Coral Growth Under LED's

[imagex]

I think mh still outgrows led... I have leds and my friend has a 250 mh... both 30 gal... parameters are almost identical... except i dose vodka.. but i must thou... certain palys and leathers hate my leds... they all prune up and bleach out.. acans i've had to kindof shade them to where moderate light is there... the sps's thou they love the light... my birdsnest has almost triple what my friend has done with mh.. but the leathers and certain palys i have arent doing well at all in my tank but they're almost 4x the size when i gave him a frag.. so i'd have to say it's kindof coral specific when it comes to leds... cause i do feel their too strong for alot of softies.. but zoas love it... i can have my zoas like 4 to 6 inches from light and still doing good...

[HeyLookItsCaps]

my pico is gonna have 5 white 5 blue LEDs over it. LPS and SPS tank. ill keep a journal.

[evilc66]

I think mh still outgrows led... I have leds and my friend has a 250 mh... both 30 gal... parameters are almost identical... except i dose vodka.. but i must thou... certain palys and leathers hate my leds... they all prune up and bleach out.. acans i've had to kindof shade them to where moderate light is there... the sps's thou they love the light... my birdsnest has almost triple what my friend has done with mh.. but the leathers and certain palys i have arent doing well at all in my tank but they're almost 4x the size when i gave him a frag.. so i'd have to say it's kindof coral specific when it comes to leds... cause i do feel their too strong for alot of softies.. but zoas love it... i can have my zoas like 4 to 6 inches from light and still doing good...

 

If you have corals that aren't doing well, why don't you turn it down? I'm sure the sps will tollerate a little less light. What you are doing is the same as putting a 400W Mh over the same tank and wondering why your softies are going to hell (this is just an example. You don't have that kind of light levels). LEDs have a much more linear PAR dropoff compared to MH. PAR levels at the top of the tank on both systems might be the same, but the deeper you go, the LEDs will hold their PAR up longer. You may see 400 PAR at the water surface, with the MH getting 150 PAR on the sand, while the LEDs will hit 250 PAR (again, just a theoretical example).

[stvjohnsn]

I can add my experience after about a month under my BC14 LED retrofit.

 

• My monti cap frag has grown off the plug and started to encrust to the rock
  
• Branching hammer is looking really nice, growing and sprouting small heads
  
• A single rainbow acan polyp has sprouted about 5 baby heads around it's base.
  
• Rose BTA is looking as good as ever.
  
• Other corals are looking very healthy.
  

 

The only thing that didn't really impress me was the look of a couple acro frags...a tri-color and a green milli. I've taken them out since I really don't want to do the maintenance required for those SPS in this tank.

[Weetabix7]

In the 2 weeks or so since I've had my LED fixture over my 10" Pico, my corals haven't been as happy.

Since I have the ability to adjust the intensity of the light, I've been keeping it on a fairly low setting.

Right now I have it at about 30%.

I have 3 RB LED's, 3 White LED's, and one UV LED, all 3w I believe.

Going along with what imagex said, I've been wondering if certain corals do better under LED's and certain corals just don't respond well to it.

In the Pico I have several Mushrooms, a Yuma, a lone Ricordea, a few long-stemmed Clove Polyps, some Blue Xenia, a small Green Hammer frag, a small Pearl Bubble frag, and a mystery Favites.

The Favites, Blue Xenia, and Cloves seem to be doing okay.

The Pearl Bubble, Green Hammer, Yuma and Ricordea are doing so-so.

The Mushrooms are definitely not expanding as much, and since at least half of the corals in the tank are different types of Mushrooms, the effect is pretty noticeable.

Evilc, what has been your own experience with these specific types of corals under LED's?

Do I need to just switch the tank over to SPS and higher light loving corals?

[evilc66]

Mushrooms have been the most aggrivated by LEDs in my experience so far, but they seem to just sit there and take it. They are certainly smaller than under other lights, but they do ok. Everything else for me has done well. My elegance was a little grumpy, but I think it was is a little too bright of an area. Most all zoos and palys have done just fine. Rics do just fine too. LPS seem to do well also, as I have a number of frogspawn and candy canes under LEDs and growing nicely.

[Bonsai]

My Ricordeas, which used to be 1.5" across are now SUPER tiny, like 0.5" or less.

 

... and I'm running my LEDs are 30% or less.

 

[Weetabix7]

Hmmm, okay, so Mushrooms and Ricordea don't like LED.

Well luckily I'll have a good place to move them to very soon, and I can just put some other frags in here.

[Bonsai]

Hmmm, okay, so Mushrooms and Ricordea don't like LED.

Well luckily I'll have a good place to move them to very soon, and I can just put some other frags in here.

 

My question is ... will mushrooms exposed to LEDs "recover" when moved to more suitable lighting? I have a frag tank online now with 2x24W T5 (ATI Blue+/ATI Aquablue).

 

I've been thinking about moving the Rics that way to see how they do.

[doctaq]

i will say, i have leds on my 15 and theres some growth but not a ton, but colors to tend to fade a little, i run my leds at like 100% blue and like 20% white. i used to run them at all full power, and since ive switched it up to mostly blues any new coral ive added seems to keep its color.

[arioch]

Hmmm, okay, so Mushrooms and Ricordea don't like LED.

Well luckily I'll have a good place to move them to very soon, and I can just put some other frags in here.

 

This does not reflect my experience. I have 2 yumas, a florida (about to split), and some random mushrooms in my 5.5g pico under 3b 2w right now and they're not hunkered down, in fact they're extended and growing more than I've ever seen them. (the yumas and florida came from a MH tank, and they were healthy there as well or I would not have picked them)

 

I'm about to go up to a 5b 5w fixture on the same tank, with dimming capability per leg (separated by color of LED), so I will play with higher color temperatures for more experimentation.

 

I am absolutely sold on LEDs, and will be maintaining some SPS and a clam in the tank as well when I feel comfortable with the new fixture.

[ccLansman]

Thought ide chime in since my leds have been running for a few months now.

 

Things ive noted:

Zoos are extending a lot less than they used to. Some have stopped opening.

SPS are growing a lot faster than before

 

Major thing ive noted:

I had the leds mounted in the hood attached to the back on my 12gal. The lights always looked spotlighted and much stronger directly under then all over. So I moved the lights about 2 inches off the side of the tank with some 2x4 to see if it would help. I am already seeing an improvement in the zoos. I would really like to get a par meter to test my results but i feel that the leds are too much par/lux/lumens when mounted right near the water. I would suggest pulling them away to get a better spread of the white/blue and to help even out/lower the par in the tank. Ill try and keep you guys posted and take a few pics.

[icecool2]

Just to throw some gasoline on the fire, this article has some very interesting information.

 

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/8/review2#h5

[Sherman]

I have no issue with my led on my 5 footer.

LPS is expanding and coloring up better than when running T5HO(44 x 3 watt led)

SPS is also doing great.

My pink birdnest, blue acro, green acro ,green birdnest,monti all are growing and coloring up

month by month under 66 x3 watt leds.

[thatoneazn]

so how long do we change led fixtures, i know its based on hours..lets say i use it 12 hours a day?

[Apoptosis]

so how long do we change led fixtures, i know its based on hours..lets say i use it 12 hours a day?

 

Aren't they good for ~50,000 hours? 50000/12/365= 11.4 YEARS

[redguppy]

Aren't they good for ~50,000 hours? 50000/12/365= 11.4 YEARS

 

By the time they need replacing there will probally be newer technology that will be even brighter

[Apoptosis]

By the time they need replacing there will probally be newer technology that will be even brighter

 

 

Plasma lighting!

[icecool2]

Aren't they good for ~50,000 hours? 50000/12/365= 11.4 YEARS

And that is only when the reach 70% of original brightness. They are still usable, just not as bright as they once were.

[varanus37]

Hmmm, okay, so Mushrooms and Ricordea don't like LED.

Well luckily I'll have a good place to move them to very soon, and I can just put some other frags in here.

 

 

I would think that this has to do with what Evil was saying earlier about the PAR levels staying higher at the sandbed level with LED's. The dropoff in PAR isn't near what it is with other light sources. The corals you described as not being happy are sandbed dwellers for me. Same goes for the leathers discussed in other posts. Maybe you could try raising your LED fixture higher off the surface of the water? You'll lessen the intensity throughout the tank, specifically toward the bottom. I'm still trying to get my little pico up and running so I don't have any pertinent info to share yet, just a thought.

 

Bill

[varanus37]

I have no issue with my led on my 5 footer.

LPS is expanding and coloring up better than when running T5HO(44 x 3 watt led)

SPS is also doing great.

My pink birdnest, blue acro, green acro ,green birdnest,monti all are growing and coloring up

month by month under 66 x3 watt leds.

 

What's the height of your tank? How far off of the surface do you have your light fixture? My local reef club has a PAR meter so I plan to mess with that when I get the pico up and running to see what happens.

 

Bill

[redfishsc]

Just to add to this my experience over the past month or two of using my XRE blue actinic supplements.

I added 8 royal blues to my 4X24 Nova Extreme. My tank is a 25-high (21" deep)

 

Immediately (the same day) I added the LED array, the anthelia and fuzzy mushroom I have on the sandbed (or right at it) reduced in size. Especially the anthelia, it basically shrunk down and hugged the rock. The green fuzzy mushroom shrank some but still looked very healthy and happy.

 

 

Now, the past several weeks, my Fungia fraelinae plate coral is not extending it's "mantle" or whatever it's called, not nearly as much as it once did. Don't get me wrong, it still looks great. But the added light seems to prevent it from expanding quite as much.

[icecool2]

Can anyone who's seeing reduced coral extension take some PAR measurements? What's your reading with your regular lights, what's your reading with LEDs?

[Sherman]

Just to add to this my experience over the past month or two of using my XRE blue actinic supplements.

I added 8 royal blues to my 4X24 Nova Extreme. My tank is a 25-high (21" deep)

 

Immediately (the same day) I added the LED array, the anthelia and fuzzy mushroom I have on the sandbed (or right at it) reduced in size. Especially the anthelia, it basically shrunk down and hugged the rock. The green fuzzy mushroom shrank some but still looked very healthy and happy.

 

 

Now, the past several weeks, my Fungia fraelinae plate coral is not extending it's "mantle" or whatever it's called, not nearly as much as it once did. Don't get me wrong, it still looks great. But the added light seems to prevent it from expanding quite as much.

 

Can it be because you introduce your led too fast?

Meaning you just add at full blast.

Then the sudden increase in intensity and PAR cause the shrinkage reaction.

Full you introduce the led light at a lower or equal to the last lighting you use and slowly increase

weekly.Maybe you will not see such retraction.

[redfishsc]

Can it be because you introduce your led too fast?

Meaning you just add at full blast.

Then the sudden increase in intensity and PAR cause the shrinkage reaction.

Full you introduce the led light at a lower or equal to the last lighting you use and slowly increase

weekly.Maybe you will not see such retraction.

 

 

You're totally correct, I'd say.

 

I do have a dimmer, but don't use it at this point, lol.

 

That, and the fuzzy mushroom still looks healthy--- and the anthelia isn't really wanted (in this tank)---- and nothing else has reacted that strongly..... so I just leave them at full blast b/c they look so freakin sweet

 

But good point, and one I'll HAVE to keep in mind when I eventually swap the whole tank out to LED's plus maybe 1 or 2 T5's for a bit of color spectrum (actinic and maybe fiji purple).