MrScuito Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Three month's ago I bought a DIY LED kit to replace 2x24" T5's on my 34g almost cube (24"x18"x18"). I bought all 3w Bridgelux LED's 20 Cool White, 18 Royal Blue and, 2 UV with 60 degree optics on all but the 4 center LED's(1 RB, 1 CW, 2 UV). I used cheap dimmible drivers as cost was a major factor and the complete kit plus shipping was only $130. I plan on upgrading the drivers with dimmible Meanwells later on. At first I had mounted the LED's in the hood I had been using with my T5HO's which put the LED's about 4" above the water. I kept the LED's dimmed very low at first almost moonlight level but, most of my corals from mid level up stayed closed and did not seem happy. I though that maybe the LED's were just too close so I quickly cobbled together a new hood that brought the LED's up to 12" above the water. I slowly started increasing the light over the second month and got to about 3/4 full on RB and about 1/3 CW before I noticed the upper corals again seeming to get unhappy and mushrooms almost melting. However everything in the bottom half is doing great. My Duncan has grown 5 new heads since I installed LED's it had been under T5 for 6 months with regular feedings and no growth. Well about 2 weeks ago I was playing with knobs and turned the CW all the way down and turned the RB all the way up and sat there checking out all the psycodilic colors I was interupted and forgot to change the colors back and didnt check back till the next night and was a bit amazed that all the corals that had been unhappy were all out and looking good so I left the RB up and CW down. I have since had some monti that I had got in a rock trade and thought were dead come back to life with amazing speed. I also had a pink birds nest that I thought was a gonner come back and start turning green. All this with CW turned as far as they will go and RB and uv up 100%. I would like to have my CW up a bit more maybe 50%. My ?'s are: Did I over do my lighting? Has anybody else had any thing like this happen? Can RB sustain my corals? Will changing lenses allow me to turn up my CW? How long does it usually take to acclimate coral? Will my fish go blind cause if I stare in too long I feel like I might? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVPaquatics Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Corals can take awhile to acclimate. From a week or two to months. Depends on the changes and coral. Fish cant go blind from those lights. Remember they are out under direct sun, nothing compares to that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beardedsmurf Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 You can try a few things: SLOWLY acclimate the corals to the white light - like 10% bump every couple of weeks (assuming you're still running the 100% blue). You could also raise your light fixture up higher so that the light is not as bright at the higher (and lower) sections of the tank. I've been running my 3W LED fixtures for 6 months now and am still not at 100% power, and only run the white lights for 7 hours/day (blue 9 hours), and even then mine are on a controller that ramps them from 10% intensity up to 80% (for 2 hours) and back down. If yours is at a constant higher intensity for your entire day's photoperiod I can understand the corals having trouble adjusting overall. Each time I add and hour or increase the intensity there is a noticeable adjustment period for my corals, and all new specimens are put at the bottom of my tank in the "shadier" areas until they clearly show they can handle the lighting - even if they came from another LED tank or 400W halides. Good luck and enjoy that growth once the corals get used to your setup! -Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrScuito Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 Fish cant go blind from those lights. Remember they are out under direct sun, nothing compares to that I was mostly joking on that one SLOWLY acclimate the corals to the white light - like 10% bump every couple of weeks (assuming you're still running the 100% blue). You could also raise your light fixture up higher so that the light is not as bright at the higher (and lower) sections of the tank. I thought I was going slowly but every time I turn it up to a visual diffrance they seem to get unhappy. Maybe I should leave the CW down for the rest of this month before trying to increase CW at all? I am getting very good growth with RB but concerned that it might be detrimental in the long run (any thoughts?). Even with the pot trimmed all the way down for the CW they are still on but you cant see it unless you look at the LED's themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beardedsmurf Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Well, you're still running the RB's at 100%, right? Dim those down a bit when bringing the CW's up. You may not be able to tell the difference, but the amount of light is additive. By lowering the RBs and raising the CWs by equal amounts you should be keeping the same amount of TOTAL light in the tank. If your corals can handle 100% RBs and 0% CW, then they should be able to handle 90% RB and 10% CW (give or take). You may consider shortening your overall photoperiod as well. There is still the "Raising your lights up" option (they can be lowered in the future for more intensity). Remember, what our eyes see for intensity is completely different than what the corals see or can handle. Your lights are an all-on setup (either they are on at their full set-point power or they are off), so your corals are getting much much more light than they would naturally with a gradient light cycle (in nature or external auto-dimming controller). I would recommend just turning the dimmers down completely for a while until everything stabilizes and do the slowwwwwww ramp up over a few weeks/months as they are able to tolerate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beardedsmurf Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Yay! Double post with one click! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrScuito Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 OK will do. I just had my Maxi mini come out of hiding today except it is now them. one went to hide but two came out to play. It hasent totaly split but almost all the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefStar Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 With the depth of 18" you might not need go 100% on your light with 3w leds. I seen a lot of tanks with 24" that runs the 3w and only use 70% power. It might be too much with the 3w bulbs. What color temp are you running on your whites? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrScuito Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 My CW are 10K My RB are 452-455nm and the UV are 398nm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrScuito Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 My CW are 10K My RB are 452-455nm and the UV are 398nm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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