Coral color with led vs halides?

Right now I can't complain about my coral color, but Ive only had LEDs on my tank for a month. I'm sure my params. Are good, I do 2 10% pwc with reef crystals a week, that would get me the maximum coloration right? It's only a 30 gallon so it shouldn't need dosing, or maybe it does..

 

Oh, how I wish it was just that simple. Maximum is a never ending chase of getting a little better. A little better flow, a little more light, a little lower phosphate, a little more of the right foods, etc etc etc...


You are probably doing everything needed for a beautiful display though and that's all you really need.

 

Yea they're DE bulbs, is their really that much difference between 14k and 15k bulbs?

 

One of my customers has a 125g, which he was using MH on, and switched to LED. His corals started to burn soon after, (to which he was rather bitter about) but that showed me one thing, arguably, LED's are more intense than MH. I feel that most people try to turn them up too fast and that leads to the color fade. My Local coral store is using radions on 3 of his tanks, and all of them look brilliant. He started out low, and SLOWLY raised the intensity. I'm sold on LED just from seeing how his tanks have developed when properly acclimated.

 

I agree, as to why I'm upgrading to LED's soon. The only issue is that people don't realize how strong LED are, you need to acclimate them, as to why dimmers are so useful!

 

As most of you know I have LED and I really enjoy mine, I recently got some awesome SPS from Norg and they really enjoy LEDs. One thing I really like is full control over each LED spectrum. Right now I can log into my Apex and ramp up my blue and tone down my whites to make all my colors pop.

As for growth see for yourself.. I am very pleased with these results..

Start 3/7/12

End 5/23/12

 

Impressive.

 

Yes I see, so I just completed an order for a new light, PHOENIX 250 W Watt HQI 14K Metal Halide Reef Coral Bulb. big difference, thanks for the tip gcarroll

 

I've seen beautiful tanks using both (T5 as well). I think there are just too many key factors when it comes to coral health to attribute "good" coloration to one element such as lighting. Just because one reefer's corals look brown under LEDs/MH/T5 doesn't mean it is the lighting. There could be pests, water quality issues, nippers, stray voltage, chemicals getting into the tank, etc...

As Sanjay has said, a photon is a photon. All three lighting sources produce light, it's just a balancing act between wavelengths, positioning, intensity, and PAR IMO. And the reefer's who nail this balance while having everything else in their tank in line have the best results.

 

Bio cube, thanks for the pics, very nice growth, i have the same coral, but mines a little bigger, I bought it a little while ago. I hope to see the same growth as you..

There's not a doubt that there is more intensity, that's a measurement that can be easily seen with par. It's unbelievable how much different the penetration is. But why do they look different? Is it light temperature, intensity, spread?basically, If you have the same amount of power, why don't you see the same results?