Trying the switch

biecacka · Jul 19, 2019

Ok, first thing first....this is NOT a debate about if a type of light grows corals. Here are plenty of threads out there for that.

What I am trying to figure out is the best way to transition from 2 250watt halides to 2 full panel Orpheks. I have used halides my entire tank career with the exception of 8 months where I tried leds awhile back. I have nothing at all against halides and the heat doesn’t bother me. Not one bit, nor does replacing bulbs...I got an amazing deal on these Orpheks which is why I’m trying them out.

My concern, is many people state when they switched from halides to leds they lost coral completely and damaged plenty of others. So my question is to those that have switched, what would you do different or what did you do that worked? I would like to try to have as few issues as possible.
Here is a little about my tank.
240 gallon cube (big sps frag tank for the most part right now)
N03 5-10
P04 .07
Alk 8.3
Calcium 435
Mag 1450
Salinity 1.025
Temp 77-79

Thank you,

Corey

reacclimating 2 the hobby · Jul 19, 2019

I'd get a par meter. See what you're doing now and hope you can match it with the switch.

biecacka · Jul 20, 2019

Yeah I have one lined up for Monday to check my halides, then I will rent one for leds from BRS.

Corey

jda · Jul 20, 2019

Most PAR meters can handle both. You just gotta know the limits of the sensor. Post the model of the PAR meter that you get on Monday. If it Apogee 200 or 500 series, then you are set to use it for both.

I would not just match PAR. There is more to it than that.

I experiment with LED (not so much lately) - Atlantik v4 was my favorite, BTW. Good choice. I would put the panels way up high at first (like 24 inches) at about 60-75% of the PAR that you have now. I want to give the acropora time to react so that I can move them if I need to - some did OK and some did not and needed moved. Then, lower the unit a CM at a time for a week and leave the intensity the same... this can also show you were blending stops and the disco comes. Only once the unit is where you want it and you are happy with the blending and the corals are not mad at you, then slowly raise the intensity. Don't freak out if they slow down or stop growing for a while as you transition, but I would expect this with any transition and you are being purposefully cautious.

I would use the IR and the UV on the v4. I believe in both of these. The UV diodes might need replaced every so often, but it is worth it, IMO.

Do everything slowly.

There is more output from a MH that the PAR meter does not capture than a LED panel. 250 PAR from a LED is less light than 250 PAR from a MH which has violet, red, UV, IR, etc. that a PAR meter cannot capture. The Panel can get hot spots which is why you have to lower it below the MH - the output is not as flat some MH reflectors, even on the wide panels Orpheks.

Good luck.

Edit: I have lost acropora doing this and I always take a lot of care with the smooth skinned stuff and the ones that are prone to RTN... you know which ones these are. Mine was mostly a frag tank with some colonies, so not a huge deal. This is what I found that made it the best, but it takes a while.

biecacka · Jul 20, 2019

@jda good advice. I planned on about 16inches but can try a bit higher. I was going to use the acclimation mode for a few weeks, any thoughts on that. When I get the par meter I will check the number and reach out to you and go from there. I’m not sure what I’m getting with the halides now as it’s been awhile since I tested it. But I like the idea of going even lower par for a bit. I am aware of the concept that the par numbers could be the same but different spectrum etc. that is one reason I was going to stick with the acclimation mode.

Corey

reacclimating 2 the hobby · Jul 21, 2019

When I switched, I matched my par and then ran acclimation mode. Few minutes it took to find a close match didnt bother anything and I didnt lose any coral.

Raising and lowering to eliminate blending and shadowing i didnt feel needed to be mentioned as I imagined you already know that.

Good luck though. I went through all the same trials and always come back to mh/t5. My opinion that I get better growth.

biecacka · Jul 21, 2019

Yeah a long time ago I tried leds and came back. I’m not selling my setup, that’s for sure. But I’m intrigued.

Corey

biecacka · Jul 24, 2019

Quick photo I snapped this morning after I got them up and hung. They are running acclimation mode now and will for probably 3-4 weeks. Weird thing is I chose acclimation mode that was already programmed in the controller and the time for the lights was also programmed. Maybe this is from the last user (the lights were used) but I think I remember seeing a thread where the preprogrammed modes from Orphek included the time.

Corey

blasterman · Jul 25, 2019

Been reefing since the 80's, and those days we didn't have LEDs and tubes were rare. A lot of of trashed tanks during bulb changes due to differences in the metal salts in the halide jacket, so anybody that sells you that HID / Metal Halide is more safe than LEDs can stop revising history. Metal Halide bulb changes were akin to changing control rods at a power plant and you only did so with sweaty palms and a lot of prayer. Anybody who says metal halides always grow coral is telling you Windows XP didn't get spyware.

LEDs nuke tanks because they have optics that artificially focus light and push more light at 445-450nm than Metal Halides. So, even though the tank looks identical in terms of brightness your corals are getting a lot more PAR. Put a big fresnel lens on your metal halide and watch your acropora turn white.

All my reef buddies with SPS dominant tanks use LEDs...mostly black boxes, and don't even consider firebottles (MH) anymore.

biecacka · Jul 25, 2019

I love my halides. I’m not saying I won’t live leds. I’m just saying hat halides have been very good to me. That’s all

Corey

biecacka · Aug 20, 2019

So it’s been a few weeks and most everything is doing okay. About 4 days into the switch I noticed that my alk had risen from 8-8.5 to about 11.4. I don’t know if that is due to he lighting switch or not. But I anticipated growth slowing for awhile. I ran the acclimation mode for about 3weeks and switched yesterday to their “growth and color” preset program.
I like the look of the tank so far.
One coral struggle though....my mystic sunset monti has taken a hit. Not sure if it’s the lights, rise in alk or what. You can see the main portion of it has dulled out while the new growth still has its colors.

Any thoughts?

Parameters are as follows
Alk-10.1
Nitrate 5-10
P04 .08
Salinity 1.024 (my normal mix up numbers)
Calcium 430

Corey

biecacka · Aug 28, 2019

Few more corals are turning dull in color. I’m sure it’s just the switch in lights. I hope things turn around, numbers are stable, small daily water changes also help with that so the only thing I can think of is lighting. I want to ride it out but I keep looking at my halides and asking myself “why??” ;Nailbiting
Anyone else switch and suffer similar issues?

Corey