rocko918 July 25, 2013 Share July 25, 2013 Some of you know already but most don't. I have ran a very successful tank with 3 250w Mh's since 2008. I rarely had any problems with growing corals or getting them to color up nicely. It was time to replace the bulbs, so instead of spending 300 bucks on new blubs i made the decision to make the switch. I have been watching, reading and forming my own opinion. I am a fan of those big companys that spend a lot of time and money into research and development. So I decided to go with 3 Ecotech Radions. I got a great deal on Gen1 with the TIR lens. Brand new, never used. So i started with replacing the middle HM with one of the radions. After a month of use, tweaking the graph, getting used to the light i added the other 2. So far i have had to move my superman monti out of the main tank, the rainbow monti keeps receeding and my tyree undata has lost color. Other than that everything has stayed the same. I have noticed my palys seem to be streching for more light on the bottom of the tank. I am still tweeking and increased the intensity a bit. Still looking for that sweet spot. For me its hard to tell if I have enough light or too much. Based on the palys streching for light i don't think i have enough. At peak the intensity only gets up to 70% and i think its only at that for an hour. Welcome your comments. Also now need to relearn how to shoot pictures under LED's. Here is a quick video of the setup shot almost a month ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miggs76 July 25, 2013 Share July 25, 2013 On reefcentral.com there is a thread where people trade graphs. I've gotten a lot of useful information about the radions over there. I have found that it takes a while for the corals to get used to leds, with some showing either no growth or bleaching/browning, then all of a sudden they color up and start growing. I had a strawberry shortcake acro frag that I got last September that died in my tank from too much light. I mean this thing was white as a ghost. I left it in the tank because my clown goby loved perching on it. 8 months later it colored up and is alive and well again. I found that putting corals directly under the leds is fine if it is at the bottom of the tank, but not so good if the corals are in the middle or top of the tank. I think the beam is too strong at that point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowieReefer84 July 25, 2013 Share July 25, 2013 (edited) Do you think the monti are getting too much light or not enough? With LED's I found my sunset montipora to do the best. For some reason the purple monti cap never colored up as great under LED's. Flower petal cap did really well. I had a blue encrusting one that did good. I think it was Mike Paletta blue monti. Edited July 25, 2013 by BowieReefer84 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocko918 July 25, 2013 Author Share July 25, 2013 On reefcentral.com there is a thread where people trade graphs. I've gotten a lot of useful information about the radions over there. I have found that it takes a while for the corals to get used to leds, with some showing either no growth or bleaching/browning, then all of a sudden they color up and start growing. I had a strawberry shortcake acro frag that I got last September that died in my tank from too much light. I mean this thing was white as a ghost. I left it in the tank because my clown goby loved perching on it. 8 months later it colored up and is alive and well again. I found that putting corals directly under the leds is fine if it is at the bottom of the tank, but not so good if the corals are in the middle or top of the tank. I think the beam is too strong at that point. Yes i have been following that thread as well. Got some good ideas from it. You know the corals that are effected are not right under the leds. superman was close to the top but behind the light back against the glass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocko918 July 25, 2013 Author Share July 25, 2013 Do you think the monti are getting too much light or not enough? With LED's I found my sunset montipora to do the best. For some reason the purple monti cap never colored up as great under LED's. Flower petal cap did really well. I had a blue encrusting one that did good. I think it was Mike Paletta blue monti. I am not sure about the monti, Would think it was too much but the mystic and sunset are closer and right under it doing just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocko918 December 3, 2013 Author Share December 3, 2013 Update: So after 5 months i think i have dialed in the Radions to the color i like. The colors look cool, but i have noticed a significate drop off in growth. My sps are not growing like they did under MH's. Most of them kept their colors. My Sunset monti is sort brownish, not the bright Orange and green polyps. The biggest issue i see if my palys and zoa's on the bottom of the tank are really stretching towards the light. I was under the impression that LEDs would penatrate deeper. So i have incresed the intensity of the lights to around 70% at peak. I will have to increase that even more as they are still streching. My system is the same, i only swapped out the lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizzaguy December 3, 2013 Share December 3, 2013 I have certain Zoas and palys stretching also. I run gen 2's that peak at 90%. I won't go any higher. It's only 3 or 4 that stretch. I have also noticed I can place a lot of Zoas and palys half way up some even higher. It seems all my high end Zoas want want to be at least half way up but with low to medium flow which is tough with all the sps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachabballi reef December 3, 2013 Share December 3, 2013 bob are you considering switching back to MH? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocko918 December 3, 2013 Author Share December 3, 2013 I don't think i will switch back. I will be thinking about what i put in the tank. Less high priced slow growing sps. Still trying to find the right place for my zoa/palys. Although i would rather just let things be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachabballi reef December 3, 2013 Share December 3, 2013 are you compromising what you really want in your tank now and in the future for the LEDs though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocko918 December 3, 2013 Author Share December 3, 2013 no, I am happy with it right now. Just won't drop a lot of money on SPS anymore as they don't grow very well for me anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sachabballi reef December 3, 2013 Share December 3, 2013 that's kinda sad as you have such a gift for growing them beautifully... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epleeds December 3, 2013 Share December 3, 2013 no, I am happy with it right now. Just won't drop a lot of money on SPS anymore as they don't grow very well for me anymore. Just send em my way. I will grow them out for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miggs76 December 3, 2013 Share December 3, 2013 Give it some time....once your corals adjust you'll see growth. I had several corals under my radion not grow an inch for 4-5 months after they were added and then all of a sudden boom....every time I put a new coral in it does nothing for months at a time. I think corals need a longer period of adjustment when you switch them to LEDs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocko918 December 3, 2013 Author Share December 3, 2013 Give it some time....once your corals adjust you'll see growth. I had several corals under my radion not grow an inch for 4-5 months after they were added and then all of a sudden boom....every time I put a new coral in it does nothing for months at a time. I think corals need a longer period of adjustment when you switch them to LEDs I hope so. its been around that amount of time already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocko918 December 3, 2013 Author Share December 3, 2013 (edited) Dont get me wrong my tank still looks good and somethings are growing really well. Iphone video i just shot Edited December 3, 2013 by rocko918 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizzaguy December 3, 2013 Share December 3, 2013 I never really thought about that but all my sps is just now starting to grow. Some has been in there at least 6 months. So what the op said makes since to me also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime December 3, 2013 Share December 3, 2013 For me, the deciding factor in choosing LED's was based on the fact that I would have to run a chiller if I went with metal halides. I think Tony's tank (RideTheDucati) is a testament to the fact that LED's do in fact grow corals. I'm interested to see what happens when you ramp your lights up a bit more, although those Z&P's are certainly stretching, I noticed mine did the same during my break in period, in which I ramped up both channels from 15% to the 75% they are at now. Tank looks great, btw! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocko918 December 4, 2013 Author Share December 4, 2013 I am at 75% right now. Will have to increase it more. The one thing that i had to change was the ramp up period during the day. It took way to long to get to the 75% and then it was only at that point for an hour. So i have moved the graph to ramp up faster and stay at that point longer. I will increase the time that they are at 75%. See if that helps. Might jump up top 80% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowieReefer84 December 4, 2013 Share December 4, 2013 I am at 75% right now. Will have to increase it more. The one thing that i had to change was the ramp up period during the day. It took way to long to get to the 75% and then it was only at that point for an hour. So i have moved the graph to ramp up faster and stay at that point longer. I will increase the time that they are at 75%. See if that helps. Might jump up top 80% What I do is a simple on/off with my maxspect razor. I run them 51% each channel for 6 hours a day. I have been bumping it up 1% at a time every few days. T5 and halide worked on/off, so I think the same principle should apply for led's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der ABT December 4, 2013 Share December 4, 2013 if your not happy with growth add a few t5s to it, ive noticed with my leds that the sps really dont color all the way aorund the stalk like they do with halide or t5 in otherwords there is more of a shaded area for all the sticks than with other lighting (seems like less bouncing/reflecting off the tank walls etc) maybe its just me but?? im still getting ok growth, but while im tempted to go all LED on the main tank i havent brought myself to it yet...maybe when i run outta new bulbs ill do it but then again i may just suppliment...running a mix of LED/T5 and MH right now...just to cover all bases haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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