Led Reef Ligths

[Daniel Bodily]

I just watched SB reef lights advertisement on this page. In their advertisement, they say that there light are just as good as the other name brands. I start looking at the light spectrum for their lights. This is their spectrum.

Compare that to Kessil's light spectrum

At 33 feet deep there is no red light and most coral reefs are closer to 50 feet so if there not using a shotgun approach then why does the light just look like a shotgun approach it looks like they have added at least one of every led color out there and are hoping for the best.
What is everyone else thoughts and way do they not use 380 ultraviolet light which is the most powerfull wavelength and goes the deeps in the ocean?

Does anyone have this light what is there thoughts on the fragmenting of color on the sand in the tank?

I would really like to know what everyone else thinks about different light what you like and don't like?


SB Reef light layout

 

[Oscar47f]

The SB reef lights can certainly grow many types of corals.. and regarding spectrum you need to understand the light that the zooxanthellae can absorb.. above the 400nm range about to the 500nm range mostly.. now you also need to remember the type of zooxanthellae a coral has based on species is slightly different genetically as well so it can vary.

 

[Daniel Bodily]

I was hoping for more thoughts on LED lights why and why not Red good or bad?

 

[Oscar47f]

Ive always heard to keep the reds low as it encourages algae growth but there is evidence that some zooxanthellae can use a little bit off the red spectrum for photosynthesis as zooxanthellae is a form of dinoflagellate algae .. Tbh i love My hydra 52s mainly because they are visually appealing but harder to tune in than other lights.. Overall with any light source you do get some red spectrum in it...

 

[jacoviii]

The red is needed for certain zooxanthellae. Also remember that even though we can not detect it that deep in the ocean, The zooxanthellae in are highly sensitive corals my be able to. Remember the old thought that the blue light we flood are aquariums with was for us and the 10k MH was the only way to grow coral. Also some great info here.
hhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBktpJ3umAs

 

[Daniel Bodily]

No it's not that we can't detect red light it's that there is no red light the energy of red light is the least of all visible light and it can't pass through water very deep most is gone with in the first 10 feet, Just because some zooxanellae can use red light dosen't mean that you should use it, or that red light is good for your aquarium.

 

[jacoviii]

Ok yes it does not go very deep but some of the corals we keep come from tidal pools 10". Also have you used a 5w led flash light in 660nm? I have you should see the colors it brings out in a yellow tang. Some of the colors mix for the aesthetics of the hole tank fish too. If you want a coral specific Led for growth you would need to build it, but then it would probably not be very aesthetically pleasing. You are also comparing a $139 light to a $899 light. kessil is nice but when I see them I feel something is missing.

 

[Daniel Bodily]

Yes the thing that is missing is the red light but you get great corals as for red light I use red light for veiwing only not for all day use you don't have that option in this light you will be adding red all the time it may be ok for some corals but it's differently not great for all corals
But the other problem is there claims that it as good as Kissel' s light and others I just not buying it they really didn't do there research on why blue ,violet and ultraviolet are used

 

[jacoviii]

Look at the number of LED chips these other companies use 1-2 per fixture. It's just a touch of color not a over saturation of it. also the reading on the site dose not call out any of the Kessil or Radion, They compare their light to the other black boxes. So I do not see what the issue is here. Daniel what lights do you use and what are you looking for in a light?

 

[Daniel Bodily]

I have T-5 and looking strongly at adding kessil lights.
Other companies lights you can control the spectrum fully not with this light so not really the same thing.
I would call there lights the shotgun approach. Seeing them in really life they are what I thought they would look like bad fragmented colors and not a good look.

 

[Daniel Bodily]

As for there claim that is as good as other light 4 and 5 time more expensive is here

 

[NanoDJS]

I have and use many diff types of lights , my AI primes are amazing and have all the colors and are tunable with sick UV , I have chinese black box znet4 coral 120w 52 bulb units that smoke everything I have including 400w radium , t5's and other LEDs I own so go figure I also run them 24" off the water in a 16" tank giving me about 100-300 par even through the whole tank I buy dying corals and bring them back with this tank all the time whereas my Fan$y lighted tanks the corals need to acclimate to the lights always and are never as responsive with growth , but the colors that develop are slightly more defined . I agree the science doesnt add up to add bulbs that are useless to use thats why i got primes NOT the hd ones , they have more cool white 450nm spike bulbs than ANY other AI fixtures single puck ......thats my 2c