The use of UV light in LED

[Graffiti Spot]

So ran a test running high uv and voilets and low uv and voilets to see if i notice any differences in consumption of alk and calcium.. higher uv did slightly increase the consumption by about 5ml daily.. however i did notice that the light fixtures ran stupidly hott.. if you touched them they would burn your hand hot. I was speaking to another user of the ai lights and he mentioned he was going to lower uv and voilets. When i aksed why he wanted to do that he mentioned his ligbt lenses were becoming deformed due to the excess heat

can you tell us how you did the test? Did you install extra uv diodes or did you just use it at 100% of what the fixture had to offer?

 

[andrewey]

So ran a test running high uv and voilets and low uv and voilets to see if i notice any differences in consumption of alk and calcium.. higher uv did slightly increase the consumption by about 5ml daily.. however i did notice that the light fixtures ran stupidly hott.. if you touched them they would burn your hand hot. I was speaking to another user of the ai lights and he mentioned he was going to lower uv and voilets. When i aksed why he wanted to do that he mentioned his ligbt lenses were becoming deformed due to the excess heat

I'm a bit confused about this test. Can you do a full writeup of your procedure? I'm trying to figure out whether you were testing light +/- UV where the same par/watts was conserved between each arm and only the wavelength differed or whether you really just tested light + slightly more light (which happens to suggest higher par in your system increases alk consumption). Two very different tests.

 

[merereef]

can you tell us how you did the test? Did you install extra uv diodes or did you just use it at 100% of what the fixture had to offer?

Sorry for the confusion lol

so i have two ai hydra 26hd on my tank... i ran the lights with LOW uv for about a month. When i say low uv i meanroyal blue and blue at 120percent and uv andvoilet at 65% corals were doing well and growing.. i then switched to running the uv and voilets on the ai hydras to max which i think is at 113 percent and kept the blues at 120 the corals did start very quickly consuming more alk. But when i felt the fixture it was very very hott... after running the lightswith high uv and voilets for about a month i switched to low uv again and my alkconsumption dropped by 5ml a day but the fixtures run a lot cooler

 

[merereef]

I'm a bit confused about this test. Can you do a full writeup of your procedure? I'm trying to figure out whether you were testing light +/- UV where the same par/watts was conserved between each arm and only the wavelength differed or whether you really just tested light + slightly more light (which happens to suggest higher par in your system increases alk consumption). Two very different tests.

Ive explained above how i did the test... maybe i should do another keeping par the same but check low uv vs high uv

 

[oreo54]

i ran the lights with LOW uv for about a month. When i say low uv i mean royal blue and blue at 120 percent and uv and violet at 65% corals were doing well and growing.. i then switched to running the uv and violets on the ai hydras to max which i think is at 113 percent and kept the blues at 120 the corals did start very quickly consuming more alk

Probably just a normal reaction to more PAR. Would have nothing to do w/ violets or UV.
Now if growth slowed or colors changed (still could be a PAR thing) THAT might have something to do w/ the "color"..

Now if you had decreased the blue to 72% and raised the violets to 113% you might get a rough idea of any differences.
That assumes relatively similar output w/ the blue and violet diodes.
PAR measurements would be better though not perfect either esp. if in the true UV range and not accounted for by the par meter.

 

[merereef]

Probably just a normal reaction to more PAR. Would have nothing to do w/ violets or UV.
Now if growth slowed or colors changed (still could be a PAR thing) THAT might have something to do w/ the "color"..

Now if you had decreased the blue to 72% and raised the violets to 113% you might get a rough idea of any differences.
That assumes relatively similar output w/ the blue and violet diodes.
PAR measurements would be better though not perfect either esp. if in the true UV range and not accounted for by the par meter.

See the point i was trying to make was not so the corals but the fact the light fixture got sooooo hot..like surely that cannot be good for the lights life span... what do you think?

 

[blasterman]

Tell you guys what. I will build a custom light that has flat spectral response

Wowwww... so this explains why red sea and others use low uv and voilet... crazy then why some like ecotech suggest to increase the uv to 100... i loved your in depth explanation.. so in your eyes would you say uv(led manufacturers call) and voilet is not absolutely necyto run at 100% as its most likely marketing?

For the millionth time they put those 2watt Semi / Epi LEDs in their lights to differentiate them from generic Asian competitors. Red Sea also recently stated that the reason they don't put red LEDs in their lights because it promotes algae growth....even though a white LED emits red light. Local reef store has a Red Sea display tank with red sea lights and it has plenty of algae.

400-440nm light has no benefit to coral over the commonly accepted 450nm peak that has grown us coral decades and there has never been any proof otherwise. I could build a light with a flat spectral response from 400-450nm using pretty expensive LEDs (I have dozens of 50watt UV chips lating around) and it wouldn't grow SPS any better than a $90 black box using common 450nm royals with both lights leveled for PAR.

Do yourself a favor and go to YouTube and look at the large SPS showcase tanks and most are lit with black boxes or lights with no significant UV response. UV is otherwise regarded as an inside joke in the SPS industry.

 

[merereef]

Tell you guys what. I will build a custom light that has flat spectral response


For the millionth time they put those 2watt Semi / Epi LEDs in their lights to differentiate them from generic Asian competitors. Red Sea also recently stated that the reason they don't put red LEDs in their lights because it promotes algae growth....even though a white LED emits red light. Local reef store has a Red Sea display tank with red sea lights and it has plenty of algae.

400-440nm light has no benefit to coral over the commonly accepted 450nm peak that has grown us coral decades and there has never been any proof otherwise. I could build a light with a flat spectral response from 400-450nm using pretty expensive LEDs (I have dozens of 50watt UV chips lating around) and it wouldn't grow SPS any better than a $90 black box using common 450nm royals with both lights leveled for PAR.

Do yourself a favor and go to YouTube and look at the large SPS showcase tanks and most are lit with black boxes or lights with no significant UV response. UV is otherwise regarded as an inside joke in the SPS industry.

I felt as though you were shouting at me... but i want to hear more hahahaha this is what im looking at too.. that are the use oof HIGH uv and voilets really necessary and the fact they overheat led when run at max might not be good for them.

 

[ingchr1]

...UV is otherwise regarded as an inside joke in the SPS industry.

Wondering if you could quantify who/what is included in the referenced SPS industry?

 

[LadyTang2]

Most people cannot see true UV and have no idea what it looks like. The average human eye will see from about 400-700 nm, but some people can see slightly below this or above. Even the people that can see some UV do not see much and it just looks like violet. UV is below 400nm, technically. What you are seeing in nearly all UV diodes is violet diodes that the manufacturer brands (lies) as UV - most of them do it, so no venom or anything. Just look at the diode nanometer and you can tell for sure.

@jda Which LED manufacturers are selling lights with the true UV? I see both 405 and 415 UV on G5s, is the true UV one of these?

 

[oreo54]

@jda Which LED manufacturers are selling lights with the true UV? I see both 405 and 415 UV on G5s, is the true UV one of these?

No, but keep in mind that you get "some" UV (<400nm) w/ 405-ish diodes.
Orphek has some true UV.

One can argue if true UV is a need or a want.

The use of UV light in LED

Wanted to gather everyones thoughts on this... some day high uv can damage coral and some say high uv is needed to help coral growth.. i see led lighting schedules and some run low uv and coilets where as others run high etc.. can anyone here tell me what they have noticed when running high uv...

www.reef2reef.com

Currently UV diodes have a much shorter lifespan than diodes of higher nm-ers.
Also much less efficient.

Believe some Kessils have some true UV diodes as well or close w/ "spill" into the UV range.

 

[jda]

Orphek is all that I know of. I do not guess to the ones with their proprietary diodes - no idea.

What most 405 and 415 is violet, not UV - EcoTech has lied about this since G2 or G3? ...I forget. They know perfectly well that these are not really UV.

 

[Midrats]

Above is probably more right than wrong but a bit too simplistic. There are a host of other pigments/needs but the
spread of each is fairly large..
http://spectra.1023world.net/#save

It looks like our lights should be getting less blue as they dim. I've been doing it wrong for 30 years!

 

[Bpb]

Orphek is all that I know of. I do not guess to the ones with their proprietary diodes - no idea.

What most 405 and 415 is violet, not UV - EcoTech has lied about this since G2 or G3? ...I forget. They know perfectly well that these are not really UV.

But UV sounds zippier on a product description than violet. Cmon man

 

[Dana Riddle]

I haven't read all 4 pages of this thread, but UV-A is useful in photosynthesis. See graph (from Jeffries.) Any wavelengths below about 350nm *might* be absorbed by natural sunscreens (mycosporine-like amino acids, or MAAs.)

 

[oreo54]

I haven't read all 4 pages of this thread, but UV-A is useful in photosynthesis. See graph (from Jeffries.) Any wavelengths below about 350nm *might* be absorbed by natural sunscreens (mycosporine-like amino acids, or MAAs.)

Which would you prefer...1000 photons at 430 nm or 1000 photons at 400nm?

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Hi all,

I have a question about UV diodes on the HD52. I noticed the plastic bracing on top of my tank melted, and a chair I accidentally rested a lamp on that was still lit had burned a dot where the UV diode was located. Would that burning/melting be the case with violet, even though it is not a true UV range?

Just wondering?

 

[ingchr1]

Orphek is all that I know of...

GHL Mitras LX7 also has UV, 385nm.

 

[Smarkow]

Its not about what corals need its about what they can convince you that you need. Example protien skimmers...look at all the threads about which ones work and are some worth triple the price...I have news for you in the 80s I had a protien skimmer back when you had to order them as local stores didn't even know what they were. It hung on the back ran off a powerhead you attached with a 3/4 inch flexible line and then you hooked a whisper air pump to it with 2 wooden air stones (made smaller bubbles) and a drain line that you ran to a bucket. Your control was a manual $1 valve on the air line. Thing looked like someone made it out of spare acrylic at home depot...it worked amazingly well and did exactly what it was supposed to do. No moving parts and only the lid came off allowing you to change the air stones.
Now look at today...oh you need this shape, this air plate, this pump, all these valves...or else all your fish will die...that's what they want you to believe.

I think you are sooo right! It all goes back to the 80/20 saying
20% of the design is 80% of the results... nowadays we are tweaking, spending a ton of extra time/effort for that last 20% (maybe 20% ha!)
The only piece of tech I have never replaced in 7y in the hobby is my entry level red sea skimmer. Some things just work.
For my next build, all I plan on doing is making things SIMPLER so I can enjoy the livestock more

 

[oreo54]

Hi all,

I have a question about UV diodes on the HD52. I noticed the plastic bracing on top of my tank melted, and a chair I accidentally rested a lamp on that was still lit had burned a dot where the UV diode was located. Would that burning/melting be the case with violet, even though it is not a true UV range?

Just wondering?

Led's by their nature have a high output of energy from a small area. It's only a matter of degrees. Blue to UV photons if course have high energy and concentrated (think lenses/magnifying glass) each can transfer enough energy to "burn" things as does any "color" with the right focus, think laser.