LPS Corals and LEDs

Shane52 · 02/02/2014, 10:13 AM

I just read online about a guy having not as much success with LEDs and LPS corals. Can anyone say they have to make me feel better about the light I just bought?
I have a 20 gallon long reef tank and bought this LED for it, what do you think about the light?

http://www.lightexports.com/servlet/...eef-led/Detail

codyreed29 · 02/02/2014, 10:22 AM

Lol I have a ten gallon and a par 30 1 purple 1 white 3 blue. I have a torch on the sand about 12 inches from light. It only had 2 heads one a little bigger then the other I put them in end of September. By December 31 2 complete heads and the other almost complete. I put a Duncan in around December it's growing too. Leds can grow lps easy he must have some bad water or something stunting them stressed from nitrates maybe. My sps is on a rock about 8 inches and my montipora grows slowly. Not so great for sps they really would have to be right under the light 4 inches max to grow right. My lps are growing right(like they would in the wild)

Shane52 · 02/02/2014, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by codyreed29

Lol I have a ten gallon and a par 30 1 purple 1 white 3 blue. I have a torch on the sand about 12 inches from light. It only had 2 heads one a little bigger then the other I put them in end of September. By December 31 2 complete heads and the other almost complete. I put a Duncan in around December it's growing too. Leds can grow lps easy he must have some bad water or something stunting them stressed from nitrates maybe. My sps is on a rock about 8 inches and my montipora grows slowly. Not so great for sps they really would have to be right under the light 4 inches max to grow right. My lps are growing right(like they would in the wild)

so you think this light will work?

saltyair · 02/02/2014, 10:28 AM

I have a mixed reef - LED's not only made my lps and sps pop - but they also made them grow. Duncan's, elegance,torch and frogspawn are doing fantastic.
Maybe they don't have enough light? or too much? they will go through an adjustment period going from T5's to LED (about 60 days)

jmeehan · 02/02/2014, 10:36 AM

The light you bought is one of the chinese LED's that have flooded the market. Several North American vendors have bought them in bulk and are re-selling them here in the states. Some people have had decent results from them. I worry about the color of their blues.

Shane52 · 02/02/2014, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmeehan

The light you bought is one of the chinese LED's that have flooded the market. Several North American vendors have bought them in bulk and are re-selling them here in the states. Some people have had decent results from them. I worry about the color of their blues.

what is wrong with their blues?

whosurcaddie · 02/02/2014, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shane52

what is wrong with their blues?

There is nothing wrong with the blues those are Cree royals there great. That's a really good fixture man. The one thing is thats a lot of light for a 20 gallon if you can dim the fixture I would probably start at 50% power and work up.

You can grow anything you want with the lights you bought no worries.

Edit: It is dimmable so yeah start at 50% power and work up. At the depth of your tank with three watt cree's you will be blasting anything you put in there so yeah work up slowly.

ThreeMoneyJ · 02/02/2014, 11:44 AM

That is a ton of light for a 20 gal. Personally I would start lower than 50%, and slowly edge up if needed. Some LPS and corals in general don't want/need a ton of light and you can easily bleach them with a high powered fixture over a small tank.

Shane52 · 02/02/2014, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whosurcaddie

There is nothing wrong with the blues those are Cree royals there great. That's a really good fixture man. The one thing is thats a lot of light for a 20 gallon if you can dim the fixture I would probably start at 50% power and work up.

You can grow anything you want with the lights you bought no worries.

Edit: It is dimmable so yeah start at 50% power and work up. At the depth of your tank with three watt cree's you will be blasting anything you put in there so yeah work up slowly.

how high would you hang the fixture?

Ratpack · 02/02/2014, 12:43 PM

I would hang the light about 10" off the tank. I have a 75 gal with similar lights and they are at 10-12 inches above the water. Also, you may want to start even lower than 50%, I started mine with the blues at about 50% and the whites at 35%. Then ramped them up about 5% each week. Just watch your corals and how they respond.

whosurcaddie · 02/02/2014, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by threemoneyj

that is a ton of light for a 20 gal. Personally i would start lower than 50%, and slowly edge up if needed. Some lps and corals in general don't want/need a ton of light and you can easily bleach them with a high powered fixture over a small tank.

+1

mussel and hate · 02/02/2014, 04:22 PM

That's about twice the power I use over my 20 gallon and a different spectral mix. Apples to oranges but FWIW my elegence coral is doing quite well under LEDs.

2_zoa · 02/02/2014, 11:01 PM

That's a ton of light for a 20L. IMO. I have two 160 watt fixtures 10" off the water and average between the two channels, is 65%. That is getting me plenty at the bottom at almost 25" of depth.(I have 90* optics) I have zoas, leathers, chalice, frogspawn, Duncan, monti, and a brain(bubble) at the bottom lower 4-6" of the tank.

I'd mount the light higher then 10" cause of the power and to give you better spread of the light. Both coverage and color mix. Be careful, go easy with that light.

ThreeMoneyJ · 02/02/2014, 11:08 PM

I have a reefbreeders photon 16 (w/ 90 optics) mounted 15 inches above an IM nuvo 16 tank with a max of 5% whites and 35% blues. Mostly LPS. I was running it at 65% blue and 40% white, but I bleached all of my corals

BigCountry74 · 02/03/2014, 09:42 AM

I will never run those lights again. They are manufactured for growing plants. Your best option if going LED is to save the money and grab a Kessil maybe.

MikeReef79 · 02/03/2014, 10:10 AM

Check out my post here:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2372305

In that post I show pics of my coral grow from 9 - 6 months...
I have the D120 Full spectrum cheap chineese led's and they are great...
Everything grows, SPS, LPS, Softies...

02/02/2014, 10:13 AM	#1
Shane52 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 71	LPS Corals and LEDs I just read online about a guy having not as much success with LEDs and LPS corals. Can anyone say they have to make me feel better about the light I just bought? I have a 20 gallon long reef tank and bought this LED for it, what do you think about the light? http://www.lightexports.com/servlet/...eef-led/Detail

02/02/2014, 10:22 AM	#2
codyreed29 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 892	Lol I have a ten gallon and a par 30 1 purple 1 white 3 blue. I have a torch on the sand about 12 inches from light. It only had 2 heads one a little bigger then the other I put them in end of September. By December 31 2 complete heads and the other almost complete. I put a Duncan in around December it's growing too. Leds can grow lps easy he must have some bad water or something stunting them stressed from nitrates maybe. My sps is on a rock about 8 inches and my montipora grows slowly. Not so great for sps they really would have to be right under the light 4 inches max to grow right. My lps are growing right(like they would in the wild) __________________ 27 Rimless cube DIY lights and sump mag 5 cad lights pls 100 jeabo rw4 jeabo dp4

02/02/2014, 10:28 AM	#4
saltyair Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Ontario canada Posts: 871	I have a mixed reef - LED's not only made my lps and sps pop - but they also made them grow. Duncan's, elegance,torch and frogspawn are doing fantastic. Maybe they don't have enough light? or too much? they will go through an adjustment period going from T5's to LED (about 60 days) __________________ Johnny you know what to do, you know what to do. Bye for now - Eric the actor R.I.P Current Tank Info: 180 gal

02/02/2014, 11:44 AM	#8
ThreeMoneyJ Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Santa Rosa, CA Posts: 596	That is a ton of light for a 20 gal. Personally I would start lower than 50%, and slowly edge up if needed. Some LPS and corals in general don't want/need a ton of light and you can easily bleach them with a high powered fixture over a small tank. __________________ -John (threemoneyj is an anagram) -120 mixed reef. 50 cadlights cube. 40B cardinal/dragonet breeding tank/frag tank.

02/02/2014, 11:08 PM	#14
ThreeMoneyJ Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Santa Rosa, CA Posts: 596	I have a reefbreeders photon 16 (w/ 90 optics) mounted 15 inches above an IM nuvo 16 tank with a max of 5% whites and 35% blues. Mostly LPS. I was running it at 65% blue and 40% white, but I bleached all of my corals __________________ -John (threemoneyj is an anagram) -120 mixed reef. 50 cadlights cube. 40B cardinal/dragonet breeding tank/frag tank.

02/02/2014, 10:36 AM	#5
jmeehan Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Lincoln, CA Posts: 57	The light you bought is one of the chinese LED's that have flooded the market. Several North American vendors have bought them in bulk and are re-selling them here in the states. Some people have had decent results from them. I worry about the color of their blues.

02/02/2014, 12:43 PM	#10
Ratpack Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Lexington, SC Posts: 709	I would hang the light about 10" off the tank. I have a 75 gal with similar lights and they are at 10-12 inches above the water. Also, you may want to start even lower than 50%, I started mine with the blues at about 50% and the whites at 35%. Then ramped them up about 5% each week. Just watch your corals and how they respond.

02/02/2014, 04:22 PM	#12
mussel and hate Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: location location Posts: 701	That's about twice the power I use over my 20 gallon and a different spectral mix. Apples to oranges but FWIW my elegence coral is doing quite well under LEDs.

02/02/2014, 11:01 PM	#13
2_zoa Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 1,840	That's a ton of light for a 20L. IMO. I have two 160 watt fixtures 10" off the water and average between the two channels, is 65%. That is getting me plenty at the bottom at almost 25" of depth.(I have 90* optics) I have zoas, leathers, chalice, frogspawn, Duncan, monti, and a brain(bubble) at the bottom lower 4-6" of the tank. I'd mount the light higher then 10" cause of the power and to give you better spread of the light. Both coverage and color mix. Be careful, go easy with that light.

02/03/2014, 09:42 AM	#15
BigCountry74 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 1,761	I will never run those lights again. They are manufactured for growing plants. Your best option if going LED is to save the money and grab a Kessil maybe. __________________ 135g mixed reef (retired) http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2132815 Current 40g reef http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2483250 Current Tank Info: 40g bare bottom reef

02/03/2014, 10:10 AM	#16
MikeReef79 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 117	Check out my post here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2372305 In that post I show pics of my coral grow from 9 - 6 months... I have the D120 Full spectrum cheap chineese led's and they are great... Everything grows, SPS, LPS, Softies... __________________ Built in wall 180 Gallon Mixed Reef Tank See my home page for more info about my tank!