Aesthetics vs growth

[Husker]

I see a lot of people running their LEDs with high whites to get a ton of PAR. I am running 2 AI Hydra HDs over a 40 breeder (all SPS). I max out with my whites at 60% with all the blues at maximum. However, everything seems to look so much better at around 16,000k+. At the lower kelvin, my rocks look brown/yellow and the corals don't "pop" very well. I have seen some great LED colors with seemingly "full blast" on all channels... what is the secret?

 

[Waters]

In my experience running LEDs, I try to stay in the 18-20K range, which is pretty blue. The whites on LEDs are extremely strong, which, in my case, caused me to bleach some acros. The more blue light you provide, the more your coral will glow.

 

[Midrats]

@Husker I feel my tank looks better under more of a 10K spectrum. I miss all the pinks, purples, oranges, and yellow on the rock, fish, and corals when the tank is bluer. Yes you do get less fluorescence from the corals but I enjoy that during my blue and violet only dawn and dusk.

 

[bif24701]

@Husker I feel my tank looks better under more of a 10K spectrum. I miss all the pinks, purples, oranges, and yellow on the rock, fish, and corals when the tank is bluer. Yes you do get less fluorescence from the corals but I enjoy that during my blue and violet only dawn and dusk.

With LEDs you can have the best of both worlds. Program your lights so that they are blue when you are away and white when you get home from work for a short time.

 

[revhtree]

Honestly I want my reef to be healthy but I also really want it to looks great under the lighting I use. I think you can have both.

 

[Ali350z]

Following...I'm doing a 5% increase weekly on mainly violets, blues, uv, 2% increase weekly on red and green with 1 percent increase on whites...I've had some corals for 2 months now (I was fowlr before this) and have seen no growth. The coral's do fully extend but that's about it...mainly softies and lps... all my parameters are in check except phosphates which is 0.25 to 0.50ppm...is this the reason? I have a protein skimmer but no gfo yet...

 

[Paul87]

@Husker I feel my tank looks better under more of a 10K spectrum. I miss all the pinks, purples, oranges, and yellow on the rock, fish, and corals when the tank is bluer. Yes you do get less fluorescence from the corals but I enjoy that during my blue and violet only dawn and dusk.

+1 Especially on the fish. With most LED fixtures being programmable, you can usually easily press a different setting (ex. "moon", "cloudy"...) to view your reef how you want, when you want. Coral usually pops under blues, fish usually pop under whites. I try not to disturb my program a lot though. I believe consistency is powerful in this hobby.

 

[Clarke]

I have Hydro 26s also,not the High Def ones so my range only goes to 100. I run my UV at 50 my purple at 60 two blues at 100 green red and white at 15. Corals are fully open and growing. Mostly LPS with a few SPS and a giant tear drop clam that is 9 to 10 inches. Started a 3 inches.

 

[Orcus Varuna]

You have hydras so why not have the best of both worlds! If you look at my schedule below I run actinic blue transitioning to 12k in the mornings, the reverse of this in the evening and oscillating respiration peaks between 10-12k over the mid day hours. It gives me the best of all worlds and always makes my reef interesting to look at. I particularly like the oscillating respiration peaks! Watching the reef change its look over 20 or so minutes reminds me so much of diving on a reef and the effect you get when a cloud passes overhead!!!!

 

[Orcus Varuna]

With LEDs you can have the best of both worlds. Program your lights so that they are blue when you are away and white when you get home from work for a short time.

Missed your post on my initial read through... It seems as if great minds think (or post) alike haha

 

[Rpujol85]

I have an Ocean Revive T247. I prefer keeping the tank at a "10k" look for most of the day, but like most others on here I also do a blue only dawn/dusk.
I run the white channel at about 40% and blues at 30%. I like the look of the whites higher (60-80%) but the coral doesn't really like it being that bright, even with proper acclimation.

 

[trido]

With the increase of LED's and fewer MH in our hobby, people talk much less about the Kelvin ratings and growth. Ten years ago 10,14 and 20K bulbs were all the big discussions.
With 10K you got less pop but faster growth and only had to change your bulbs once a year. Hot pinks were hot pink but some greens and blues looked more brown unless conditions were perfect
With 14K you got the best of both worlds, some pop and the pinks were still pink and most green blue corals looked good. Bulbs lasted nine months on average.
With 20K growth was significantly slower. Pinks were purple but blue and green corals looked awesome. Six months was an ideal replacement but most stretched them longer.

I run my black box LED's at 75% blue and 70% white and also have two blue stunner strips that run at 100%. Realistically, its about a 20K look but I get great growth. I do like the look better when my whites are ramping down and are between 20-40% but I won't get the growth I expect in any corals.

In my grow tanks I run both channels at 100%. I have great colors in all the corals. A lot depends on the brand of fixture and water quality overall.

 

[jantje]

I use the new led from Philips, Coralcare.
When changing from T5 ( 800 watt) to the Coralcare ( 2 x 190 watt) i noticed that i needed to reduce the intensity / output.
In 2 month i raised the output to 95% ( 2 x 190 watt) and use the colorsetting :
* startup in morning 10.00 > blue 10 %
* within one hour the colorsetting will be 80% blue / 60% white
* from 12.00 to 19.00 the setting is 95% blue / 95% white
* from 19.00 tot 20.00 the setting will go down to 80% blue / 25% white
* from 20.00 to 22.30 the color will go to 15% blue and 3 % white

I noticed that SPS love this setting, however acans need to be in the shade of the reef.
The setting of the light depends on the Coral you have in your tank.

 

[jeffrey holloway]

I run my blues all day, four actincs T-5s, two Kessil 160s, & a Kessil AP700 on the deep blue specturm. I run two 14K T5s, two hours in the AM and four hours in the PM. I getting excellent growth and color from my corals.

 

[hart24601]

I am surprised you noticed people running high whites, I notice the exact opposite with LEDs, a lot of blue tanks! Not that it matters to me, run whatever you enjoy looking at!

I do want to say if you are getting at least a decent amount of PAR growth is all about feeding. It makes so much more difference than light intensity and color. If you at least have a decent amount of light that is - I am not talking about SPS with a single t12 tube of course!

Feeding is for growth, lighting for colors. I won the acro growout contest by feeding, feeding and more feeding. Just make sure water quality stays good and the food size is appropriate for the coral you are feeding. Here is a good AA article about feeding. It's a topic that doesn't get discussed enough IMO. No, this doesn't look at every SPS, but still shows the value of feeding.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blo...rine-shrimp-drastically-increase-their-growth

The other topic I don't see talked about much and I wish it would be is PAR and flow. More PAR needs more flow. Extra light is turned to heat and you can run a lot of PAR but you need crazy flow or you bleach corals, but we don't see people talk about flow when it comes to bleaching. There are also a couple of research articles out there linking lower pH to bleaching. 7.8 to 8.0 range.

 

[Husker]

Interesting thoughts. It seems like the ones really blasting their corals with full power on all channels (LED) are the coral companies. The website images under these settings look great. I admit my reds look better under lower kelvin. I do think my lack of fantastic color comes from lack of nutrients. I am at 0.00 phosphates and 0.00 nitrates. I have had problems with my last couple of fish added, so my bioload is still a lot smaller than I want. I have been dosing Acropower in the mean time though. I am not sure why my corals look pretty good but I struggle with fish... bad luck? Who knows.

 

[RoyalGrammaJohn]

I run my blues at 100% and the whites at 50% during the day. At evening and night I just run the blues at 100% and the whites ramp down till there completely off. I have a orbit marine pro. Not as powerful as radions or anything but I don't have any sps either. Just softies and Lps.

 

[metrokat]

My light cycle changes between morning-mid day and evening. I start off with more blues, towards mid-day it is more in the white light range and then it goes to more blue again. With the controllers and options on most LEDs out there today - you can mix it up however you like.

 

[gus6464]

I am surprised you noticed people running high whites, I notice the exact opposite with LEDs, a lot of blue tanks! Not that it matters to me, run whatever you enjoy looking at!

I do want to say if you are getting at least a decent amount of PAR growth is all about feeding. It makes so much more difference than light intensity and color. If you at least have a decent amount of light that is - I am not talking about SPS with a single t12 tube of course!

Feeding is for growth, lighting for colors. I won the acro growout contest by feeding, feeding and more feeding. Just make sure water quality stays good and the food size is appropriate for the coral you are feeding. Here is a good AA article about feeding. It's a topic that doesn't get discussed enough IMO. No, this doesn't look at every SPS, but still shows the value of feeding.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blo...rine-shrimp-drastically-increase-their-growth

The other topic I don't see talked about much and I wish it would be is PAR and flow. More PAR needs more flow. Extra light is turned to heat and you can run a lot of PAR but you need crazy flow or you bleach corals, but we don't see people talk about flow when it comes to bleaching. There are also a couple of research articles out there linking lower pH to bleaching. 7.8 to 8.0 range.

So you basically just hatch baby brine and throw them in the tank? Or do you have to spot feed although don't see how one would spot feed live baby brine.

 

[hart24601]

I have broadcast fed but I prefer to spot feed. Turn off pumps and I use a homemade pipette, but it's similar to Two Little Fishies the "thing", a baster would work too. I have hatched brine shrimp, but I have also fed many commercial foods and I think they work well too. Oysterfeast, coral frenzy... I can't remember all that I have used. Baby brine shrimp are a great option though. I put in a small net out of the hatchery, then mix in a glass with some tank water, not much, enough so I can squirt the babies on the coral. But really all that matters is you see the coral polyps eat the food - and commercial mixes seem to work fine.