baseballfanatic2 Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 Hello, looking to make the most epic led board for my new tank. Please help! What’s your preference as to Cree vs luxeon leds? Which are better in your opinion? thinking about doing… 5 royal blue 5 blue 1 400 nm uv 2 410 nm uv 4 cool white 3 neutral white 2 warm white 2 cyan 1 lime or mint? Thinking lime i got rid of reds and greens as I think my whites can cover those spectrums too Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 That’s a lot of white…. Just a thought, most commercial fixtures are now looking at 3-4:1 blue:white ratio and I feel that is appropriate. 2:1 would probably be as low as one should go.. depending on controllability of each channel/color 1 Quote Link to comment
baseballfanatic2 Posted July 17, 2021 Author Share Posted July 17, 2021 18 hours ago, mitten_reef said: That’s a lot of white…. Just a thought, most commercial fixtures are now looking at 3-4:1 blue:white ratio and I feel that is appropriate. 2:1 would probably be as low as one should go.. depending on controllability of each channel/color Not trying to run them all 100%. I like having options. Running half the whites to be like nanobox or run the cool whites to be like an ai prime. Not sure what the ideal look is Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 1 hour ago, baseballfanatic2 said: Not trying to run them all 100%. I like having options. Running half the whites to be like nanobox or run the cool whites to be like an ai prime. Not sure what the ideal look is Nanobox is kinda where I’m coming from. With almost 1:1 blue:white, I ran the channels roughly around 80:20% anyway, so it’s kinda wasted space to use that many white leds. If that makes sense. Quote Link to comment
baseballfanatic2 Posted July 17, 2021 Author Share Posted July 17, 2021 1 hour ago, mitten_reef said: Nanobox is kinda where I’m coming from. With almost 1:1 blue:white, I ran the channels roughly around 80:20% anyway, so it’s kinda wasted space to use that many white leds. If that makes sense. Yeah it makes sense. How did you like the nanobox? Do you like warm whites and neutrals? Or did you wish you had some cool whites? Did you have the fixture with lime or mint? Which do you prefer? Quote Link to comment
blasterman Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 UV and violet are pointless gimmicks that have no scientific basis. You can't see these colors anyways ..maybe violet at super high levels, but thats it. Ive challenged Dana Riddle at R2R on this topic many times, but he doesn't own a reef tank. Sanjay Joshi, who has spectacular reef tanks along with a pHD says violet and UV is junk science. I agree with Sanjay. Royal blue does all the work. 450nm is the backbone of all reef lights.. Cool white balances out the royal and you need some warm in there to bring out the reds. Just a little. Last time I talked to EvilC he was building royal , cool white and warm white on three channels and that's it. I agree with him and came to the same assessment. I have a XR15 Blue on my tank right now with all these channels and my DIY lights are suoerior with fewer channels. I would go at least 75% royal and 25% else.i would use XPG3s personally unless there's been some miraculous tech improvement at Luxeon. 1 Quote Link to comment
baseballfanatic2 Posted July 18, 2021 Author Share Posted July 18, 2021 11 hours ago, blasterman said: UV and violet are pointless gimmicks that have no scientific basis. You can't see these colors anyways ..maybe violet at super high levels, but thats it. Ive challenged Dana Riddle at R2R on this topic many times, but he doesn't own a reef tank. Sanjay Joshi, who has spectacular reef tanks along with a pHD says violet and UV is junk science. I agree with Sanjay. Royal blue does all the work. 450nm is the backbone of all reef lights.. Cool white balances out the royal and you need some warm in there to bring out the reds. Just a little. Last time I talked to EvilC he was building royal , cool white and warm white on three channels and that's it. I agree with him and came to the same assessment. I have a XR15 Blue on my tank right now with all these channels and my DIY lights are suoerior with fewer channels. I would go at least 75% royal and 25% else.i would use XPG3s personally unless there's been some miraculous tech improvement at Luxeon. Thanks for your response! Do you run limes or mints? Didn’t know Dana riddle doesn’t have a reef tank lmao Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 13 hours ago, blasterman said: UV and violet are pointless gimmicks that have no scientific basis. You can't see these colors anyways ..maybe violet at super high levels, but thats it. Ive challenged Dana Riddle at R2R on this topic many times, but he doesn't own a reef tank. Sanjay Joshi, who has spectacular reef tanks along with a pHD says violet and UV is junk science. I agree with Sanjay. Royal blue does all the work. 450nm is the backbone of all reef lights.. Cool white balances out the royal and you need some warm in there to bring out the reds. Just a little. Last time I talked to EvilC he was building royal , cool white and warm white on three channels and that's it. I agree with him and came to the same assessment. I have a XR15 Blue on my tank right now with all these channels and my DIY lights are suoerior with fewer channels. I would go at least 75% royal and 25% else.i would use XPG3s personally unless there's been some miraculous tech improvement at Luxeon. Really? Maybe I need to revisit some of the settings on my hydras 🤔 1 Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 23 hours ago, baseballfanatic2 said: Yeah it makes sense. How did you like the nanobox? Do you like warm whites and neutrals? Or did you wish you had some cool whites? Did you have the fixture with lime or mint? Which do you prefer? Idk, i’ve only used the latest arrays with mint. I liked it, but still crave more T5-style coverage, currently sitting on a T5-nanobox hybrid that I’m hoping to put on the new tank soon 13 hours ago, blasterman said: UV and violet are pointless gimmicks that have no scientific basis. You can't see these colors anyways ..maybe violet at super high levels, but thats it. Ive challenged Dana Riddle at R2R on this topic many times, but he doesn't own a reef tank. Sanjay Joshi, who has spectacular reef tanks along with a pHD says violet and UV is junk science. I agree with Sanjay. Royal blue does all the work. 450nm is the backbone of all reef lights.. Cool white balances out the royal and you need some warm in there to bring out the reds. Just a little. Last time I talked to EvilC he was building royal , cool white and warm white on three channels and that's it. I agree with him and came to the same assessment. I have a XR15 Blue on my tank right now with all these channels and my DIY lights are suoerior with fewer channels. I would go at least 75% royal and 25% else.i would use XPG3s personally unless there's been some miraculous tech improvement at Luxeon. Didn’t know that about V/UV, is it purely for our own enjoyment “more pop”, and not health and growth then? At the same time, aren’t the shorter wavelengths the ones that can penetrate the water depth best? One would think then, that they’d be the useful wavelengths by underwater photosynthesis. Quote Link to comment
baseballfanatic2 Posted July 18, 2021 Author Share Posted July 18, 2021 4 hours ago, mitten_reef said: Idk, i’ve only used the latest arrays with mint. I liked it, but still crave more T5-style coverage, currently sitting on a T5-nanobox hybrid that I’m hoping to put on the new tank soon Didn’t know that about V/UV, is it purely for our own enjoyment “more pop”, and not health and growth then? At the same time, aren’t the shorter wavelengths the ones that can penetrate the water depth best? One would think then, that they’d be the useful wavelengths by underwater photosynthesis. 4 hours ago, ECLS Reefer said: Really? Maybe I need to revisit some of the settings on my hydras 🤔 https://web.archive.org/web/20180211073334/http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2014/5/aafeature 1 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 1 hour ago, baseballfanatic2 said: https://web.archive.org/web/20180211073334/http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2014/5/aafeature I’ll have to read that when I put my smart pants on. Today is a “no brain use” kind of day. 4 Quote Link to comment
blasterman Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 UV and violet LEDs have been added to reef lights after these specific LEDs were introduced as replacement for DJ black lights and became durable enough to not brown out their coatings. Has nothing to do with reefing. While 420nm is closer to the optimum chlorophyll point than 450nm there's a bigger problem. 420 and UV (typically 395nm) LEDs are significantly less efficient than 450nm (royal blue). So, any theoretical advantage from a biologic point of view with 395/420nm is going to be significantly eclipsed over the lower radiologic efficacy loss of not using 450nm. Also, please look up the spectral graphs Sanjay made of classic metal halides used for year over reef tanks, They are all deficient in 400-440 wavelengths. Yet halides are still regarded as the platinum standard for reefing. You can't claim halides are awesome to grow coral and 395nm / violet is required for coral growth, The statement is contradictory. The Zooanthale algae in corals doesn't care. 450nm just requires a few more photons over 420nm to reach the same biological conversion, but the450nm LED is going to produce far more 450nm photons per watt. Also, 450nm is brighter to our eyes. I've tested 430-440nm LEDs exclusively for growing coral and the tank was simply darker and more purple than a 450nm / cool white LED. I like to look at my tank. The best light I ever has was a black box I modified that had 460nm and 450nm LEDs. The 460nm being more sensitive to our eyes made the tank look crisper and brighter. However, 460-470nm is next to impossible to find in American bins like Cree or Luxeon. I'm currently running a XR 15 blue on my tank, and with the UV and violet LEDs turned off. They just produce more heat. I don't need the PAR given the light is running at 80%. I also find it laughable that Ecotech and Kessil show elevated levels of violet in their spectral charts yet the actual wattage of LEDs in this wavelength are a fraction of 450nm wattage output. Last, and I will try to be polite about this...but I've never seen a really nice reef tank where the owner obsesses over UV and Violet LEDs. Quote Link to comment
baseballfanatic2 Posted July 21, 2021 Author Share Posted July 21, 2021 10 hours ago, blasterman said: UV and violet LEDs have been added to reef lights after these specific LEDs were introduced as replacement for DJ black lights and became durable enough to not brown out their coatings. Has nothing to do with reefing. While 420nm is closer to the optimum chlorophyll point than 450nm there's a bigger problem. 420 and UV (typically 395nm) LEDs are significantly less efficient than 450nm (royal blue). So, any theoretical advantage from a biologic point of view with 395/420nm is going to be significantly eclipsed over the lower radiologic efficacy loss of not using 450nm. Also, please look up the spectral graphs Sanjay made of classic metal halides used for year over reef tanks, They are all deficient in 400-440 wavelengths. Yet halides are still regarded as the platinum standard for reefing. You can't claim halides are awesome to grow coral and 395nm / violet is required for coral growth, The statement is contradictory. The Zooanthale algae in corals doesn't care. 450nm just requires a few more photons over 420nm to reach the same biological conversion, but the450nm LED is going to produce far more 450nm photons per watt. Also, 450nm is brighter to our eyes. I've tested 430-440nm LEDs exclusively for growing coral and the tank was simply darker and more purple than a 450nm / cool white LED. I like to look at my tank. The best light I ever has was a black box I modified that had 460nm and 450nm LEDs. The 460nm being more sensitive to our eyes made the tank look crisper and brighter. However, 460-470nm is next to impossible to find in American bins like Cree or Luxeon. I'm currently running a XR 15 blue on my tank, and with the UV and violet LEDs turned off. They just produce more heat. I don't need the PAR given the light is running at 80%. I also find it laughable that Ecotech and Kessil show elevated levels of violet in their spectral charts yet the actual wattage of LEDs in this wavelength are a fraction of 450nm wattage output. Last, and I will try to be polite about this...but I've never seen a really nice reef tank where the owner obsesses over UV and Violet LEDs. Explain why uv and violet would bring out certain colors in let’s say rainbow acans? Quote Link to comment
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