When I get my acros they go straight to my acclimatization frag tank and adjust those leds as needed on a 4 week acclimatization periond gradually ramping up everyday till they get to the same par as the main tank. They will either acclimate fine but not grow or bleach or brown so ill move them around but theres no sweet spot. Some just don't seem to like this light or spectrum. I think if these leds were built more like halides and reflected off a reflector we would have greater success with them. IMHO I think they need to be indirect instead of direct lighting. Better spread and less bleaching and or shadowing which leads to the bleach effect.
LED's SUCK PROVE ME WRONG!
- Thread starter jackson6745
- Start date
- Location
- Dingmans ferry PA
Don't go by par, throw that thing out the window you cant get accurate measurements with par with a typical par meter with LEDs. Go old school with the new school lighting. Use a adjustable frag rack for your main tank. This is a issue with people and LEDs. You need to adjust your corals to your main tank. Have you seen tanks with beautiful main tanks and algae riddened frag tanks? Sure it's all plumbed in together but there is something different going on in the frag tanks even when plumbed and lit with the same lighting. Maybe it's different flow patterns or the bacteria population is just a little different who knows. All I know if my frags that I cut always look different when I put them in my frag tank. Put on your reefer glasses and figure out what the coral needs in the main tank and leave the par meter to MH and t5 guys 
- Location
- Dingmans ferry PA
Trust me if this old construction guy who isn't the sharpest tool in the shed can do it, anyone can
Its the opposite if anything. They do decent in the frag tank and horrible in the main tank even in low light areas I move them around too. To me it seems like im working around my leds forcing them to work instead of knowing that my mh lights are correct and its just a matter of adjusting where I should place my corals.
- Location
- Dingmans ferry PA
It's because your adjusting them to your frag tank then placing them into the main. Do what I said and start your acros at the very bottom of the tank and moving them maybe a inch every few days. If your acclimating them in your frag tank I think your doing harm to it's success.
Theyre aclimating fine in the frag tank because of the 4 week schedule but not all sps do. In the main tank they go to the bottom and I move them up slowly but its not as successful as when I had mh. Once my mh's go back up ill update you on the new system frags. Like I said its mainly shadowing and bleaching issues more than browning. Plus the dark tank look bothers me as well. When I had mh my tank was a shining star. Yes corals do look better under my leds but I think what im doing now would be the best of both worlds. Growth, great looking tank with lotsa light and coral flourecence at dawn and dusk hours.
- Location
- Dingmans ferry PA
4 years and never had a coral bleach on me. Right now I have 1 colony I can't get to color up out of 60 acros in my tank. I sometimes can go 6 weeks to 2 months acclimating but I guess I'm just very patient. And it has worked for me.
- Location
- Dingmans ferry PA
I've seen amazing MH tanks and T5 and I have seen many crappy mh and t5 tanks. The same with LED tanks. Mostly do to constant changes or over feeding. But def a lot more with constantly changing things which I believe is due to PS pics over the internet trying to achieve something that wasn't real to begin with. I am a big believer in staying constant with everything whether lighting, supplements ,flow, feeding schedule and filtration. I am also a believer in over acclimating my new acros.
- Location
- Staten Island
I went with a calcium reactor that can finally keep up with the demand of the system. Note that the system runs both MH (frag tray) and LED (display), and are plumbed together.
- Location
- Fresh Meadows
Hey Jackson (Nanighan from that other site). Going to see if this theory proves correct. I rebooted my old system https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aQq4II0Ruo due to various pest that I cant seem to get under control ie uncontrollable featherduster growth, asterina starfish explosion, and the occasional aiptasia pop up (once you have it you never really get rid of it 100%. Also I wanted to just keep my 8 favorite sps. and have a more open rock work for fish and flow.
Anyway after a 48 hour freshwater soak to kill everything, and a couple weeks cycle I added a test sps , a pink mille and 2 fish. Seems early but really need the room in my apartment. I have 5 tanks when normally its just the main tank and a frag tank. Polyp extension was really good so I added my 8 favorite sps on new rock mounts after another 2 days https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9I_wVbqW7E This is 100% dead rock with just the biological filter. I captured some bristle worms and pods and planned to dump them in but hesitated. Maybe its not necessary. I'll find out soon. I didnt even have snails in my old tank. Oh yeah my old tank was lit with ocean revive LED only. This is getting long...Wish me well.
Rich i had the Aussie Spatulata in my tank under 400w Mh and they immediately went brown in color. I left them in there and it was a yaer later they suddenly found the color we know they can have. i think being wild they just need time to adjust to a new system. I'm suprised your thinking of switching to Leds. All you keep saying is how this particular tank of yours is the most succesful you have. Ive seen your threads. The colors you ae getting are astounding so why tamper with it. Leave it as it is sit back drink a beer and enjoy.
Paul, you can never be content. You always have to be working on the next thing.
The problem with LED IMO is that too many people have too much $$ to lose. No one wants to admit the flaws in LED. I've witnessed this from the the biggest vendors, to the smallest garage vendors. You know who you are. If money didn't get in the way, we would have real LED success.I'm done with this thread. Good day.
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Update on my system. Went from radion pros to 400 watt MH 20k Radiums . Already in just 2 days on my display im seeing better PE and color. My frag tank is 2 weeks with 250 watts 20k Radiums and im seeing much better results. Im using my radion pros on both tanks as supplemental lighting and an awesome dawn dusk polyp florescence effect to view the gorgeous colors the MH are giving the corals. My initial thoughts on why the mh is better is it acts more like the sun giving off the heat feel to the corals and spectrum effect of the sun. Seems like leds are just light with no real feeling of a real sun lamp. As I was placing my corals last nite in to my display for 3 hours I literally got a tan on my back. My leds never did that or made me feel I was getting any feeling of a light was hitting me. If I was feeling this so what do you think the corals feel. Im not knocking leds cause they do give a better pop to the corals tham mh or T5 ( well mabe T5's do but not as eye popping ) but for an sps dominant tank I dont think they do the trick. Im happy to be back to mh and led combo. The tank is brighter and healthier looking already.
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