Can I use a led light that grows plants for my reef tank?!

[frizzayyyyreef]

Melt away a few very nice mushrooms and tell me again that 3 days isn't long enough to have an opinion homie.

Maybe it was just on a high setting? What if I leave it on very low and see how they react this light can get very powerful

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

I think I’m gonna try it out because I have no choice I’m not buying a 1000 dollar light I can’t at the moment houses in ny will do that to you...anyways I’m gonna try and use it I hope I don’t loose 5 grand worth of coral wish me luck fellas I’ll be back in a week with update

What size tank are you lighting?

Who said you need a Thousand dollar light?

Viparspectar 165's will grow about anything.

My 120 ran on two Chinese black boxes for 5 years

 

[frizzayyyyreef]

Honestly, if I didn’t have another option I’d try it. Definitely better than being in the dark.

I’m in the dark now well the left side is my one Kessler has the right but I’ve lost 2 corals so far a trachy that was beautiful and a Scoly I had for 2 years so I’m kinda screwed just horrible timing

 

[frizzayyyyreef]

What size tank are you lighting?

Who said you need a Thousand dollar light?

Viparspectar 165's will grow about anything.

My 120 ran on two Chinese black boxes for 5 years

But your viper is the same brand name as mine ....why can’t mine work

 

[N.Sreefer]

I think I’m gonna try it out because I have no choice I’m not buying a 1000 dollar light I can’t at the moment houses in ny will do that to you...anyways I’m gonna try and use it I hope I don’t loose 5 grand worth of coral wish me luck fellas I’ll be back in a week with update

Run for veg not flower does it have the labeled veg on flower on switches? If so just flick the veg on.

 

[frizzayyyyreef]

But your viper is the same brand name as mine ....why can’t mine work

 

[frizzayyyyreef]

Run for veg not flower does it have the labeled veg on flower on switches? If so just flick the veg on.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Maybe it was just on a high setting? What if I leave it on very low and see how they react this light can get very powerful

You've got A bunch of dissenting opinions and are already saying you are going to do it because you don't have another choice.

Do it homie. Let us know how it works. I hope it does for you. Just don't think it will equally replace a light purpose built for growing coral.

 

[frizzayyyyreef]

Ty for all the input btw means a lot since I been doing this 6 years and watching this fall apart plus I need to move it in 5 days so I’m sure I’ll lose some things during the move as well

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

But your viper is the same brand name as mine ....why can’t mine work

I wasn't running vipers. They were $50 no name boxes and worked. Still do actually. They are over my frag tank now.

Could you be blaming the light for something that is happening because of another factor?

 

[frizzayyyyreef]

You've got A bunch of dissenting opinions and are already saying you are going to do it because you don't have another choice.

Do it homie. Let us know how it works. I hope it does for you. Just don't think it will equally replace a light purpose built for growing coral.

I wasn't running vipers. They were $50 no name boxes and worked. Still do actually. They are over my frag tank now.

Could you be blaming the light for something that is happening because of another factor?

Watcha talking about? LOL maybe the other factor is the left side of my tank has been in the dark ? Idk if your able to read but I’ve said that ....

 

[N.Sreefer]

Start at 25 percent intensity on the knob and up it if you have to. Ive never used that model so I'm not sure how the digital display works but whatever settings come up on the display go for veg settings on 25% intensity those grow lights are really strong. Ive studied photosynthesis for a long time, (horticulturalist) the biggest difference between grow lights and reef light is actinic pop and flower settings. Grow lights will have a high par low colour temp setting for flower to replicate the end of the growing season and force flowering. Veg is very similar to shallow water, its the same sun, the water doesn't change the spectrum much at 50 feet or less

 

[Screwgunner]

Like you have already heard red or pink is not good you will start a green hair algea farm or other unwanted algea
They do have saltwater tank lights 125 or so my fish store uses them.

 

[frizzayyyyreef]

Start at 25 percent intensity on the knob and up it if you have to. Ive never used that model so I'm not sure how the digital display works but whatever settings come up on the display go for veg settings on 25% intensity those grow lights are really strong. Ive studied photosynthesis for a long time, (horticulturalist) the biggest difference between grow lights and reef light is actinic pop and flower settings. Grow lights will have a high par low colour temp setting for flower to replicate the end of the growing season and force flowering. Veg is very similar to shallow water, its the same sun, the water doesn't change the spectrum much at 50 feet or less

Ok so you obviously know what your talking about lol ty sir ! So your saying there’s a shot ? I wanna switch over to sps but do you think these lights will look weird compared to kesslers ? Like what’s the water gonna look like ? Stupid ?

 

[Uzidaisies]

Watcha talking about? LOL maybe the other factor is the left side of my tank has been in the dark ? Idk if your able to read but I’ve said that ....

It’s just the way you worded the last post, it sounded at first like you were saying it’s been falling apart over six years. I think what you mean is its falling apart now that the light died. Maybe you should turn the reds off if you have that ability. I also agree that you should start with a low intensity. Which model is it, do you know the wattage? You can probably find a par map or whatever its called for them.

 

[N.Sreefer]

Ok so you obviously know what your talking about lol ty sir ! So your saying there’s a shot ? I wanna switch over to sps but do you think these lights will look weird compared to kesslers ? Like what’s the water gonna look like ? Stupid ?

It will look really weird but will keep things alive, your coral will also likely change colour and may get more drab (different zooxanthellae species concentrations increasing or lowering). Algae are more fond of red light like people have stated but will not magically appear without nutrients just because there's more red in a new light source. You can 100% keep your coral alive with that light until you get a new light but it will not look good and your coral will take awhile to colour back up when you get a new light. And no problem at all! I hope everything works out for you if its going to be awhile before you get a reef led I would suggest adding an actinic fluorescent strip or actinic led strip to make tank viewing more enjoyable.

 

[N.Sreefer]

Actually sorry 25% is to high to start after looking at the par map on amazon I would suggest 10% intensity its even stronger than I thought.

 

[bobnicaragua]

I agree with N.Sreefer, but I bet you run into algae problems sooner rather than later. Actually pretty interesting experiment, keep us posted!

 

[Shooter6]

The short answer is no. Plant lights generally have a more red/yellow spectrum, while reef lights are more blue. Where corals evolved to grow, generally only the blue spectrum of sunlight penetrates that deep, so they’ve evolved to require blue spectrum lighting. Now, some corals from shallower waters will do better with whiter light (white being all spectrums), but even at 10ft, the vast majority of the lighting that penetrates that deep is blue. Using plant lights on your reef will encourage algae growth, but won’t do much for your corals (they might survive, but they won’t grow much and their color will likely brown out). I would leave the plant like for the ‘tomatoes’ and get a proper light for the reef (a reef spectrum viparspectra light is only like $100).

Actually at 10 meters down on a sunny day theres a ton of white light. Sandbed looks white not blue, coral grow in this light. Hell on the great barrier reef there's sps poking out the surface in places. The blue light look is not how the reefs look in the wild.

 

[Tamberav]

I grew corals under a fuge light. It was red/blue/white diodes. Worked fine. Not the exact same light but ya. No noticeable algae difference between the fuge light and a powerful reef light.

You can always cover a bunch of the red ones to get the color to look nicer in the tank.

But hey I tend to run my tanks white and run 6500k bulbs sometimes. Idk why people think it has to look blue... thats a bunch of hooey.