"Ecotech Radion LED's in doubt".....not able to promote (zooxanthellae) color in corals

[Pongo]

I haves question does brightness in the setting and intensity of the individual colors is that different or the same as the brightness

I'm a reefing embryo, so keep that in mind and research any info I provide.

I went back and re-read your post on current light profile.
So, coral lab lps/soft at 35%.

When you select that profile you can adjust the maximum with the slider on the left side of the screen before you load the profile.
When you adjust each slider down from whatever % it is in that profile you'll lower the overall intensity a little. Hover your mouse over each set point on the graph and you'll see the intensity at that point.

 

[Pongo]

BTW, my XR15 light came with the 80 degree lens installed and a 120 degree lens in the box.
My PAR readings were taken with the 80 degree lens.
IMO, the 80 degree lens is like a laser beam, you can see the dramatic drop off in PAR just 6" off center.
If I was using 2 of these lights on a 36" tank like yours I'd switch to the 120 degree lens for better spread coverage.

 

[stevediaz1]

BTW, my XR15 light came with the 80 degree lens installed and a 120 degree lens in the box.
My PAR readings were taken with the 80 degree lens.
IMO, the 80 degree lens is like a laser beam, you can see the dramatic drop off in PAR just 6" off center.
If I was using 2 of these lights on a 36" tank like yours I'd switch to the 120 degree lens for better spread coverage.

Thank you so much that makes sense now to me

 

[joshporksandwich]

I keep my zoas between 180-250 par

 

[d2mini]

I've been running Radions since I started my tank in June this past year (started with g3 then moved to g4).
I've brought in frags that were grown under every kind of light and they have all held their color.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/2-months-under-g4-pros.278368/

 

[stevediaz1]

I keep my zoas between 180-250 par

Wow you have great zoas i follow you on face book and Instagram thanks for the info

What lighting do you use?

What light setting do you use if you use radions?

Where do you keep your Water parameters?

 

[914joe]

I have 2 Gen1 over a 12in deep 30g frag tank set at 65%. I like this calculator:

http://www.aquaticlog.com/radion

 

[stevediaz1]

I have 2 Gen1 over a 12in deep 30g frag tank set at 65%. I like this calculator:

http://www.aquaticlog.com/radion

Wow cool thanks a lot

 

[stevediaz1]

ok so i got some more info here i found out what par I'm getting with my current settings on my leds and my tank dimensions ill post pics so you can see

 

[stevediaz1]

ill do a water test and post it soon as well thanks all who have participated in this thread you all have been a great deal of help i hope some else like reads this and gains form my mistakes and mishaps

 

[ReefLEDLights]

In Full Disclosure I'm in the industry and thought this might help.

Back in the Day...Only 7 years ago...SPS Corals were grown primarily with 400 watt MH using 110 watt VHO Actinics...400+ PAR @ 24"

Softies and LPS did well under a 250 watt MH with Actinic Supplementation

The Radion uses quality LEDs maybe not binned for performance but not counterfeits... It is a quality replacement for a 250 watt MH. That said running it at 40% is pushing the corals.

For SPS I like to see about 500 PAR...Depending on Species that's about 150 PAR over Photo Inhibition. For Clams and Anemones at least 200 on the Sand Bed...

Yes PAR is subjective and LEDs offer Targeted Spectrum's but remember our Corals use light as food...Will they survive with reduced PAR...YES...But do we want to treat our corals like like American POWs under the Japanese during WWII, or do we want to offer them the best environment to grow and develop reflective pigments.

103 PAR is way low at 12" and highly recommend you slowly acclimate to a much higher PAR...Adjust and Acclimate Slowly...

Bill

 

[kevlow]

In Full Disclosure I'm in the industry and thought this might help.

Back in the Day...Only 7 years ago...SPS Corals were grown primarily with 400 watt MH using 110 watt VHO Actinics...400+ PAR @ 24"

Softies and LPS did well under a 250 watt MH with Actinic Supplementation

The Radion uses quality LEDs maybe not binned for performance but not counterfeits... It is a quality replacement for a 250 watt MH. That said running it at 40% is pushing the corals.

For SPS I like to see about 500 PAR...Depending on Species that's about 150 PAR over Photo Inhibition. For Clams and Anemones at least 200 on the Sand Bed...

Yes PAR is subjective and LEDs offer Targeted Spectrum's but remember our Corals use light as food...Will they survive with reduced PAR...YES...But do we want to treat our corals like like American POWs under the Japanese during WWII, or do we want to offer them the best environment to grow and develop reflective pigments.

103 PAR is way low at 12" and highly recommend you slowly acclimate to a much higher PAR...Adjust and Acclimate Slowly...

Bill

When you mention Photo Inhibition, are we referring specifically to the acro itself; or to the photosynthetic algae zooxanthellae that is inside the coral?

I would think it is referring to the zooxanthellae.

Which I think is a good thing. Photo inhibiting the zoo forces the coral to color up. It also forces the coral to gain it's nutrition from other sources which we provide. [If you don't provide it you just get a starved, tan, non growing acro].

I like the starved POW analogy.

My understanding is to feed light and nutrients to my corals, but not to the zooxanthellae. With enough light the zooxanthellae run and hide.
As a hobbyist, not a scientist; this is a lot to wrap my head around. lol

If I am wrong about the Photo Inhibition referring to the zooxanthellae please let me know.

I just don't see how it could be referring to the coral itself when acros grow very well at 500 par.

 

[ReefLEDLights]

The corals rely on the zooxanthellae as thats what produces sugars via light and photosynthesis.

The corals regulate the amount of zooxanthellae as they also produce O2 which in high quantities is toxic.

With less light the coral allows the zooanthellae to multiply as light is increased they slowly reduce the numbers...

With a rapid increase of intensity they expel the algae which is one form of bleaching.

Having more light than needed causes the coral to produce reflective pigments which is good...Generally if you have a deep tank 30" you will need a powerful light to provide the intensity needed for clams and carpet anemones, this in turn will provide intensities of 500+ PAR or enough in the upper half of the tank for SPS to produce these reflective pigments.

 

[d2mini]

In Full Disclosure I'm in the industry and thought this might help.

Back in the Day...Only 7 years ago...SPS Corals were grown primarily with 400 watt MH using 110 watt VHO Actinics...400+ PAR @ 24"

Softies and LPS did well under a 250 watt MH with Actinic Supplementation

The Radion uses quality LEDs maybe not binned for performance but not counterfeits... It is a quality replacement for a 250 watt MH. That said running it at 40% is pushing the corals.

For SPS I like to see about 500 PAR...Depending on Species that's about 150 PAR over Photo Inhibition. For Clams and Anemones at least 200 on the Sand Bed...

Yes PAR is subjective and LEDs offer Targeted Spectrum's but remember our Corals use light as food...Will they survive with reduced PAR...YES...But do we want to treat our corals like like American POWs under the Japanese during WWII, or do we want to offer them the best environment to grow and develop reflective pigments.

103 PAR is way low at 12" and highly recommend you slowly acclimate to a much higher PAR...Adjust and Acclimate Slowly...

Bill

Bill, you hit your sps with 500 par from LEDs?

 

[ReefLEDLights]

Yes, a tad more at the top and about 250 PAR on the Sand Bed. I used to be a MH guy but they got too expensive...We developed the Sirius XTC to replace the 400 watt MH and still cover 24x24 with over 200 PAR in a 30" deep tank. Thats close to twice the intensity of the Radion which is why I commented on the low settings.

 

[stevediaz1]

So your saying I'm setting my lights to low?

 

[stevediaz1]

What should I shoot for at the bottom what number?

 

[stevediaz1]

Here is a pic of my reef parameter log book

 

[stevediaz1]

I also noticed my purple hammer blue tip coral isn't happy any ideas why levels aren't that bad are they?maybe it's because I'm using carbon and gfo in my media reactor? What do you guys think

 

[sn2per]

Just a quick question... We are talking SPS Coral here aren't we?? Only you stated you are using the LPS/Softies schedule why would you do that? The Coral Labs study provided other SPS specific schedules. Whilst taking all the other comments onboard perhaps running the correct schedule for the corals you keep is also worth looking into.