[Paulpeffly]

Hey guys, I'm relatively new to the LED scene and have a few questions. I have two 120w full spectrum LED's over a 75 mixed reef.

What value or percentage of blues vs. whites do you use? 60/40, 75/25, etc

From what I understand, most coral light necessity is in the blue spectrum, but I'm sure there are benefits from the rest just maybe not as much.

What lighting schedule do you run? 12hrs blues 8hrs both, etc

I would like to get my setup tuned in for best color and growth without waiting a year for trial and error. All water parameters are good and I have a variety of softies, LPS, and SPS. My lights currently are 60/60, 11.5hrs blue and 9.5hrs both. All coral seem to be doing good currently.

Also is it possible to bleach the liverock with too much light? Seems like the higher rock is turning lighter.

 

[stackemdeep]

I run 65/30w and will probably stop at 70/30. Took 2 months to get there at 5% or so a week. They are more powerful than they appear.

 

[Shadrach]

How high off water surface are you and what brand of lights

 

[Paulpeffly]

Thanks stakemdeep, what is your lighting schedule?

Shadrach, it's about 8" off the water and they are similar to the reef breeders LEDs

 

[stackemdeep]

I run the Photon 48, 30 minute intervals, using their spreadsheet program on the web site. 12" off the water and 90 optics. Another fellow with same fixture measured 200 par on the sand bed of a 24" deep tank running the 80/40 and I am going for 150. Wish I had a par meter but it is not in the budget right now. He was also 12 up with 90s.

 

[Paulpeffly]

Cool thanks. Could y'all post pics of your tanks with both lights on? Without editing so I can see the color tone

 

[stackemdeep]

I tried and all my pics came out triple the blue on my Iphone. I don't have a nice digital camera. The rule of thumb I was given was add just enough white to get 150 on the sand bed then drive up the blue channel. If you know anything about good digital camera set ups for coral photography I would appreciate some tips. What kind of cameras do people use for nice close up shots?

 

[Paulpeffly]

I use an iPhone also. Sometimes I try a photo editor to lighten the blue a little. You can just post a pic and I can still tell the tone by comparing it to what I took. I have even messed with a DSLR and still can't get the blue tones down very well without distorting other stuff