Led Question

atteb66 · 07/27/2014, 12:04 AM

I am wanting to change my light strips

I currently have 3 strips each one has 2 12,000k and 1 453nm blue

I would like to remove one of these strips and add a strip that has 3 453nm blue

So instead of 6 whites and 3 blues I would have 4 whites and 5 blues

Would this be okay for my corals?

Tank is a 2 gal pico the fixture is an ExoticEco Pico Fixture

Corals: are Rock Flower Anemone, zoa frag, paly frag, green fancy mushroom rhodactis. The zoas and paly's are not showing their color so I thought with more balanced colouring it would be better

Any thoughts on this?

atteb66 · 07/27/2014, 09:14 AM

Anyone??

zachts · 07/27/2014, 09:53 AM

not sure that will help much, those whites are just very low CRI and don't render colors well. you'd need to add a broader spectrum white to get much improved color. Less white like you suggest doing will make it bluer and the flourecent colors will pop more but it won't improve much else than that.

atteb66 · 07/27/2014, 12:42 PM

What about a Par 30 bulb would that be better?

If so what should I be looking for

zachts · 07/27/2014, 01:20 PM

Color wise not really. Is everything growing well under your current setup? Also what exactly is not coloring up as you expect, what colors on which corals? If everything looks kind of washed out and blah, then it's due to having so much of the cool whites and adding more blue would help but you'll have to experiment to find out. If you cover a few of the whites does the color improve to you liking?

atteb66 · 07/27/2014, 06:03 PM

Everything is growing well, just my zoas and paly's are browned out, they are not melting they are not stretching for light either but have no color showing. I know what color they should be but they are not that color at the moment. I have read that its because the light is to intense some say.

Nothing is bleaching out white either.

I could put something over a few whites and see how that works.

I have some good coralline algae color growing on the rocks as well. So don't know what else I can do for the color of the zoas and paly's.

I would just like the zoas and paly's to have their color back.

zachts · 07/28/2014, 12:12 PM

What colors are they supposed to be? If green then it is probably just too much white light washing out the flourescense.

atteb66 · 07/28/2014, 02:38 PM

One is suppose to be a pink, the other is orange center with a blue ring and green skirt

If I shine the moon light on them I can see their colors.

A fellow reefer has the same size tank and same fixture as I have he said this fixture is more than enough light for this size of tank but instead of all his strips being the 2 white 1 blue he has two strips that have the 2 white and 1 blue and then one strip that is all blue so maybe that is what I might have to do as well is get the all blue strip for the center and remove one of the other strips.

zachts · 07/28/2014, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luckynano

One is suppose to be a pink, the other is orange center with a blue ring and green skirt

If I shine the moon light on them I can see their colors.

A fellow reefer has the same size tank and same fixture as I have he said this fixture is more than enough light for this size of tank but instead of all his strips being the 2 white 1 blue he has two strips that have the 2 white and 1 blue and then one strip that is all blue so maybe that is what I might have to do as well is get the all blue strip for the center and remove one of the other strips.

Yep, sounds to me like the whites are just over powering the fluorescent colors.

atteb66 · 07/28/2014, 09:13 PM

So would you just add an all blue strip and leave the other lights as they are or remove one of the strips and add an all blue so there will be 4 white and 5 blue?

zachts · 07/29/2014, 12:02 PM

Well, you have to get the all blue strip anyway so try it with first, if the color is still not doing it for you, remove and replace one of the white/blue strips. If still not doing it see what it looks like covering up some of the whites untill you get closer to what you want.

atteb66 · 07/29/2014, 02:27 PM

Okay thanks for that info, I think I will order it and just see how things go.

I found a fellow here that sells the Par 30 bulbs but he says its way overkill for what I have and that I would have to dim it quite a bit so it really not worth the money for that bulb to just keep what I have and add some blue's

zachts · 07/29/2014, 06:08 PM

I would agree, the par bulb would be overkill for a small tank keeping softies. the optics are not needed unless you'd want the bulb haning way above the tank. Not sure what you have your strips suspended on over the tank but a very simple DIY to get much better color than those would only need a single 3up star with one NW and one RB and one True Blue, and I'd add a pair of violets probably 430nm. Maybe adding a third if you wanted even more fluorescent pop. Assuming your power supply is at least 1.5 amps and you had a heatsink and all the other build stuff laying around it would run you around $30 in LED star chips, a few dollars for thermal paste or adhesive, and two 500mA LDD drivers (one LDD if you had a 1 amp or more 24v supply handy) @ $7 each.

A lot more work though and you may not see ton of benefit only keeping softies, but fluorescent colors would be somewhat better than with only royal blue I should think.

atteb66 · 07/30/2014, 11:34 AM

My strips are stuck onto the fixture it comes with. If you google ExoticEco Pico Arm you will see what I have, there is room for 3 strips, in this fixture but you can add 2 more to the sides as well for a total of 5 strips. They just peel and stick and you have to run a 3 way splitter for them as I already have. I also have the dimmer switch for it as well. So if I were to get an all blue strip that has 3 lights in it I would either take out the center strip and add this or just add it to the side which in that case I would need another power source so really have to weigh it out first.

My Rock Flower Anemone is just beautiful under this light, it has the such a bright lime florescent green centre with bright orange skirt, so this puzzles me a tad as to why this looks so good under these lights but the zoas and palys don't.

Even the bright green Rhodiactis mushroom I have is bright and nice too. I have never had luck with zoas of any kind so maybe this is just something I might have to avoid all together.

I will see what the cost will be for an all blue strip and another power source for this fixture

zachts · 07/30/2014, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luckynano

My strips are stuck onto the fixture it comes with. If you google ExoticEco Pico Arm you will see what I have, there is room for 3 strips, in this fixture but you can add 2 more to the sides as well for a total of 5 strips. They just peel and stick and you have to run a 3 way splitter for them as I already have. I also have the dimmer switch for it as well. So if I were to get an all blue strip that has 3 lights in it I would either take out the center strip and add this or just add it to the side which in that case I would need another power source so really have to weigh it out first.

My Rock Flower Anemone is just beautiful under this light, it has the such a bright lime florescent green centre with bright orange skirt, so this puzzles me a tad as to why this looks so good under these lights but the zoas and palys don't.

Even the bright green Rhodiactis mushroom I have is bright and nice too. I have never had luck with zoas of any kind so maybe this is just something I might have to avoid all together.

I will see what the cost will be for an all blue strip and another power source for this fixture

Can you post a pic of your tank, full tank shot and close up of the nem and zoas? not all colors flourese well under royal blue, some need lower wavelenghts some need higher to really bring out thier colors. as long as they are open and growing they are getting enough light to be happy just maybe not the right spectrum to look their best. sound like you have a very choice specimen of rock anemone, I've not seen that color combo before, Ive got an all green with orange mouth which is more common I think, multiplies like crazy now that it has reached about 6"

atteb66 · 07/31/2014, 12:43 AM

I sure can, unfortunately these pics just do not do it justice. It is way more bright green than it shows, very intense lime green just cannot seem to get the cameras I use to see it like I do. I don't think my Rock Flower is really anything special I have not seen this color often it is considered an Ultra, there are so many nice ones I have seen but trying to get them is not easy here.

You said yours has babies often, how many other rock flower anemones do you have? I wish mine would do that but was told you have to have 2 for them to have babies.

You will see the paly frag at the front right side, that is the color of it still in the tank. Everything is healthy and growing, even my zoas have a little one coming now that I got rid of my hermit crab. Just the colors are not the best. The zoa frag is the rock in the center, very small to try and see I will take more pics in the next few days and post them here.

zachts · 07/31/2014, 12:12 PM

I have two flower anemones in my tank. they reproduce aesexually and just "cough" up baby anemonies every so often, generaly when I remember to feed them on a regular basis, the more often I feed them the more babies. I'd not read anywhere that you need two for them to do this though.

Judging from the look of corals from what I can see in the pic you are just lacking in spectrum. It looks plenty "blue" at least in the pic. The palys may be hard to get to color up nice under LED, I had some that look simialr to that and they only colored up a nice pink under flourescent lighting, I beleive thier color responds to more red in the spectrum by reflecting some of the light to make them look pink.

Otherwise on the blue end, the tank looks plenty blue so you might be better served by adding some supplemental violet and true blue LEDs (ebay peal and stick strips similar to what you have would be my suggestion.) Violet will bring out more of the greens blue and yellows which are flourescent colors, and the true blue will bring out more of the orange in the anemone and zoas which look a little washed out in the pick. That is a very nicely colored anemone.

atteb66 · 07/31/2014, 05:49 PM

Well I phoned the place that makes these lights, they said I have to much white and need to add a blue strip to even out the color spectrum. My worry was by adding one to the one side of the fixture would create to much blue in that area, they said it will not as the strips are so close to each other on the fixture and that these light throw even lighting through out the water column.

So next was to try and find someone in Canada that sells them now, the fellow I bought them from went out of business I knew that and they said he is out of business and I would have to order them from either Amazon or Dr. Foster and Smith as they do not do sales from the factory and these would be my two cheapest options.

So I phoned Dr. Foster and Smith and the lady there was very pleasant and nice I placed the order, just about choked on the shipping and border tax. Oh yes that lovely border tax but I need them and its way cheaper than getting a whole new fixture plus this one is so nice and sleek I love it for the look, so my new strip and transformer will be coming in 7-10 days we have a long weeekend this weekend so might be a bit of delay but they will be here and best part is I can put that blue strip on a timer so when the lights go out the blues stay on by themselves for a bit.

I also talked with a fellow reefer here in my home town as he has one heck of a nice system and its fantastic with lights, he also recommended I go this route to get more balance but said to stay with the fixture and just add the blue strip and all will be good. He said the par bulbs to are way over kill and I would have to hang it so high it would look dumb but this fixture is nice and clean lines. So i was glad to finally get a hold of him for his opinion.

So my research is done

Will post pics once I get the new strip and see how things look then.

07/27/2014, 12:04 AM	#1
atteb66 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Canada Posts: 449	Led Question I am wanting to change my light strips I currently have 3 strips each one has 2 12,000k and 1 453nm blue I would like to remove one of these strips and add a strip that has 3 453nm blue So instead of 6 whites and 3 blues I would have 4 whites and 5 blues Would this be okay for my corals? Tank is a 2 gal pico the fixture is an ExoticEco Pico Fixture Corals: are Rock Flower Anemone, zoa frag, paly frag, green fancy mushroom rhodactis. The zoas and paly's are not showing their color so I thought with more balanced colouring it would be better Any thoughts on this?

07/27/2014, 09:14 AM	#2
atteb66 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Canada Posts: 449	Anyone??

07/27/2014, 09:53 AM	#3
zachts Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: St. Louis, MO. Posts: 3,259	not sure that will help much, those whites are just very low CRI and don't render colors well. you'd need to add a broader spectrum white to get much improved color. Less white like you suggest doing will make it bluer and the flourecent colors will pop more but it won't improve much else than that.

07/27/2014, 12:42 PM	#4
atteb66 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Canada Posts: 449	What about a Par 30 bulb would that be better? If so what should I be looking for

07/27/2014, 01:20 PM	#5
zachts Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: St. Louis, MO. Posts: 3,259	Color wise not really. Is everything growing well under your current setup? Also what exactly is not coloring up as you expect, what colors on which corals? If everything looks kind of washed out and blah, then it's due to having so much of the cool whites and adding more blue would help but you'll have to experiment to find out. If you cover a few of the whites does the color improve to you liking?

07/27/2014, 06:03 PM	#6
atteb66 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Canada Posts: 449	Everything is growing well, just my zoas and paly's are browned out, they are not melting they are not stretching for light either but have no color showing. I know what color they should be but they are not that color at the moment. I have read that its because the light is to intense some say. Nothing is bleaching out white either. I could put something over a few whites and see how that works. I have some good coralline algae color growing on the rocks as well. So don't know what else I can do for the color of the zoas and paly's. I would just like the zoas and paly's to have their color back.

07/28/2014, 12:12 PM	#7
zachts Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: St. Louis, MO. Posts: 3,259	What colors are they supposed to be? If green then it is probably just too much white light washing out the flourescense.

07/28/2014, 02:38 PM	#8
atteb66 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Canada Posts: 449	One is suppose to be a pink, the other is orange center with a blue ring and green skirt If I shine the moon light on them I can see their colors. A fellow reefer has the same size tank and same fixture as I have he said this fixture is more than enough light for this size of tank but instead of all his strips being the 2 white 1 blue he has two strips that have the 2 white and 1 blue and then one strip that is all blue so maybe that is what I might have to do as well is get the all blue strip for the center and remove one of the other strips.

07/28/2014, 09:13 PM	#10
atteb66 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Canada Posts: 449	So would you just add an all blue strip and leave the other lights as they are or remove one of the strips and add an all blue so there will be 4 white and 5 blue?

07/29/2014, 12:02 PM	#11
zachts Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: St. Louis, MO. Posts: 3,259	Well, you have to get the all blue strip anyway so try it with first, if the color is still not doing it for you, remove and replace one of the white/blue strips. If still not doing it see what it looks like covering up some of the whites untill you get closer to what you want.

07/29/2014, 02:27 PM	#12
atteb66 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Canada Posts: 449	Okay thanks for that info, I think I will order it and just see how things go. I found a fellow here that sells the Par 30 bulbs but he says its way overkill for what I have and that I would have to dim it quite a bit so it really not worth the money for that bulb to just keep what I have and add some blue's

07/29/2014, 06:08 PM	#13
zachts Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: St. Louis, MO. Posts: 3,259	I would agree, the par bulb would be overkill for a small tank keeping softies. the optics are not needed unless you'd want the bulb haning way above the tank. Not sure what you have your strips suspended on over the tank but a very simple DIY to get much better color than those would only need a single 3up star with one NW and one RB and one True Blue, and I'd add a pair of violets probably 430nm. Maybe adding a third if you wanted even more fluorescent pop. Assuming your power supply is at least 1.5 amps and you had a heatsink and all the other build stuff laying around it would run you around $30 in LED star chips, a few dollars for thermal paste or adhesive, and two 500mA LDD drivers (one LDD if you had a 1 amp or more 24v supply handy) @ $7 each. A lot more work though and you may not see ton of benefit only keeping softies, but fluorescent colors would be somewhat better than with only royal blue I should think.

07/30/2014, 11:34 AM	#14
atteb66 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Canada Posts: 449	My strips are stuck onto the fixture it comes with. If you google ExoticEco Pico Arm you will see what I have, there is room for 3 strips, in this fixture but you can add 2 more to the sides as well for a total of 5 strips. They just peel and stick and you have to run a 3 way splitter for them as I already have. I also have the dimmer switch for it as well. So if I were to get an all blue strip that has 3 lights in it I would either take out the center strip and add this or just add it to the side which in that case I would need another power source so really have to weigh it out first. My Rock Flower Anemone is just beautiful under this light, it has the such a bright lime florescent green centre with bright orange skirt, so this puzzles me a tad as to why this looks so good under these lights but the zoas and palys don't. Even the bright green Rhodiactis mushroom I have is bright and nice too. I have never had luck with zoas of any kind so maybe this is just something I might have to avoid all together. I will see what the cost will be for an all blue strip and another power source for this fixture

07/31/2014, 12:12 PM	#17
zachts Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: St. Louis, MO. Posts: 3,259	I have two flower anemones in my tank. they reproduce aesexually and just "cough" up baby anemonies every so often, generaly when I remember to feed them on a regular basis, the more often I feed them the more babies. I'd not read anywhere that you need two for them to do this though. Judging from the look of corals from what I can see in the pic you are just lacking in spectrum. It looks plenty "blue" at least in the pic. The palys may be hard to get to color up nice under LED, I had some that look simialr to that and they only colored up a nice pink under flourescent lighting, I beleive thier color responds to more red in the spectrum by reflecting some of the light to make them look pink. Otherwise on the blue end, the tank looks plenty blue so you might be better served by adding some supplemental violet and true blue LEDs (ebay peal and stick strips similar to what you have would be my suggestion.) Violet will bring out more of the greens blue and yellows which are flourescent colors, and the true blue will bring out more of the orange in the anemone and zoas which look a little washed out in the pick. That is a very nicely colored anemone.

07/31/2014, 05:49 PM	#18
atteb66 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Canada Posts: 449	Well I phoned the place that makes these lights, they said I have to much white and need to add a blue strip to even out the color spectrum. My worry was by adding one to the one side of the fixture would create to much blue in that area, they said it will not as the strips are so close to each other on the fixture and that these light throw even lighting through out the water column. So next was to try and find someone in Canada that sells them now, the fellow I bought them from went out of business I knew that and they said he is out of business and I would have to order them from either Amazon or Dr. Foster and Smith as they do not do sales from the factory and these would be my two cheapest options. So I phoned Dr. Foster and Smith and the lady there was very pleasant and nice I placed the order, just about choked on the shipping and border tax. Oh yes that lovely border tax but I need them and its way cheaper than getting a whole new fixture plus this one is so nice and sleek I love it for the look, so my new strip and transformer will be coming in 7-10 days we have a long weeekend this weekend so might be a bit of delay but they will be here and best part is I can put that blue strip on a timer so when the lights go out the blues stay on by themselves for a bit. I also talked with a fellow reefer here in my home town as he has one heck of a nice system and its fantastic with lights, he also recommended I go this route to get more balance but said to stay with the fixture and just add the blue strip and all will be good. He said the par bulbs to are way over kill and I would have to hang it so high it would look dumb but this fixture is nice and clean lines. So i was glad to finally get a hold of him for his opinion. So my research is done Will post pics once I get the new strip and see how things look then.