Deavo January 13, 2014 Share January 13, 2014 I'm sure this has most likely been discussed to death, but here goes. Over the last few months I have been moving corals from my quarantine tank to my main display tank. I have noticed that when I move a coral from my quarantine tank to my main tank that often my corals do not show/grow as well as they did when they were in my quarantine tank. So I'm looking at the differences between the two tanks; they have the same water chemistry the main difference besides water volume is the lighting. My quarantine tank uses compact florescent lighting and my display tank uses LED lighting. So after some research I'm starting to think the issue is heat/temperature from the lights. The PC light spectrum has a certain kelvin range that I believe that my LED's don't provide. So my questions are as follows: What temperature do most people run their tanks at with LED's? What are people using to achieve higher kelvin with LED lighting? Not to muddy the questions too much I did a test this weekend, and I put up some Metal Halite lights that I was able to borrow, and I have noticed that my soft corals are opening up more and seem to be doing better in display tank. I want to promote the best possible growth in my tank, so I'm looking for some advice on which way to go? I would like to hear what others are using to achieve the best possible growth in their tank. Wayne PS: Let's try to keep water chemistry out of this discussion please, as I have been watching it on a daily basis and it's rock solid between the two tanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef January 13, 2014 Share January 13, 2014 Okay...so I have leds over my tank... 12 inches above the tank that is 24inches deep i keep my tamp at 75...low I know but iI have always kept it like this and never any growth problems with my LPS, zoas, softies or clams.. my only question to you would be are they drastically farther from the led lighting than they were from the CFL? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowieReefer84 January 13, 2014 Share January 13, 2014 (edited) What EXACT Power Compacts and LED's are you using? There is a big difference between a marineland led fixture and something like a radion. Same goes for the MH... Is it a 150 in a spider reflector or a 400 in a nice reflector. Lots of variables. Edited January 13, 2014 by BowieReefer84 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deavo January 13, 2014 Author Share January 13, 2014 Okay...so I have leds over my tank... 12 inches above the tank that is 24inches deep i keep my tamp at 75...low I know but iI have always kept it like this and never any growth problems with my LPS, zoas, softies or clams.. my only question to you would be are they drastically farther from the led lighting than they were from the CFL? Ok So my CF's are about 4 inches over the water and my LED's are about 12 inches over the water. (I didn't want to burn my corals) My tank is between 77 & 78 degrees (thanks Apex!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deavo January 13, 2014 Author Share January 13, 2014 What EXACT Power Compacts and LED's are you using? There is a big difference between a marineland led fixture and something like a radion. Same goes for the MH... Is it a 150 in a spider reflector or a 400 in a nice reflector. Lots of variables. The power compacts are the ones that came in my Bio-cube which is what I have been using as my isolation tank (details http://www.coralifeproducts.com/product/aquariums-tanks/ ) I'm using 2 rapid LED onyx's with 80 degree lenses (details http://www.rapidled.com/dimmable-onyx-by-rapid-led/ ) MH setup was a 4 foot fixture with 2 250 Watt MH Bulbs and 2 attintic power compacts about 12 inch from the water. Please let me know if you have any more questions that will help in understanding the lighting questions. Wayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime January 13, 2014 Share January 13, 2014 Under the power compact flourecents in a Biocube be be prepared to see little to no growth. I was able to keep Zoas and Palys, gsp, and a toadstool alive. Frogspawn didn't fair too well, but I thought it looked fantastic at the time. Based on what you've mentioned above, it seems to me like your corals are probably taking some time to adjust from CF's to the LED's, I bet it's a huge shock. JMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami January 13, 2014 Share January 13, 2014 Spectrum is one element, Wayne. But you may also want to look at two other factors: Intensity (measure with a PAR meter) and photoperiod (the length of time that the lights are on). Together, they set the daily dosage of photosynthetic radiation received by your coral. It's also possible that your frags did not have to compete as hard for ion resources (calcium and alkalinity) while in the frag tank as compared to the display. Check to make sure that you're keeping similar levels in each. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deavo January 13, 2014 Author Share January 13, 2014 Under the power compact flourecents in a Biocube be be prepared to see little to no growth. I was able to keep Zoas and Palys, gsp, and a toadstool alive. Frogspawn didn't fair too well, but I thought it looked fantastic at the time. Based on what you've mentioned above, it seems to me like your corals are probably taking some time to adjust from CF's to the LED's, I bet it's a huge shock. JMO. Yeah I did notice when i put the MH up the frogspawn, hammer, torch all are responding very well. the trade off besides the cost of the light is noise from the fan and the heat...Unhappy wife. And your spot on my frogspawn in the bio cube seems like it's thriving.....I just don't want to make any costly knee jerk reactions but I also don't want to kill corals if I can help it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deavo January 13, 2014 Author Share January 13, 2014 Spectrum is one element, Wayne. But you may also want to look at two other factors: Intensity (measure with a PAR meter) and photoperiod (the length of time that the lights are on). Together, they set the daily dosage of photosynthetic radiation received by your coral. It's also possible that your frags did not have to compete as hard for ion resources (calcium and alkalinity) while in the frag tank as compared to the display. Check to make sure that you're keeping similar levels in each. Yeah I think i will have to put my name on the list to borrow the par meter and then figure out if they are getting enough/too much light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Rhoads January 14, 2014 Share January 14, 2014 Wayne, I saw better growth in my softies when under MH lights -vs- my LEDs also. With SPS, the growth rates are comparable between my DIY LED fixture and my previous 500W MH setup. I am OK with the trade off because the LEDs are using less electricity and give off much less heat. What color temp are you MHs? Also, do you feed either tank? The difference could lie in the nutrients/elements available to corals in either setup (as Origami mentioned). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k January 14, 2014 Share January 14, 2014 It's light. Pick your brand of light provider and run with it. There are simply too many variables with the light/reflector/Kelvin/height/etc to make a fair comparison. Water chemistry could be the main factor between tanks rather than light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deavo January 14, 2014 Author Share January 14, 2014 Thanks for the advice guys, i'm going to take a deeper look at the chemistry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2nhle January 15, 2014 Share January 15, 2014 Under the power compact flourecents in a Biocube be be prepared to see little to no growth. I was able to keep Zoas and Palys, gsp, and a toadstool alive. Frogspawn didn't fair too well, but I thought it looked fantastic at the time. Based on what you've mentioned above, it seems to me like your corals are probably taking some time to adjust from CF's to the LED's, I bet it's a huge shock. JMO. +1. I am agree with Isaac. Your coral may get direct light from LED vs broader spectrum from PC. Your coral might need some time to adjust to the LED light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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