LED colors?

[polarbear]

What do you guys think about adding green and red to an LED fixture? Does it really help out any? Im about to order an LED fixture within the next month and am wanting to get it right the first time. Also the person advised me that they recommend 18K for the whites. Any input on this?

[jcnkt_ellis]

I have a couple of turquoise (green) and reds on my fixture. I feel they did add to the color pop, however, i feel the red has increased the amount of nuisance algea in my tank. Also, I have not heard of 18k white LEDs. The cool whites, which have the highest kelvin ratings, are not even 10k.

[polarbear]

thanks for the info. Ya the guy said they have anywhere from 3500K to 25000K and that they recommend 18K.

[FireWater]

Not 100% on the whites. That was one of my gripes on my Vegas is that the whites overpower the blues very easily. As for the reds and greens I'm at a little different school of thought. Most of what I've read has said the greens are what cause the nuisance algae. I honestly don't know so I don't run the red or green very high on my Vegas.

When I order some new pucks I plan on losing the greens all together and getting rid of one red. I'll be looking at the uv and violets.

With LEDs being fairly new there is always something new and better coming out and the emitters have gotten leap years better.

[polarbear]

Ya I think I'm staying away from the red and greens since I have read the same as far as problems go. I still can't figure out the whites though. Ill have the blues and 4 UV's on one dimmer and the whites on the other so I can always turn them down if they over power the blues.

[Cammed_02]

Mitch on mine I went with the 14k and with both whites and blue at 50% its still too white for my liking. Next time I will go with a higher K white because I like to run a bluer tank.

Right now to achieve the 14k look of my phoenix mh bulbs I have my led fixture at 60% blue and 40% white.

[BBQHILLBILLY]

Im using (2) 3watt bridgelux red leds mixed with the (14) blue and (16) white LEDs spread evenly on a 20 inch heatsink and have 4 of those and like them. for sure seems to add more color.
this is with 2 drivers and potentiometers so I can turn up or down the whites or the blues and red
no problems here.
no experience here with green.

[FireWater]

I must of totally missed it. What size tank and what light?

4 UV on a light the size of a vega is quite a bit. I'm thinking you could get away with less.

[polarbear]

I have a 90 gallon tank and the fixture I'm getting is from Hong Kong. It's like a Tao tronics fixture. I'm going to have 2 fixtures on the tank but am only buying one right now to try out.

[350gt]

I would be afraid of having the UV on the same channel with the blues..... I've read too much UV can be a bad thing..... With them on the same channel as the blues you might not want to crank them up......

any chance of adding another channel and adding violets with the uv's ?

[jrossjr79]

I would be afraid of having the UV on the same channel with the blues..... I've read too much UV can be a bad thing..... With them on the same channel as the blues you might not want to crank them up......

any chance of adding another channel and adding violets with the uv's ?

Just so I know, what is the pros and cons of having UV?

[jcnkt_ellis]

From what I've read UV, under 400nm, does not give any extra color pop as the natural "sunscreen" corals produce is clear and too much can kill the coral...it really is all about the violet right now with a wavelength anywhere from 410-430nm for color

[koa25]

I've read that UV disperses quickly in the first 12" of water. So anything under that has no effect.

[FireWater]

I agree with all the above.

If you can get another channel I would add the uv and violet to it. I've been trying to compile some links for you, but dr visits and other things have taken my time. 400-430 is good and 430-460 is beneficial as well.

Like I said earlier I'm thinking, just thinking of running two uv total. That means one on each vega. I plan to run two violets per vega. I have a 120 that is a 4'x2' footprint. The optics on that fixture will be a huge factor as well.

[polarbear]

so would you think maybe running 2 violets and 1 UV on the blue channel would be ok? The fixture Im getting only has 2 power cords and 2 dimming knobs so I dont think the violets and UV's could be controled on their own.

[jcnkt_ellis]

Personally, I'd go with 3 violets and no UV. The violets can be ran on the same channel as the blues, I have a 50/50 mix of royal blue and violet on its own channel.

[polarbear]

So you dont have to worry about cranking it up to high. What wave length are the violets?

[1seahorse]

I recently got a UV stunner strip with dimmer. Noticed a color difference even after the UV is turned off. my brown to slight purple Acro is now a beautiful turquoise, blue green and has grown a lot faster with UV light. Now I can tell its a tabling kind, Nd has beautiful growth. I do have to warn though, my SPS love it, but my LPS is mutating colors. almost as if too much for them. I had to dim it down to minimum after seeing a plate coral get injured/burn. by UV. my Clams absolutely love the UV! can't get enough of it. Their colors have also gotten more rich. I am running a Radion Gen 1, with red and green built in. I run my light at a 14k and dims down to a 20K by end of day.

[350gt]

^^ exactly what I mean...

stunners are .5 watt if that......imagine 3 watt uv LEDs cranked up as high as the blues. I might be wrong but why chance it?..... You could always add a stunner with uv later if you feel the need...

[polarbear]

thats true. Im going to ask if they can add the UV on its own dimmer, Hopefully they can

[FireWater]

Another thing to look at is the color spectrum in try different whites. A good mix of different whites will give you plenty of red and green spectrum.

If you only have two channels to choose from I would look at forgoing the UV and see what you can get out of the violets. The violet spectrum is very close to UV.

[polarbear]

So if I go with just the violets with the blues on the same channel, will i be able to turn them all the way up with no problems?

[FireWater]

Theoretically yes. Someone may disagree with me, but I say yes.

[1seahorse]

^^ exactly what I mean...

stunners are .5 watt if that......imagine 3 watt uv LEDs cranked up as high as the blues. I might be wrong but why chance it?..... You could always add a stunner with uv later if you feel the need...

that stunner strip is very strong, has 24 LEDs @ .5 watts. so I'm glad I got a dimmer. lol

[polarbear]

Where did you buy the UV stunner strip

[1seahorse]

Where did you buy the UV stunner strip

Amazon all prime items.
dimmer, power transformer, strip, and reflector. came under $90. never regretted going with it.

[jcnkt_ellis]

Amazon all prime items.
dimmer, power transformer, strip, and reflector. came under $90. never regretted going with it.

Is it made by Ecoxotic? They sell a UV stunner strip but its really a violet with an emission peak at 403nm. Labels are very critical here, a true UV, anything under 400nm, does not add to color and can/will harm coral. Violet, 400-430ish, enhances coral colors similar to royal blues and is what you want if something is 'missing' from the normal blue/white mix look.

[1seahorse]

Is it made by Ecoxotic? They sell a UV stunner strip but its really a violet with an emission peak at 403nm. Labels are very critical here, a true UV, anything under 400nm, does not add to color and can/will harm coral. Violet, 400-430ish, enhances coral colors similar to royal blues and is what you want if something is 'missing' from the normal blue/white mix look.

It is exotic and it's not under 400nm. 20825