My first solid LED experience after MH with SPS

[jda]

If only we could assume that spectrum and intensity were the same. If we are going to make unrealistic assumptions, why not assume that cheap corals look like nice ones so that every acro could be $10 like a green slimer. Unfortunately, this is hard and you have to talk to people and try and understand. Every one of you who like their LEDs owe that to discussions like this that made them better.

 

[buruskeee]

If only we could assume that spectrum and intensity were the same. If we are going to make unrealistic assumptions, why not assume that cheap corals look like nice ones so that every acro could be $10 like a green slimer. Unfortunately, this is hard and you have to talk to people and try and understand. Every one of you who like their LEDs owe that to discussions like this that made them better.

You make zero sense. But keep fighting that good fight for the anti-LED cult.

 

[Beefyreefy]

Sanjay is known for growing coral quicker than anyone and he runs all radions, lots of them, and at 100% on all channels for the entire photo period. Food for thought.

 

[bobnicaragua]

I’m running 2 orphek bars, 4 T5, and ReeFi UNO 2.0 on a six foot Acropora tank. T5 LED hybrid is a superior lighting method. What they both bring to the table is greater than either alone..

T5 is great at coverage, coloring up acros, and natural growth patterns.

LED light looks fantastic and has controllable power, spectrum, moonlight , etc…

T5 are being written off today, but T5 LED hybrid lighting makes it a little easier to keep acros happy, healthy, and colorful.

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

Lol “some” t5? You could remove the LEDs completely and be fine. That’s 16 t5 bulbs hahaha

Nope can't do that. Those 16 T-5 tubes only give off about 200 PAR at the top of the aquascape. This is a 30" deep tank with primarily SPS. I could, on the other hand turn off the T-5's and still get 700 PAR at the top of the scape.

 

[Spare time]

If you tried matching the par before, you are probably having the corals become photosaturated, stunting their growth. More blue light can have this effect on as the lights you have now likely jhave a much wider blue spectrum.

 

[Z Burn's Reefing]

Andrew at Polo Reef has a coral lab in his home. He is probably the only one I have ever seen run an actual semi-controlled experiment...

Single system, two tanks, MH vs LED, he observed faster growth and better color in the MH tank.

Starts at 3:30 and he even states "you'll fry the s--t" out of your coral" is you try to PAR match LEDs to MH.



Now, there is lot to be debated here...did flow differ in each tank? Were the LEDs optimally tuned? We don't know...we just know the observation he reported...and he is a big LED lover.

We all have our own opinions and experiences, and some of us have a lot of expertise in lighting (definitely not me!). Take this video for what it's worth, but I tend to trust someone with a 17,000 gallon reef in their home with SPS colonies bigger than my head than a typical hobbyist. At the very least, his single system, two-tank approach is an example of how you generate some actual evidence...more evidence than I have seen anywhere else the last 5 years.

Now, does this video explain the OP issue with slower growth when running LED? No, don't think so. You should be able to have great success with leds. Clearly, coverage can be an issue if you don't have enough units or banks of t5/led strips. Too many other variables that could be contributing though...don't think you can only blame the lighting at this point. You'd have to switch lighting to MH/T5 and observe for 6 months to see if things improved...and even at this point, that would be considered a repeated measure study, without a true control...so your conclusions still wouldn't be that strong that your slow growth was due to the lighting (if things did improve)...just some thoughts. Good luck!

 

[jda]

Did you all swear your blood oath to the anti LED cult? I heard that you had to do this if you want to discuss the nuance of how different types of lights can be better at thing than others. Did you get the wallet ID card or get taught the secret handshake?

BTW - I love Dr. Joshi. His early adoption of Radions really started to outline how nobody is going to save any money by switching to LED if you want to light the tank the same. Before this, it was buy Radions and use them for a 25 years to a lifetime and buy 1 60w LED to replace a 400w MH - neither of these things work. He was also very honest about his acros that did not make the transition and that suffered when he switched over - he has chosen to just accept these differences, which is very zen. The loss of his amazing millepora disheartened me a bit - they were fantastic. This guy would likely agree that taking about the differences and nuance is a good idea - he has done so on many podcasts and in articles. Perhaps he knows the secret handshake too.

 

[piranhaman00]

Nope can't do that. Those 16 T-5 tubes only give off about 200 PAR at the top of the aquascape. This is a 30" deep tank with primarily SPS. I could, on the other hand turn off the T-5's and still get 700 PAR at the top of the scape.

Haha I was jk. Just really funny how you said some supplement with 16 bulbs. It’s a beautiful tank!

 

[KandAReefs]

I think you need to separate the home reef tank and someone the is growing to sell. For the home reef use what is best for the look of the tank you like and what fits your budget and heat concerns. If you are a commercial grower I don't think at this point you can just look at what grows coral the fastest. You need to grow under the conditions most of your customers are growing under if the industry trend is led you grow under that if it's t5 or MH do that. You want a smooth transition for the coral as best as possible. Just about anyone can grow any type of coral these days so it's about giving the customer what they are looking for in there tanks not how fast you can grow it in yours.