To bad it wasn't the only 1 we could all have beautiful tanks
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Light is only one of many ingredients for acro
Regardless of whether you or the assembly location call them '3w' LEDs, they are binned at 350mA and 25C, aka one watt (really more in the 1.1-1.2 watt range for most Chinese diodes, they're based on very old tech).Most are not pushed past there wattage. Most companies use 3 watt LEDs and run them around 2. It's a mute point comparing the output lose to MH and T5 my LEDs are still putting the same par out, and I bet they will 2 years from now as well. I personally like LEDs and have had good coloring and growth, but not saying which is better as I really don't know because when I used T5s I had mostly lps, switched to LEDs and acros awhile back (2-3 yrs don't really know exact date). But for me I switched because of cost and have had great success.
Just because it lights up doesn't mean that it is 'perfectly good'. A T5HO lamp run on a proper programmed start ballast can handle around 40,000 strikes and 35,000 hours of use on average. That's 97 months, so are you sure that only 14-18 months is all you can squeeze out?I change T5s every 14-18 months. You're throwing a perfectly good bulb out if you change them at 6 months.
Lumen maintenance is a known factor and is verified to IES LM-80 standard by any reputable manufacturer.Do you have FACTUAL data and/or knowledge that LED's last "7-10-yrs"? That is what the industry is "telling" all of us. I get tired of people throwing unfound claims of how long LED's last.
BUT I've had a very reputable LRS locally do actual testing over a 2-yr period (on some of the earlier LED's.....not going to mention the manufacture, but let's just say it was one of the major ones) and the dropoff in PAR was substantial. They took monthly and yearly reading and were one of the first LFS to install LED's. Their findings were pretty eyeopening and made me rethink switching to LED's at the time.
If I told you exactly what to do you wouldn't know why and the overall debate would still exist. This is exactly what happened with T5 layouts, people don't want to know why, they just want the answer. They are lazy and I blame the industry that has nearly snuffed out DIY innovation in our hobby. First you need to know why a coral reacts/adapts the way it does.
If you are looking to role model a light source, then do it. Does your output spectrum emulate the original light source? What can be removed without sacrificing pigmentation and growth? Better yet, what can be removed to aid in reduced photo-inhibition with an undesireable wavelength? True success comes from failure, understanding, and determination; not the easy button!
Just because it lights up doesn't mean that it is 'perfectly good'. A T5HO lamp run on a proper programmed start ballast can handle around 40,000 strikes and 35,000 hours of use on average. That's 97 months, so are you sure that only 14-18 months is all you can squeeze out?
The useful phosphor life depends on the ballast used, number of strikes, lamp hours, and lamp cooling. On a proper ballast with open-air (not enclosed) or active cooling, you should expect use phosphor life of 3-4,000 hours. At 12 hours per day, this is ~250-333 days. At 8 hours per day, well, it's really not much more time - you're still starting the lamps the same amount of times, and even on a programmed start ballast this does degrade the phosphors (though at a significantly reduced rate compared to rapid and instant start ballasts). After this time, phosphors have degraded to the point where the lamp is noticeably less intense and noticeably different in spectral output (and look).
The first line I was trying to make a little joke I'm not on either side of the fence (IMHO there really isn't one, it's more of a road with pit stops, one for incandescent, one for vapor, one for solid state, etc etc, eventually the entire lighting industry will have to pack up and move forward - for instance, it is illegal in several countries to produce, import, or sell incandescent lamps, and once there exists a simple and cheap drop-in solution to replace metal halide or HPS lamps in street lighting we'll see those lamps in the crosshairs).I can't tell if you're arguing with me or agreeing with me from your post, as you seem to go on both sides of the fence with your thoughts. I'll paraphrase what you said with my thoughts afterwards.
A T5 will run for a long time. Agreed.
But it's spectral output only allows it to operate optimally for X time frame. Agreed again.
You note that a bulb will run about 12 months just open air. I agree with that as well - as my Tek unit would start to need bulbs changed around month 11-12. My ATI fixture is actively cooled, however, which will add useable length to the bulb, and thus my 14-18 month bulb change strategy. Changing bulbs at 6 months is still a waste, regardless of what fixture they are in. As stated previously as well.
@Squamosa
Thanks for sharing your graphs. I'm amazed that your whites are that high, but apparently that's where they need to be. Do you have a tank thread?
What steps did you take to get your lights to the setting of where they are today?
I'm assuming you didn't just set them at that and just let them run.
Wow I thought the 100% on all channels was just the setting you had it on when you took your highest par rating.I had a talk with Sanjay Joshi once about his switch to LED's (Radions in particular) and he said he ran all channels at 100% for a 12 000 K look, his results speak for themselves. I wanted the same, good growth and colour that was OK, however, the colour wasn't important to me, growing the reef out was. But, as you can see my colour ain't bad
I practice the DSR method of reefkeeping and have a thread on Glenn F's Dutch, DSR forum.
However, once again, lighting is just one part of a large puzzle and nutrient control, supplemental feeding and chemical additions are others.
I started the light schedule (I had to refer to my notes on this one) at my before and after 'high noon' stage, that mimics a 20 000 K Radium look and ran this schedule the whole day. The intensity was lower overall though, at 50%.
I then moved all channels to 100% and overall intensity to 50% from 10 AM- 4 PM.
The overall intensity was increased by 10%/month until I reached 90% and corals watched for signs of bleaching e.t.c. I have been running this schedule for 9 months.
I must add that 2 months after I reached the intensity you see now, I also increased my morning and afternoon 'blue' period intensity from 50-70% with no side effects.
Prior to all of this I used the first Gen 1 Radion and got great growth too, but not as fast as now.
I have noticed that my colonies now get lot's of shading, so I am toying with the idea of adding supplemental T5's to combat this.
When the Radions die out one day, I will move to a DIY unit and see if I can create a "monster" unit that will do it all, give growth and colour.
Here is a Monti growth comparison picture over ~1 month.
Light is only one of many ingredients for acro
Wow I thought the 100% on all channels was just the setting you had it on when you took your highest par rating.
Are you using the 120° Tir lenses? Or is this why you keep your light 10" off the water?
The Radions are so powerful I'd be scared to go all the way up to 100% on all channels, can't really argue with your growth though.
Lastly do you have any deep water acros? Red dragon or the like? Like to see some progression pics of some more Acropora if you have any? [emoji4]
the biggest colors that scare me to turn up all the way are the green and red, Next would be the 5w whites.
I have 3 gen 3 pros on my 180 and I was wondering if you could post your light schedule so me or others could download it?I use the stock 80 degree lenses the units came with and stuck with a recommendation for height above water that I read on the website....I think. But you are making me think about the 120° lenses, might give those a try to reduce the concentrated hot-spot.
I don't have any deep-water acro species as I can't get any here and to me, only species names are relevant not 'brand names'...sorry.
I am growing acro on the sand, 2 feet down though
Here are some more progression pics.
All 3 months growth!!
I have 3 gen 3 pros on my 180 and I was wondering if you could post your light schedule so me or others could download it?
Also the led circle's do give off hot spots and shadowing, which is another reason led's are hit or miss. One spot may have 800 par and 3" away is 125 par.
You floridians have that central AC running all day tho...in NYC that will cost you a huge Con Ed billI have no chiller and live in Florida tank temp tops out at 81 degrees. No problems