+Mlaw Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 I'm working on my biocube 29 and wanted some advise. I bought it used and have it up and running. Things are going well. Couple of clowns and some snails. 18 pounds of live rock and sand. I picked up a RTBA, some zoas and a kenya tree as hitchhikers. The actinic bulb was burned out when I bought it. Recently replaced it with a Royal Blue LED bar from Aquatek. Can't remember the brand at the moment. Love what it does for the colors in thank. Plan is to replace the white bulb with the 12k bar when it burns out. I have room for another 2 LED bars after that. I will probably have one of those be the mixed 12k/Blue. Question is should i include one of the Blue/Red bars? Does the Red really make that much difference. **** things are $90 a pop and I'll probably have to buy another driver to handle the 4th so I want to make sure it is worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 Yes, I would add a little red and or green. There's definitely a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mlaw Posted November 7, 2012 Author Share Posted November 7, 2012 but what happens? Do the reds pop more? Will my clown fish suddenly start talking just like Nemo? I tried to get the guy at the store to give me an example tank to look at but didn't really get very far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 I currently have only blues and whites. My yellows and pinks are very pale. Red LEDs are supposed to bring this out. Most full spectrum led fixtures have the 2 blues, white, red, greeen, and uv. But you don't need much from what I understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 Simple answer is yes and to reiterate Juiceman it does make a difference. It may help to understand for coloration corals use florescing protiens which absorb light from the high UV, blue and low green spectrum of visable light and reemit a different wavelength (floresce)(the pigments are divied into different "clades" and each different protien is sensitive to just a single wavelength), chromoprotiens which reflect light of different wavelengths through out the visible spectrum (and probably both UV and Infrared as well) and the golden brown symbodinium spp. dinoflagellate algaes they cultivate. If an aquarists selection of corals is mostly specimans that use primarily florescing pigments adding red and green light may not do very much. On the other hand some of the pinks and reds are chromoprotiens and adding red light would be crucial to maintain those colors, Pink Birdsnest being one I am very familiar with needing a strong red component in the light spectrum. I'm pretty sure all corals actually use both type to some extend, I was pleasantly surprised when I swtched from T5 actinics to actinic LEDs on one tank to see florescent orange mouths on a red monti cap the did not show under the weaker T5 actinic lighting. The brown coloration from the symbiotic algae is a little harder to pin down. There are different species and corals vary the numbers depending on environmental conditions so in one case increasing intensity may cause a coral to go more brown but in another increasing intensity may cause the coral to go less brown. This is why it's imprtant to research the lighting a coral grew under and to try to match it to maintain colors. I think it's also imprtant to understand it may take weeks or possible months for a coral to change the type's of protiens it's using or the type/number of symbiotic algae so when trying to color up a coral that has changed from when it was acquired an aquarist needs to be very methodical and patient, arbitrarily shuffling it around every few days or changing lighting conditions frequently is rarely productive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmacc05 Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 Are you buying the stunner strips or the panoramas? I know ecoxotic has done a price drop on a lot of product as of recently so you might want to check on that. I am going to buy some of the 12" stunner strips in the magenta spectrum to add to the blue, royal blue and white that the ai sols have. I was looking at them in AT and they were asking $50 each. Did some more research online and found out ecoxotic had dropped the price to $39. Saving $10 each on 4/5 more strips is considerable in my opinion. Just letting you know. Oh, and from what I have read on other forums and articles is that a full spectrum of blues, reds, greens and uv really help bring out the colors in corals. I read something that uv is what makes corals produce the pigment in a way to protect them from too much uv exposure. Not sure how true that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mlaw Posted November 7, 2012 Author Share Posted November 7, 2012 I've got the 12" panoramas. The guy at AT said the stunners were pretty much just glorified moon lights. They have them in stock for $39 though. Let me know how that goes for you. Might be a cheaper alternative than buying the $89 red/blue combo, especially if I don't need more blue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmacc05 Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 Ok cool. Yeah when I was in last week, they didn't know if they would be able to change the prices. I think they have to order the full magenta. I guess it's not a popular seller. But I'm doing it strictly for aesthetics. The ai sol put off enough of the blues and whites for growth. I just want to be able to have some extra color highlighted in my tank. And the stunners are 12" which is the exact length of the sols. I will make sure to post before and after pics when I decide to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 Yeah, I use a blue stunner strip purely for aesthetics. That's all I treat them as. I have nothing to add to concerning red LEDs in a tank system... know nothing about that subject matter. Just wanted to chime in on the stunners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmacc05 Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 Ty, how high above the water do you have the stunners? I remember seeing yours as just actinics and they were bright as heck! If I recall right, a 48" strip? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogdan Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Mlew I have a 29 biocube with DIY LED lights (CW and RB). I also had a panorama strip W/B in addition. This panorama strip recently died (they dont last longer than year) so I bought some 3W cre LEDs and installed them on the panorama strip. 2 violet, 1 red and 1 green. The idea was to mix some other colors and bring up the red and green. The results is the red is an overkill and so is the green. This is just too much for the nano cube. This is obviously my subjective perception. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 6-7" above the water, 48" strip on a 72" tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmacc05 Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 I stopped by aquatek today to check out the stunners. Not as bright as i thought they would be. My lights are about 12" above the water surface. Im now considering a custom 24" or 36" build my led kit to hang just behind the sols to cover reds and greens. It doesnt seem like they have a uv color. Or would that be the far red? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mlaw Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 Bogdan, That's what I was afraid of. Thanks for the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 I think the 3w Crees will over do a small tank. I'm talking with buildmyled.com now about making some custom specific color additions to Mu fixtures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 I stopped by aquatek today to check out the stunners. Not as bright as i thought they would be. My lights are about 12" above the water surface. Im now considering a custom 24" or 36" build my led kit to hang just behind the sols to cover reds and greens. It doesnt seem like they have a uv color. Or would that be the far red? They are bringing out a uv bulb very very soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmacc05 Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Awesome. Tgen i will have a mix of reds, greens and uv for my supplemental lighting. And if they are cree, then that should help with growth too i would assume? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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