Ok I have an Aquapod 24. I have 12 XPG R5 and 12 Royal Blue's...I want to add two more UV lights to help with the red spectrum. This would leave me with a total of 13 LED's on each Meanwell. But if they are only one watt LED's I could actually add 6 more? Correct?

Anyway, can someone link me to some reasonably priced UV led's?

- Jared

UV isn't going to help you with red color rendition, at least not as much as you are thinking. Problem with UV LEDs is that the ones that you want, and are worth a damn, are expensive. No way around that currently. The "UV" LEDs that are sold cheap right now (1W and 3W) are just near UV purples (405-415nm), and the output is pathetic.

So, why not just plain ol' red ones?

So evil,

Can you recommend a UV led that's worth a damn?

Horribly distracting, and red doesn't always enhance red. The best way to add a little more red to the tank is to use a few neutral whites in place of some of the cool whites.


Not yet. I'm in the process of testing a few, but they are all $50 or more each. What I'm trying to find out is if one will be enough to cover an entire tank, or at least a large area. Then comes the difficult task of seeing if it even makes a difference.

There was an article in one of the online reef magazines a year or so ago that said that acroporas only develop clear compounds to deal with UV protection, and that coloration of acroporas are not due to UV light. But that was only talking about acropora.

I saw an LED lit tank the other day that had nice colors in various corals, no UV leds, just the cool white and roayl blue.

I don't think that can be said for every type of acropora. It will also depend on the wavelength of light used. The problem isn't with all acros, but with certain types and in certain colors. Same goes with other corals. It's not all of a particular species, or a particular color, but a combination of both. UV could trigger certain pigment responses that will help increase color. This is only theorized, but the same theories are being bounced around in the indoor horticulture world.

evil u better bust out your UV sunglasses. =)
and for $50+ each u better close your savings account...

The plan is to find an LED that you can use maybe every 12" or so and not have to use them in the same ratio as the blues and whites. Granted, it will raise the overall array cost, but if it works, it works. I'm assuming that the cost is so high because of limited volume of production. If we can get this right, and increase production runs, the cost will come down.

with the "true" uv leds you're messing around with now, is there any output in the visible spectrum?

What about 420nm spectrum UVs or do they not have the same actinic effect as VHOs and T5HOs?

Some, but it's really dim, and a very pale lavender color. With main lights on, you don't see it, or it's affect on the corals. This is a good thing though. We want the UV to create certain reactions in the coral that may take time to see. We aren't out for crazy fluorescence here, although it does happen with the main lights off.


420nm isn't UV. It's purple. They do produce some actinic effect, but not over the same range of colors that royal blue does. Also the output is typically fairly low, and the effect is rarely seen over the main lights.