Best Color for Coral Growth???

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Dkmoo

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I just find it odd cause with planted tanks we run a full spectrum light for 12 hours and algae is not really an issue. But in saltwater white light (full spectrum) just causes major algae outbreaks for some. Maybe those people just have too much nutrients in there systems?? Also what leds would you recommend??? I am in the process of setting up a 40b mixed reef and have been looking into different lighting options but compared to t5's, LEDs are just way to expensive for me.
In plant tanks, the plant can usually out complete the algae (same way reefers use mangrove to control algae). Plants are also generally hardier (its a simpler organism) that can stave off the "downward spiral" that i explained in my last post. Corals, by comparison, are much harder to maintain, esp in artifical conditions like our tanks, where light, flow, params, nutrition, are all critical factors. Thus, there is more risk of it being unhealthy and start the downward spiral once algae is present. This is also why in a healthy tank, algae is not an issue despite heavy feeding.

As I mentioned before, its less impacted by the level of excess nutrients, in a mature tank. In an immature tank, its an factor simply bc there is a lot of available nutrient and available real estate (dry rocks ) so the simplest organisms like algae and cyano will colonize first.
 

dedragon

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In plant tanks, the plant can usually out complete the algae (same way reefers use mangrove to control algae). Plants are also generally hardier (its a simpler organism) that can stave off the "downward spiral" that i explained in my last post. Corals, by comparison, are much harder to maintain, esp in artifical conditions like our tanks, where light, flow, params, nutrition, are all critical factors. Thus, there is more risk of it being unhealthy and start the downward spiral once algae is present. This is also why in a healthy tank, algae is not an issue despite heavy feeding.

As I mentioned before, its less impacted by the level of excess nutrients, in a mature tank. In an immature tank, its an factor simply bc there is a lot of available nutrient and available real estate (dry rocks ) so the simplest organisms like algae and cyano will colonize first.
Lol, im way to lazy to go into this much detail, thank you for doing the work there. Plants can also have a decent amount of algae growth on them before being killed off, giving snails and other grazers even more time to get to the algae before there are even issues
 
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Harrisonjc8

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Take a look at the OR3 light bars.
On a 40B you could start with 1 reef day and 1 blue sky and add as needed.
I am setting up a 40B with 40B sump and am going to use 4 OR3 light bars with just 2 to start.
Each OR3 bar is equal 2 2 T5's.
I will definitely look into those. What do you think about the OR3 light bars compared to the AI Prime lights? I was considering a couple of those but the OR3 lights will definitely give better coverage. Or maybe both??
 

dedragon

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People have been getting away from ai prime recently for some reason, i think they have fan and internal waterproofing issues if im remembering correct. They also arent very powerful for the price
 

dedragon

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I easily agree 1 orphek or2 = 2 t5ho, what fixture are you using for the t5 as well, can it be easily mounted with other lighting fixtures?
 
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Harrisonjc8

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Many cheap options like Nicrew, Noopsyche, and even blackboxes. A bit higher quality (brand wise) would be orphek or3 led bars, nice thing is the OR3 bars you can buy more later to add more light when you start getting more light demanding corals like acros.
if you are testing cheap option lights though please test these, someone has to finally

i honestly think they just found the noopsyche chinese factory and ripped off the whole led fixture

I been interested in the blackbox lights myself, considering how cheap they are on amazon. They honestly seem like it would do a decent job at growing most corals especially once you factor in the price. Or I might just make my own led black box light. I just need a proper way to control the light I want to make, preferably with an app on my phone. I already have everything else figured out except how exactly to control it. Butttt once I do, I will definitely make my own light just for fun.
 
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Harrisonjc8

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I easily agree 1 orphek or2 = 2 t5ho, what fixture are you using for the t5 as well, can it be easily mounted with other lighting fixtures?
I noticed that people have been having those issues with them. Thats why I been looking into other options, idk why but I really liked them for some reason even though there are better options out there.
And I made my own fixture for the t5's. The ballast is really cheap, only $20 to $30 and the plug that you twist the bulb into is only around $4. Then all I had to do was make a housing for it. I havent got around to making a proper one yet, so I just used foam board and some wood to make a temporary one for now. I must say tho, it isnt the prettiest but it definitely works.
 

dedragon

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diy led lights almost always become more expensive than just buying a fixture
 
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Harrisonjc8

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lol its because ai does great marketing in general
True lolll and it definitely can be wayyyyy more expensive. Which led fixture do you consider to be the best overall and why? Also what makes a led fixture "good" in reefing compared to some that are not so "good"?
 

X-37B

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Is there any specific reason you only run them for 9 hours? Why not 12 hours on and 12 off?
Since the late 80' I have never ran any lighting over 10hrs.
Always ran 8hrs on my halides and 9-10hrs actinic.
The OR3's are for dawn dusk viewing and give me better coral coloring in my system than halides alone.
12hrs of lighting is not needed, imo.
 

Dkmoo

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Is there any specific reason you only run them for 9 hours? Why not 12 hours on and 12 off?
i don't think there is an exact formula for photoperiod. Most will agree that corals need dark time to rest but as far as 8 vs 12hrs, i think it also depends on how strong the light is within the safe range of the coral. If it's on the higher end, then 8 is enough. if its on the lower end, you can probably get by with 12.

Myself, i have a 30G nano with a hybrid of 2 Reefbrite 50/50 strip + 3 AI Prime . The strips run 12 hrs from 7 - 7 as the main "fill light" heavy lifting in terms of growth and PUR as it's more white. The primes ramp up from 10AM to 12PM and stays peak to 4PM, then ramp down to 10 PM - mostly blue to balance it out for the color pop and to provide that max 350PAR for my SPS.. Between 7PM to 10PM is when the strips go out and the tank turns very blue from the primes for that evening viewing purposes. so in total i have 15 hrs of total light period but honestly that last 3 hours of just the AI prime uv/purble/RB/DB/B is already pretty low in terms of PAR that it's really just for aesthetics and i haven't seen it negatively impacting the corals. When the tank turns the dark shade of blue also seem to trigger the feeding response from the corals almost immediately - within a few minutes of the Reefbrite going out, all the feeding tentacles come out. This is when I feed the corals and seeing great polyp feeding response.

tanks been running 4 years, 1 year with this latest schedule.
 

dedragon

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out of the ones i already mentioned, i would use 2 orphek led strips (prob one reef day and the other blue plus colors) and the t5 together would be perfect (make sure to buy a retrofit reflector with individual bulb reflectors). If you think you arent getting enough par, i dont think this will be the case, but you could always add a third down the line. That's only needed if you really want to push high par everywhere in the tank.
 
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dedragon

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Best leds right now probably radion, ati, or phillips are the best brand lights. Neptune has the sky and Orphek is coming out with the icon fixture soon so those may be awesome but also +800$
 

atlantean

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Most people don’t run all white schedules. Usually about 4 hours of full spectrum, then the rest blue. Look up WWC lighting schedules.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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