UV LEDs Worth it?

[Mattrg02]

Anyone have any testing on whether or not the uv led power levels are actually affecting the corals? I read somewhere else that the power output of a typical uv led, used in our systems, isn't doing much of anything.

I have the hydra26 hd and can't tell they are on unless I turn off all the other colors.

Matt

 

[baseballfanatic2]

Anyone have any testing on whether or not the uv led power levels are actually affecting the corals? I read somewhere else that the power output of a typical uv led, used in our systems, isn't doing much of anything.

I have the hydra26 hd and can't tell they are on unless I turn off all the other colors.

Matt

I have read that they are only used to increase par on certain areas, without affecting color.

My concern is which leds to add to keep the true colors of the corals. I feel like most beautiful scans turn to different colors under led which sucks. I want to keep the colors I get them with. Especially rainbows.

 

[Marc.The.Shark]

Grest pictures Marc. Quick question, which UV leds do you run?

I'm stuck between 2.

Solderless SemiLEDs True Violet UV LED (400-410nm)
And...
Solderless SemiLEDs Violet UV LED (410-420nm)

or a different one? or both?

I run both, half & half

I have read that they are only used to increase par on certain areas, without affecting color.

My concern is which leds to add to keep the true colors of the corals. I feel like most beautiful scans turn to different colors under led which sucks. I want to keep the colors I get them with. Especially rainbows.

Violets are Huge par monsters, they also will help fluoresce your coral some too. (think of uv light to detect urine stains; buy one of these flashlights of eBay & shine in your tank with all other light off & you'll be blown away by the colors!) Our eyes can't see the wavelength of light they put out so they look dim, but be careful in cranking them up too high or you burn your coral, put them on their own channel or if you run with the blue channel (I do), make sure you acclimate well.

For best coral coloration also use some Blue and Cyan. The tank you see in the pic is just a small 8 gal with one diy cluster that consists of 2 NW, 1L, 4RB, 2V (1V, 1TV), 1C, 1B. Also that is an old pic & didn't have the Lime, just got better with lime!

My new build has 4 clusters over a 30" light for a 36" tank. Trying to lessen the shading effect that is inherent with LED's as this tank will have more SPS. I went with NanoBox pucks because it was exactly how I was going to mix my colors(or very close to it). Plus for $55 an array, I almost can't buy individual led's for that price. Here's a link to my light build over on NR if you're interested.
http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/364364-diy-light-build-nanobox-edition-complete-photo-dump/

 

[baseballfanatic2]

I run both, half & half



Violets are Huge par monsters, they also will help fluoresce your coral some too. (think of uv light to detect urine stains; buy one of these flashlights of eBay & shine in your tank with all other light off & you'll be blown away by the colors!) Our eyes can't see the wavelength of light they put out so they look dim, but be careful in cranking them up too high or you burn your coral, put them on their own channel or if you run with the blue channel (I do), make sure you acclimate well.

For best coral coloration also use some Blue and Cyan. The tank you see in the pic is just a small 8 gal with one diy cluster that consists of 2 NW, 1L, 4RB, 2V (1V, 1TV), 1C, 1B. Also that is an old pic & didn't have the Lime, just got better with lime!

My new build has 4 clusters over a 30" light for a 36" tank. Trying to lessen the shading effect that is inherent with LED's as this tank will have more SPS. I went with NanoBox pucks because it was exactly how I was going to mix my colors(or very close to it). Plus for $55 an array, I almost can't buy individual led's for that price. Here's a link to my light build over on NR if you're interested.
http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/364364-diy-light-build-nanobox-edition-complete-photo-dump/

Nice setup. How much did you spend on the leds, heatsink, and acrylic. Looks like a sick setup. I wanted to do something similar, but it was getting pricey.

I'm doing a 30 inch heatsink on 36 inch tank also . Nuvo 30 fusion

 

[Marc.The.Shark]

Nice setup. How much did you spend on the leds, heatsink, and acrylic. Looks like a sick setup. I wanted to do something similar, but it was getting pricey.

I'm doing a 30 inch heatsink on 36 inch tank also . Nuvo 30 fusion

Thanks. I like those Fusion tanks too, just wanted a sump for all my clutter! lol

Well, Lets see..
LED arrays 4 @ $55 = $220, so tax & shipping prob $240
Heatsink from HeatsinkUSA was around $40-45, so lets say $50
Acrylic was prob about $125 (Biggest cost was the thick splash shield, that was around $50-60 by itself)
Then hanging bracket from eBay $20
Power Supply $30
Fans $20
Stainless Screws $20
Bluefish - $100 for the mini, but I already had the full version that I had previously bought that was $200
LDD's & Coralux boards, lets say $60

So, I've probably got $600+ into it, but could have been done for about $500 or so.