Upgrading Biocube to Steve's LEDs, should I get the violet iridescence boosters?

hds4216

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Upgrading my biocube to Steve's. Thinking about getting the purple iridesence boosters. Steve says this about them:

A Quick note on the Iridescence Booster: For a premium upgrade at minimal expense, consider the Iridescence Booster upgrade! This upgrade swaps out 4 of the Royal Blue LEDs with 4 Hyper Violet LEDs. It doesn't change the brightness, it only improves the color and makes iridescence explode and pop out of corals and anemones. The Iridescence Booster upgrade improves the "black light effect" that corals naturally have, as well as improves coral growth rates. If you love the black light effect that most corals put off, then you'll definitely benefit from this upgrade. If you have mostly fish in your aquarium, then perhaps the Iridescence Booster option won't be beneficial. Please be aware that there is a mild risk of these Hyper Violets yellowing or browning the Biocube 32's stock splash guard if the fan vents aren't prepared as recommended and if the splash guard isn't clean (algae, salt residue, bubbles, etc). Hyper Violet light is very sensitive to being reflected so it is important to consider that this upgrade requires a little more upkeep of keeping the splash guard clean. Please be aware that Steve's LEDs manufacturers limited warranty is limited to repair or replacement of the LED system only, and doesn't include replacing yellowed or browned splash guards. To reduce this upkeep, ensure your surface water movement is minimal a that reduces bubbles and splashing.

I'm a bit hesitant because I don't like the purple look, it's extra money, they're hotter, and it's more maintenance. But I do like the black light effect, and better growth would be nice. Thoughts?

Also, just in general, is the upgrade worth it? I really like SPS and would like to keep those (eventually, tank is still new), but can't do that with stock lights.
 

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Upgrading my biocube to Steve's. Thinking about getting the purple iridesence boosters. Steve says this about them:



I'm a bit hesitant because I don't like the purple look, it's extra money, they're hotter, and it's more maintenance. But I do like the black light effect, and better growth would be nice. Thoughts?

Also, just in general, is the upgrade worth it? I really like SPS and would like to keep those (eventually, tank is still new), but can't do that with stock lights.
 

Enzodog

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I have had them about 4 months, I just wipe off splash guard when I do weekly water change. Have not had a problem with browning out splash guard. Also have not noticed a difference with color, so not sure if worth it or not.
 

Thirdeyesight17

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I ran Steve's leds with the iridescence booster for about 2 years. I had good growth with sps. I can't really compare them to the Steve's leds w/o the iridescence booster. I will say that compared to the XR15 I'm running now the ramp up and down periods for the steve leds with the I booster to the eye looks just as good as the ab+ schedule I'm currently running. I did get lazy with the maintenance of the hood, should've cleaned the splash guard more. As it did begin to brown out where the I assume the Iridescence lighting was. Have a couple pictures with my system with these lights one of which you can see how bright the purple is. I cant say if the I booster actually attributed to growth etc but if I had to buy these again I would get the I booster included.
20190531_083631.jpg
20190529_175838.jpg
 

Thirdeyesight17

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Hurricane

Depending on what you currently have coral wise. Believe the recommendation was to start all channels 1-4 at 1500 to acclimate corals. Channels 1,3 blues I ran up to 1700 while I kept the whites 2,4 in the 1500-1600 range. Something you have to play with to see what your corals respond to the most. I initially almost bleached my sps running channels to high as they grew I just slightly increased the channels on a monthly bias until I just left it alone. I sold the unit so I dont remember exact numbers but hope that helps.
 

oreo54

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There's a recent peer-reviewed paper that suggests violet radiation can cause shifts in coral coloration. Bottom line - go for violet.
Which violet?
If the o/p doesn't like the violet tone how little can they get away with?

Though I completely agree w/ you though I'd have said the wider the "blue" spectrum the better.

So boils down to possible compromises.
Btw I don't part. like violet tones either so I freely admit my predudice to it and yellow.
 

Dana Riddle

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Which violet?
If the o/p doesn't like the violet tone how little can they get away with?

Though I completely agree w/ you though I'd have said the wider the "blue" spectrum the better.

So boils down to possible compromises.
Btw I don't part. like violet tones either so I freely admit my predudice to it and yellow.
If we use Hunt's (and Wikipedia's) definition of 'violet', any LED with a peak emission below 470nm is considered violet.
 

oreo54

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If we use Hunt's (and Wikipedia's) definition of 'violet', any LED with a peak emission below 470nm is considered violet.

Huh, 440-450 is considered "royal blue"...and isn't hitting that red cone anomoly hard (yet maxing out the blue cones so to speak) to make it "look" violet..
460 is sometimes called regular blue though the range is to 480...
 

GoVols

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There's a recent peer-reviewed paper that suggests violet radiation can cause shifts in coral coloration. Bottom line - go for violet.

Dana,
Going to barrow your post
 

Anemonedude

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I ran Steve's leds with the iridescence booster for about 2 years. I had good growth with sps. I can't really compare them to the Steve's leds w/o the iridescence booster. I will say that compared to the XR15 I'm running now the ramp up and down periods for the steve leds with the I booster to the eye looks just as good as the ab+ schedule I'm currently running. I did get lazy with the maintenance of the hood, should've cleaned the splash guard more. As it did begin to brown out where the I assume the Iridescence lighting was. Have a couple pictures with my system with these lights one of which you can see how bright the purple is. I cant say if the I booster actually attributed to growth etc but if I had to buy these again I would get the I booster included.
20190531_083631.jpg
20190529_175838.jpg
Dumb question I guess but when you say you got lazy and didn’t wipe down the splash guard you’re not talking about taking the splash guard off to clean it just the top side correct? Thanks
 

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