Light acclimation.

[tyler1503]

I'm new to LEDs, so please forgive my ignorance here :P
I understand the importance of slowly acclimating coral to a particular light intensity and I always read threads along the lines of...
"At what percentage should I set my LEDs on this fixture for that coral?"
"30% white and 70% blue would be good. Just do it slowly to acclimate the coral."
What I don't get is, what percentage should you start from?
Obviously starting both channels at like 0% is a bad idea, so what percentage did you first set your LEDs to BEFORE increasing the intensity over time?
Thanks! :)

 

[Zacco]

First and foremost, need to know the wattage output of the Light Emitting Diode Fixture. Depth of tank? Types of coral's you are keeping.

 

[tyler1503]

It was more of a general wondering about what people are generally doing as opposed to wanting set numbers.
However I have (one at the moment, waiting on a second to be delivered) OceanRevive S026s on a 120. I'm planning to hang them at 12" to start with and go from there. As for coral I'm planning on euphyllias, cynarinas and fungias. With minimal SPS, mainly birdsnests.

 

[mfinn]

Most people including myself seem to find that approx. 35% to 40% total intensity as a starting point works. Maybe a little less depending on what lights the corals were under before.
Obviously if you are doing a very short tank or needing to have the lights closer to the corals than what's considered normal, the intensity would have to be adjusted.

 

[sureal00]

yes thats a good range to start off from 35% to 45%

 

[AdamNC]

Switching from PC to LED I started my lights at Ch1 30% Ch2 30% and then raised the intensity 2%(1% per channel) a week. I tried doing 10%(5% per channel) a week but ended up frying 3 corals so I backed it down to 2%.

 

[ReefLEDLights]

The quality of LED Fixtures varies greatly.

An Import claiming to use Cree LEDs can 30% less Bright than one that Bins their LEDs for intensity.

Black Box Ebay Fixtures generally use "3 watt Bridgelux" LEDs which are knockoffs made by a third party. You really do not know what your getting. There is no binning or strict quality control like Cree or Luxeon.

Then toss in the wide range of optics with some optics of the same angle being vastly more efficient than others.

To be safe use a PAR meter and dial back 10-15% from your previous fixture.

If you dont have a PAR meter or cant rent one 50% to start is not optimal but corals can adapt to lower light easier than too much light too quickly.

Bill

 

[acharpenter]

What about the type of coral being acclimated? How much does this come into play?

Softies, LPS, SPS....difference in intensity amongst species/type?

 

[markalan]

Where can you rent a Par meter?

 

[markalan]

Where can you rent a Par meter?

 

[markalan]

The quality of LED Fixtures varies greatly.

An Import claiming to use Cree LEDs can 30% less Bright than one that Bins their LEDs for intensity.

Black Box Ebay Fixtures generally use "3 watt Bridgelux" LEDs which are knockoffs made by a third party. You really do not know what your getting. There is no binning or strict quality control like Cree or Luxeon.

Then toss in the wide range of optics with some optics of the same angle being vastly more efficient than others.

To be safe use a PAR meter and dial back 10-15% from your previous fixture.

If you dont have a PAR meter or cant rent one 50% to start is not optimal but corals can adapt to lower light easier than too much light too quickly.

Bill

Where can you rent a Par meter?

 

[ReefLEDLights]

We offer them for rent as a courtesy for those who build our LEDs Kits

We have a few and they are always out but its first in line once they come back.

https://reefledlights.com/shop/par-meter-rental/

Bill