switched from t5 to leds...hate it

I have found the lights to be extremely bright, some of my zoas shifted color when I switched to leds and some refused to open all the way. I run my blues pretty high, about 90 %, but my whites are less than 50%. Sps does exceptionally well, zoas are hit or miss depending on type. I put my zoas very low or off center in the tank as well.


I would say turn them down a little bit, or rescape so zoas are not under direct light.

I like my leds and growth has been good, however I am in agreement that T-5s do give a nicer look to the tank.

 

I dont know anything about ebay lights but my ai's i run most colors over 80%. If i had to guess its too low and needs bumped up.

 

Keep in mind that when you switch lights you can cause a bunch of fun in the tank. be sure to watch your levels and start testing regularly. It is also a good idea to 'shade' corals with a piece of screening (or two) for the first week and then remove a bit the second and give them time to acclimate to the new lighting conditions.

 

the light I just put on yesterday had four different pre programmed settings I went with one that's recommend for growth and it runs the blues at 100 and whites at 100 for twelve hours however I turned the whites down to 75 everything seems fine but one set of my green star polyps are about 50% open I guess this is something I'll have to keep an eye on and maybe keep my t5 fixture just in case my sps is at the top of the tank and it still looks good I hope you get it figured out you have lot's of knowledge and I'd hate tosee you take a break from the hobby

 

Bleaching=too much light. Remember that blues also give off high Par. You might be having some other thing going on as the SPS's bleaching at the bottom doesn't sound like from lighting...hmmm. It's difficult but remember that "slow and steady" usually provides good results. Good luck!

 

Red bugs?

 

I have evergrow d120s. I would look for something other than lighting if it were me as well

 

To note, you can also get bleaching from too little or too much nutrients in the water column. But I think Sponge is on the right track here. I think it might just be lighting shock.

 

Also, bleaching can be cause by fluctuations in water temperature. Just did a bunch of research on it.

 

Did you get the unit with optics? My unit does not have the optics, and I struggle with the same thing. I've got it over the frag tank - and can'd decide if I need more or less light. I've got my lights running now at about 50% power level - and they are only about 7 inches above the top of the tank. I've taken a bunch of par readings - and even at 100% power level - I don't have as much par as with the 6 bulb T5 on my display tank. ............ But I've come to believe that PAR is not equivalent between the two types of light fixtures.

 

With LED's, it's PUR I believe when I was researching a long time ago. If someone has a LUX meter, you could possibly borrow that and check what you are getting...might be closer than using the Par meter.. Or, use the club's Par meter...you could get an idea anyway./DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/unsure.gif


If nothing else had changed over that month, I think it's probably lighting related. Especially when you are seeing basically every coral in the tank reacting differently than normal. If you had a water temp change, the SPS's could RTN but unless it was a prolonged and drastic temp change, the LPS and zoas would have bounced back, usually. If the NO3 and/or PO4 changed quickly and dramatically, all the corals might react and, as to what you are seeing.


With the SPS's in particular, be very careful with the WC- match the temp as closely as possible/DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/smile.gif Make sure you rinse the GAC and GFO really well too-don't want fines irritating them to cause more stress/DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/wink.gif Hopefully the slow and steady, and making a single, small change will keep them from going further downhill!


How many puppies?! What breed? Hope they are all fine/DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/wow.gif

 

Also look at your LED height off your water. 14" is a long ways. I have seen many issues with that. Really all depends on your optic also, but still 14" is a long ways for the LED to travel into your water depth. This is just my 2 cents

KP

 

/DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/hehe.gif Big dad is right! and Mom's nothing to sneeze at! We just lost our GWP mom 2 weeks ago. She was almost 15, an excellent hunter and Mom of 10 pups! I slept in the basement for 3 nights to ensure that everything was fine/DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/rolleyes.gif It was probably more for me than her and the pups! lol


1.022 definitely could be the problem if it was that low for some time. Was the salinity that low before the WC or after? Hopefully that was the problem!/DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/unsure.gif