UV Leds?

[Zack]

So ecotech and AI, both in my opinion at the top of the US led game (in terms of customer base) have both released their new units, the XR30 Gen 2 and the vega. Both of these have dipped into the realm of full spectrum with colored leds (although radion had some color before).

The radion gen 2 has:

8x Cree XT-E Cool White @ 5w Each
8x Cree XP-E Blue @ 3w Each
8x Cree XT-E Royal Blue @ 5w Each
4x Cree XP-E Green @ 3w Each
4x Osram Oslon SSL Hyper Red @ 3w Each

The Vega has:


4 - Cree XM-L Cool White
6 - Cree XP-E Royal Blue
4 - Cree XP-E Blue
4 - OSRAM OSLON Deep Blue
1 - Cree XP-E Green
1 - OSRAM OSLON Deep Red

I'm curious as to why both these major companies have left out UV leds, are they not as beneficial as we think? Is there not a desire for them with the reef keeping community?

I'm working on a DIY fixture, and so far, my leds include

8x Royal Blue at 452-455 NM
6x Whites (still deciding which whites to use, stuck on 10k of 65k)
4x UV at 398 NM
2x Red at 660 NM
2x Cyan at 490-520 NM
2x Ultraviolet Purple at 420 NM

Is this not a good mix of leds? or have the major companies just not been convinced enough to see the use of other color leds.

Here's my layout right now.


17666

[Big_Pun]

actually every big manufacture has option for UV, AI is suppose to have custom pucks with uv options, the radion pro has 2 diff uv leds, vertex has option to add uv also. emilys led has UV and i really like the looks of this fixture compared to the reefkoi one that look the same and are 120w. your welcome to swing by and see it.

http://ecotechmarine.com/products/radion/radion-xr30w-pro/

[Zack]

Just curious, and idk if this is a silly question, but I always thought UV was a spectrum we could not see? Is it a light purple color? Or are the leds not "true UV"

And wow, I had no idea the radion had two different versions. Thanks alot for clearing that up!

[Big_Pun]

it's really more how the colors of the coral react to it that we see

[koa25]

From what I've read and heard uv light looses any benefits like a foot into water. Only thing it does. After that it just makes certain colors pop more. In your small tanks it would be beneficial to corals cause they are shallow enough and can be great for photosynthetic corals. But deeper tanks only get color enhancement. Again, i haven't heavily looked into this personally but have read articles and talked shop with others led people.

[FireWater]

They are true uv. As a matter of fact they have developed LEDs to work as sterilizers for water treatment(drinking). The uv radiation acts by breaking up the DNA chain so the organisms can't reproduce.

I will take a stab at it. Do you need uv in lighting? Yes and no. In nature shallow water corals can develop pigments to use as a sunscreen to protect their tissue from burning. That is why you see corals color up in tanks. It is developing protection. When you transport a coral or get one shipped to you they tend to brown it, right? After acclimating to your tank they start to color up.

In my opinion, as weak as it may be, you can do with out uv for your LED set up. Some colors such as blues and pinks will "show" up better with uv. I just purchased two Vegas and plan on adding some uv in the future when the custom pucks are available, but I'm not rushing out to do it now.

[FireWater]

Mike is correct that it gets filtered it quickly.

[Big_Pun]

Mike is correct that it gets filtered it quickly.

wouldn't lenses help it?

[FireWater]

It could, but then you run the chance of spotlighting the uv. Making it too intense in one area if you narrowed the angle. Too wide and no benefit.

[FireWater]

I'm no expert in this field. UV does play a part in getting the colors we all want to see in our tanks. I believe the other greens and reds help make up for the lack of uv. Like I said though, I plan on trying them out to see if it makes that much of a difference.

[Zen Reef]

My understanding of uv lights is this: anything in the range of 10-400 nm can be considered uv. While uv light used for sterilization is typically in the range of 200nm(uv sterilizers for aquariums are around 250nm) , what we consider uv for reef lighting is much higher. More in the 360-385 nm range. And while this is still in the uv range, its actually closer to a true violet. At this range, it provides par that is used by coral so while see the benefits as more towards just being aesthetically pleasing, it actually serves a purpose. Just my 2 cents..

[FireWater]

Correct. There are several different levels of uv. And the naked eye doesn't pick up most of it.

[Big_Pun]

Correct. There are several different levels of uv. And the naked eye doesn't pick up most of it.

not an expert huh!