What LED for Actinic Supplement! Halide and LED Married together!

[Biglurr54]

I am in the process of building a 175 SPS reef. The tank is 36x36x31deep. The main light is a 400 watt ushio 14k in a Cozumel sun reflector. I would like to add some supplemental light to assist in par and coloration of sps. I’m not sure what do do for LEDs and there does not seem to be much on the DIY LED front these days. I plan on framing the Halide fixture with a single row of leds. (22x22 square) I would like to do a combination of Royal Blue (450nm), Hyper violet (420nm), violet (410nm), and true violet (400nm).

What ratios should I run to supplement the 400 14k halide?


I am thinking 7RB, 3HV, 3V, 2TV on each side of the reflector. That is based loosely off the Radion G4 Pro leds

 

[mtraylor]

Yeah you could do something like this
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/15-s...MI5a3y75PZ2QIVFVYNCh0NAgcqEAQYAyABEgKPavD_BwE

Singles
https://aquarium.bulkreefsupply.com/search?w=reef brite tech led&asug=

 

[Caravanshaka]

If you want to DIY, I would check out blue acro’s actinic strips. They combine violets and blues and look great. I believe nanobox has a “beam” strip that is similar as well. I would trust their ratios and maybe put 3-4 on each strip.

If going with a pre-made, reef brite XHO

 

[hybridazn]

As someone who runes halides with leds (t5 as well) I will say that once the halide comes on it will completely wash out the leds, there will be a par benefit but don't expect much visually.

The above suggestions I echo as well.

 

[Biglurr54]

I am currently running a 150w halide 14k on a magnetic ballast with 13 luxeon rb and 4 semi led hyper violet and I can't stand the look of just the halide. Way too yellow. The 14k bulb is way different than the ushio 14k 400w on electric ballast. With the right amount of leds, they do make a difference. I am going g to go the diy route as I enjoy the design /building. And then I have a custom light perfect for my tank.

 

[A. grandis]

Perhaps you only need to change your halide bulb for another 14K or 20K and add some actinic blue T5s.
That would give you better distribution/uniformity and still offer good combo for your color taste.
Also will allow you to have most corals showing great color in a 36" deep tank.
Grandis.

 

[Biglurr54]

I have a radium and it is too blue for me. I really like the 14k and just want to be able to tune the blue to my taste. I also want to provide a bit more fluorescence and par. I think I'm going going with a 3 rb 2 hyper violet (420) 1 true violet (410) I will do there sets on each side a of the halide. That's 72 leds spread around the reflector. And 216 watts of led supplement.

 

[Caravanshaka]

Sounds like the exact ratio of the actinic blue strips from blue Acro. Are you going with their strips? I’ve used them before and really liked them.

 

[Biglurr54]

It is the same ratio. I will be sourcing the leds on my own. I can probably get better bins and it will be cheaper!

 

[A. grandis]

If you want some PAR you could go with Blue Plus bulbs instead Actinic Blue.
Ushio 14K or Hamilton 14K and Blue Plus will give you an amazing look.
Grandis.

 

[Biglurr54]

I thought about t5. I was going to do a 24 inch t5 on each side of the reflector. It would be about $350 to do and would give me 100w of t5 power. There would be the additional $80 a year bulb replacement cost. It wouldn't be adjustable either.

For $350 I could do the leds and change them out to adjust spectrum if needed. It would be dimmable with apex and no bulbs to change. It would be 215watts of led power.

 

[A. grandis]

Hummm... then you're not looking for the added quality of light the T5s can offer, but more towards the money you're going to save with the LEDs. Just my opinion.
Fair enough.
Good luck and please post the pics when you're done.
Seems like an interesting project.
Grandis.

 

[Biglurr54]

Is the quality of ati blue plus superior to rb and uv leds?

 

[A. grandis]

Is the quality of ati blue plus superior to rb and uv leds?

Depends the way you see it...
If you use only T5s and compare that to one of those LEDs, what do you think will give you a better growth/health in the long run?
Again, this is a matter of personal opinion - just so we don't get some people posting charts and all that kinda stuff here trying to prove their points towards LEDs or T5s, which I'm tired of...
IMHO T5s are still way much better than any of the LEDs that I've seen.
I just saw the other day a tank illuminated with the famous AI Hydra 26 LEDs and I sincerely though it was a joke! I'm sorry! And again people here put the 52 version of that fixture as the second better with the G4 Pro from Ecotech being the first place. The EcoTech is also a joke to me comparing to some nice T5s. I'm just saying that IMHO t5s are much, much better in many ways. And cheaper!!!
The ReefBright LEDs have a different way to spread the light, but when compared to some Blue Plus bulbs... I'm sorry... The RB is just for looks!! It claims to be like VHOs. Some told me already they don't think so, besides the blue look... Yes, the quality is what we should go for.

The halides will completely wash out the LEDs anyways, like Hybridazn said... the Blue Plus HO T5s will actually serve for good PAR, quality spectrum and complement the halides embracing the system from left to right. It's a perfect match IMO.
Grandis.

 

[Biglurr54]

Ok point taken. I know halide and t5 is the gold standard. I would like to aim for the best health and color of the coral. Will 4 24inch t5s be enough to supplement the 400w halide? Will that be powerful enough to make any difference at the sand bed (31") tank. I haven't used t5 before. I was halide and pc then led then back to halide with led supplement. T5s are new to me and I instantly and unfairly associate them with pc which were terrible!

 

[A. grandis]

Well, like I've said, depending on the halide you will have the T5s washed out too because they are 400w, but still much better than any LEDs in terms of quality of light to supplement the corals needs, that's for sure! The ReefBrite strip, in your case, will offer blue light. The ATI Blue Plus will give you additional PAR and will give you that nice blue too. The spectrum from the Blue Plus is "richer" than the spectrum from the ReefBrites. I mean... you can have Blue Plus bulbs running and they will actually grow corals really well compared to those RB LEDs. That's why most coral growers choose T5s.
What you need to understand is that to overcome your 14K 400w halides in terms of additional blue to help the visual appearance you will need such number of the tubes. How many tubes? That will depend on your personal preference for the spectrum you want to achieve, that is the balance between the 14K halide and the Blue Plus tubes to your eyes. Only you can define. The higher wattage the halide is the more tubes you will need to overcome the "white".
Too many additional lights will be totally unnecessary. That's why I would try like 2 Blue Plus bulbs and if you're not happy with that you should change the one you have for a 20K. with 2 T5 tubes. You could also add 4 Blue Plus to the halides. I wouldn't add more than 4 tubes. That's plenty lights already!! LOL!
So... you need to know how much blue you want to add.
Play with the photoperiod is very important when adding bulbs like that, specially having the 400W running already. That's common sense.
Can we use a Spectra with 2 X 250W radiums and 4 T5s over a 75gal? Of course yes! Photoperiod will have to be adjusted to avoid photo inhibition. It's a matter of getting the best out of the bulbs and avoiding unnecessary waste/damage.

My personal opinion!

Grandis.

 

[DSC reef]

You've got good info from previous posts. To the OP, don't get sucked into the led are not good for your tank nonsense. Sometimes personal opinions can drown out real data and proof.

 

[jda]

If looks are your concern, then no matter what you add, you will not likely see any difference when the Halide is on. They can be fine for some blacklight (LEDs) or dusk/dawn. You will need to choose a bulb that is the color that you like. If 20K radium is too blue, then let us know which ballast that you have (electronic or magnetic) and you could get some suggestions. Gisemann as a 17.5k that is bluer than 14K, but not as much as Radium. 14K or 20k Hamilton have different looks depending on the ballast.

If you chief concern is PAR, then go with a pair of 250W Halides and forgo the LEDs or T5s. Compared to a 400W Halide, a 4xT5 setup or some blue LEDs are like throwing a baseball at a school bus. 400W Halide and 100W of T5s is roughly the same 500W for 2x 250w... bulbs are similar to replace.

If coloration is your concern, then I would get a 20K MH and use 6500K (or some other daylight) T5 bulbs for the PAR and spectrum that will bring out lots of colors.

 

[DSC reef]

Depends the way you see it...
If you use only T5s and compare that to one of those LEDs, what do you think will give you a better growth/health in the long run?
Again, this is a matter of personal opinion - just so we don't get some people posting charts and all that kinda stuff here trying to prove their points towards LEDs or T5s, which I'm tired of...
IMHO T5s are still way much better than any of the LEDs that I've seen.
I just saw the other day a tank illuminated with the famous AI Hydra 26 LEDs and I sincerely though it was a joke! I'm sorry! And again people here put the 52 version of that fixture as the second better with the G4 Pro from Ecotech being the first place. The EcoTech is also a joke to me comparing to some nice T5s. I'm just saying that IMHO t5s are much, much better in many ways. And cheaper!!!
The ReefBright LEDs have a different way to spread the light, but when compared to some Blue Plus bulbs... I'm sorry... The RB is just for looks!! It claims to be like VHOs. Some told me already they don't think so, besides the blue look... Yes, the quality is what we should go for.

The halides will completely wash out the LEDs anyways, like Hybridazn said... the Blue Plus HO T5s will actually serve for good PAR, quality spectrum and complement the halides embracing the system from left to right. It's a perfect match IMO.
Grandis.

Do you have any of those charts your tired of to prove your statement that the reefbrite strip offers no par or coral growth? You say it just for Looks?

 

[jda]

I have taken PAR readings from a 24" XHO Reefbrite and the par at 6" was less than 50. The distribution was pretty even over the 24". This was a few years ago and perhaps the models have changed. It is not a lot of PAR from what I measured... not nothing, though, either.