Red & Green LED's?

NanaReefer · Jun 17, 2016

Are there really any benefits to running them? Reason I ask is I ran a Black Box for 2yrs without either one and all my corals did great.
I'm now running a Radion G3 that all templates incorporate some % of both.
I've noticed that the higher % of red I get more algae growth. Or am I just imagining this?

jsker · Jun 17, 2016

Good question. Some have told me that turn down the read helps decrease the algae growth. The Algae is still there. I am following along for this one to also see what other have to say

Rpujol85 · Jun 17, 2016

It's been a while since I have really read into how different LED wavelengths effect things, but the guys over at nano-reef.com have TONS of info about this stuff.

Kungpaoshizi · Jun 17, 2016

So far the biggest thing I can recall is red spectrum has been found to "tell" a coral how deep it is. Don't recall green.

Though you're right, turn down both to help reduce algae. I think at my peak they're at 13%?

NanaReefer · Jun 18, 2016

ATM I've got red/green peaking at 17%. Might just go lower.
I've noticed that all schedules/templates on my Radion all use red in the upper 30% while green in the upper teens. 100% for Blues & UV.
Freaking hard finding a happy medium! [emoji38][emoji38]

SB Reef Lights · Jun 18, 2016

Chlorophyll A and C have small absorption spikes at 640 and 660nm. So some red is beneficial. However too much can lead to odd corallite structure and brittle corals. As well as encouraging unwanted algae. Green does little other than aesthetics.

The theory of some red helping corals determine depth seems to be valid, though 420nm down to 395nm seem to have more of an effect at helping corals decide they need more protective pigment.

Run just enough of red and green for aesthetics and call it a day.

NanaReefer · Jun 18, 2016

SB Reef Lights said:
Chlorophyll A and C have small absorption spikes at 640 and 660nm. So some red is beneficial. However too much can lead to odd corallite structure and brittle corals. As well as encouraging unwanted algae. Green does little other than aesthetics.

The theory of some red helping corals determine depth seems to be valid, though 420nm down to 395nm seem to have more of an effect at helping corals decide they need more protective pigment.

Run just enough of red and green for aesthetics and call it a day.

Care to comment on UV? [emoji4]

SB Reef Lights · Jun 18, 2016

UVA, in smaller amounts seems to help corals develop more protective pigment. The exact amount to use is the question. To my knowledge the only LED fixtures that use sub 400nm diodes are Orphek and SB Reed Lights.

Some manufacturers call their 420nm "UV" which they are not. Since 420nm does also help with color and hits the peak absorption point of chlorophyll A you can use as much as your corals can stand. 420nm will make greens and yellows pop, but not links and oranges as much, so mixing in more 450nm would be advised.

shadow1013 · Jun 18, 2016

In EcoSmart Live I have three three blues at 100$ and had the white, green, and reds at 20%. I had a bad algae outbreak but was asked how long I was running my whites and had them going for almost 10 hours. I was told to drop it to 4 or less so I just shut them off all together to get the algae growth down. It has helped and I'm not sure I'll add the whites back in but red and green are still at 20%. My intensity is at 50% I believe.

NanaReefer · Jun 18, 2016

shadow1013 said:
In EcoSmart Live I have three three blues at 100$ and had the white, green, and reds at 20%. I had a bad algae outbreak but was asked how long I was running my whites and had them going for almost 10 hours. I was told to drop it to 4 or less so I just shut them off all together to get the algae growth down. It has helped and I'm not sure I'll add the whites back in but red and green are still at 20%. My intensity is at 50% I believe.

Actually you have 2 Blues, 1 UV, White, Red, Green, and Indigo, and if you have the Pro then you'll also have Yellow.