LED Height Above Water

[chefjpaul]

thats cool and all but not everyone has a sen eye where they can see the pur in their tanks - thats a whole nother thing where you have to spend 300+ dollars just to find out what your lights are putting out - that to me is one of the most ridiculous things ever radion does a good job of having charts and graphs for ppl - but i think if i put a light on my tank hang it 12 from the waterline i should be able to plug it in and grow whatever i want without having to adjust anything or set it or whatever - they should have like 10 questions or something how many lights - tank dimensions - sps dominant - lps dominant - mixed - softy or fowler - and not all this other jibber jabber par - pur ect ect - i would think there would be a better solution to this

i run t5 on one setup and led on another and yeah im not sure my 6bulb HO ati bulbs are enough for the sps but i do know they are too much for my lps so its like hmmmmm what im a ganna do ??? just got another tank to plumb into it so i can run sps frags in one tank lps frags in another tank and i have no clue what im going to use when i get a full on display tank - to many variables

Only spent like 100 on the Seneye, it is a great tool to use as another form of testing. Lights are just another component to test for. Cost about price of a coral. Plus I enjoy the learning, who cares anyway besides my wife what I spend money on? Didn't have to I can.

I've been running leds for around 5 years without any form of "test" & I wasn't as successful as I wanted to be.

It isn't about pur par or whatever, its actually getting a relative number to gauge by, & I want to leave the lights at, so I know where and how certain corals will act as I can react. Yes there are too many variables, but its nice to know if it is or isnt a lighting issue.
I find many either under or over compensate the intensities.

 

[ReeferMaddness843]

I know I'm personally probably in the "under" boat at the moment. But, I moved from a pair of kessil 160s since I lost my t5s when I swapped tanks. Taking my baby steps till my coral tell me otherwise. So far, been a magical colorful voyage to say the least.

 

[Mal11224]

Only spent like 100 on the Seneye, it is a great tool to use as another form of testing. Lights are just another component to test for. Cost about price of a coral. Plus I enjoy the learning, who cares anyway besides my wife what I spend money on? Didn't have to I can.

I've been running leds for around 5 years without any form of "test" & I wasn't as successful as I wanted to be.

It isn't about pur par or whatever, its actually getting a relative number to gauge by, & I want to leave the lights at, so I know where and how certain corals will act as I can react. Yes there are too many variables, but its nice to know if it is or isnt a lighting issue.
I find many either under or over compensate the intensities.

Good point. I don't have a seneye but thinking about it. It is practically impossible to tell if your LED light is in the right position without numerous adjustments and second guessing. Placement and intensity makes a big difference. I would love to know the par/pur levels in my tank. Like you said, price of a nice coral that would likely die if your lights are incorrectly positioned. Much easier to bleach a coral with LEDs than T5s and MH.

 

[Bluhawk]

Does these tanks have any glass covers on them? or does the lights ? I ask because I made a led set up an they are not covered just attached to heat sinks so i have custom glass covers on tank for Jumpers (fish) and salt creep control. Atm my light are 6" above water line.

 

[Flippers4pups]

How many lights in from the edge did you go to get the spread you needed?

Just the outermost LED's at the ends.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Does these tanks have any glass covers on them? or does the lights ? I ask because I made a led set up an they are not covered just attached to heat sinks so i have custom glass covers on tank for Jumpers (fish) and salt creep control. Atm my light are 6" above water line.

Most led fixtures will have covers or lenses on them. Screens over the top of the tank are what most go with now a days. They can be DIY'd or bought as kits, like through BRS. Screens allow gas exchange and let light through without having to clean glass.

 

[Koi Obsession]

I run my Kessil Ap 700s on a lps and softies tank about 3" inch

off the water my nem loves it sits right under it. I also run a Cannon Eco exotic 100 watt about 4 feet off the water and I have 4 eco ray led 112 on the same tank and 2 of them are 10" off the water and 2 are 4 feet. and last I also run a Kessil 360 tuna blue about 3 feet off the water. All my corals seem to love the light after a break in period.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Very nice, Koi!

 

[Koi Obsession]

here is a tank with a ton of light so here it goes kessil ap 700 4 inches off the water on my 185 reef cannon eco exotic 100 watt 4 feet off the water Ecoray led 112 x 4 with 2 8" off the water and 2 4 feet off the water and a 360 tuna blur about 2.5 feet off the water

 

[reefox]

yeah i just bleached a oregon tort mini colony moving it from my t5 to my led system it took 3 days - i went up there to the tank nothing was wrong went 2 days later to check the freshwater and blam it was half white only green in the shadow areas and now its back in the t5 tank hoping i get to save it - yeah if i found a sen eye for 100 bucks yeah i would totally get one

Good point. I don't have a seneye but thinking about it. It is practically impossible to tell if your LED light is in the right position without numerous adjustments and second guessing. Placement and intensity makes a big difference. I would love to know the par/pur levels in my tank. Like you said, price of a nice coral that would likely die if your lights are incorrectly positioned. Much easier to bleach a coral with LEDs than T5s and MH.

 

[Koi Obsession]

that is a front and side view of the tank its 5 feet from front to back and 40" wide and 30 deep .

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I run my Kessil Ap 700s on a lps and softies tank about 3" inch

off the water my nem loves it sits right under it. I also run a Cannon Eco exotic 100 watt about 4 feet off the water and I have 4 eco ray led 112 on the same tank and 2 of them are 10" off the water and 2 are 4 feet. and last I also run a Kessil 360 tuna blue about 3 feet off the water. All my corals seem to love the light after a break in period.

Umm, Is it a sin to covet thine tank?

 

[Flippers4pups]

yeah i just bleached a oregon tort mini colony moving it from my t5 to my led system it took 3 days - i went up there to the tank nothing was wrong went 2 days later to check the freshwater and blam it was half white only green in the shadow areas and now its back in the t5 tank hoping i get to save it - yeah if i found a sen eye for 100 bucks yeah i would totally get one

Yes, LED's are very deceiving. They pack a serious punch in par and can easily bleach any coral quickly. Any and all frags I get go straight to the sand bed on a frag rack for a week, then I move them up a little bit for a week and observe them and so on and so on till I get them to where I think they will do well long term. Slow, slow and slow.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Umm, Is it a sin to covet thine tank?

Makes me want to set up a softy tank again!

 

[Salty_Box_Reef]

18" off the water on a 24" deep tank.

I don't thing leds have more "punch" than any other light source. Par is par is par and pur is pur is pur. Photons are photons. However leds are more focused than any other light source. That's why you'll see most aquaculture facilities running their lights at higher percentages and higher off the water. Sometimes as high as 24" off the water. Also the reason you see all the newest leds getting defusers and fancy lenses to disperse and blend the light better.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

18" off the water on a 24" deep tank.

I don't thing leds have more "punch" than any other light source. Par is par is par and pur is pur is pur. Photons are photons. However leds are more focused than any other light source. That's why you'll see most aquaculture facilities running their lights at higher percentages and higher off the water. Sometimes as high as 24" off the water. Also the reason you see all the newest leds getting defusers and fancy lenses to disperse and blend the light better.

Yes, LED's are very deceiving. They pack a serious punch in par and can easily bleach any coral quickly. Any and all frags I get go straight to the sand bed on a frag rack for a week, then I move them up a little bit for a week and observe them and so on and so on till I get them to where I think they will do well long term. Slow, slow and slow.

It actually depends fixture to fixture. One can say t5 or led , its more appropriate I think to to say a 6 tube and a kessil 360(but you'd need 2 Or more get anywhere close to a comparable spread)

 

[Flippers4pups]

18" off the water on a 24" deep tank.

I don't thing leds have more "punch" than any other light source. Par is par is par and pur is pur is pur. Photons are photons. However leds are more focused than any other light source. That's why you'll see most aquaculture facilities running their lights at higher percentages and higher off the water. Sometimes as high as 24" off the water. Also the reason you see all the newest leds getting defusers and fancy lenses to disperse and blend the light better.

I guess I should have said more focused light as opposed to T5. Thus more localized "punch".

 

[brownerd]

How did you all , (op included), determine how you set the height?

I didn't have a choice - I bought a Red Sea Reefer 250 deluxe - they have the lights at a set height that can't easily be changed. I figured they did a bunch of research to determine how high to mount them, so I figured I'd leave them alone.

 

[Laith]

Two Hydra 52 HDs 30cm (12") above the water surface. Tank is 50cm (20") deep.

12 hour light period with a ramp up and ramp down of four hours each. So peak intensity is four hours at UV 28%, Violet 36%, Royal Blue 100%, Blue 80%, Green 10%, Red 16% and Cool White at 48%. I may reduce the green and red as the Cool White has that spectrum in it as well...

 

[mtraylor]

I have 4 GHL mitras over my aquarium at about 7" above the water. The spread on these lights is so wide I had to put them closer to water to keep from lighting my whole living room and keep the light concentrated in the aquarium.