Anyone using AI SOL LED Lighting? I have a question...

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reefnrog

Member
About 2 months ago I switched over from T5 to LED. I bought an AI SOL White model with the controller. The brightness and shimmer effect is awesome but my corals have mixed reviews.

I was curious at what settings/intensities you are running your LED lights at? Mine never hits over 50% at peak hours and I'm afraid I may be under powering the light for what the corals need but at the same time I'm afraid to bleach the corals. I'm looking for a happy medium and maybe someone can help me out on this..
 
dmatt88

dmatt88

Has been struck by the ban stick
After 2 months I'd start turning the power up n watch the coral reaction.

Woohoo Matt has tapatalk back
 
R

reefnrog

Member
Thanks Matt I was just over on your 220 thread admiring your tank...I can't wait to get there..

On a side note I recently added the small 2 buld T5 I had when I bought the tank, to add to the LED and the corals appreciate the T5 along with the LED. The 2 bulb T5 looks really bright compared to my LEDs but I'm not fooled by that bc I know LEDs put out crazy power even if it doesn't appear that way to the human eye.

I'm thinking about keeping my T5 ont there over the next week and slowly increasing intensity by 5% +/- every few days.
 
jedi82knight

jedi82knight

Member
I wouldn't increase by more than 2 or 3 percent in a week. As Matt said, keep a close eye on your corals, they will tell ya if somethings wrong. How deep is your tank?
 
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reefnrog

Member
I believe 20 or 22" it's a standard 65g 3' tank. I will slowly increase intensity. Just that the T5 looks so much brighter to the eye although I know the corals may not benefit from this light like the LEDs.

I was just curious about the settings people were using?
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
reefnrog part of the problem many people are not starting to see with LED is that the LED themselves are fairly "narrow" in their spectrum so it's entirely possible that some of your coral are needing something that your LED aren't providing. It could be that they need something more in the "Blue" range or possibly even the red/orange range. It's a guess either way but this is one reason why many companies are integrating more "Variation" in the color of LED they are making.

You would be well advised to pick up the latest edition of CORAL magazine (or the one before it) that has LED on the front cover and read it. It's a plethora of valuable LED information.

Re: Ramping up the lights - The above advice for going slow it SPOT ON!. Do be careful because many times by the time you see the coral bleaching it's already had the "Knee-Jerk" reaction and is declining. Just go slow with a game plan. I'm ramping mine up 5% every Sunday night. I'm up to 40% (or is it 45% I can't remember) and will crank it up again next Sunday.
 
R

reefnrog

Member
BigAl07 said:
reefnrog part of the problem many people are not starting to see with LED is that the LED themselves are fairly "narrow" in their spectrum so it's entirely possible that some of your coral are needing something that your LED aren't providing. It could be that they need something more in the "Blue" range or possibly even the red/orange range. It's a guess either way but this is one reason why many companies are integrating more "Variation" in the color of LED they are making.

You would be well advised to pick up the latest edition of CORAL magazine (or the one before it) that has LED on the front cover and read it. It's a plethora of valuable LED information.

Re: Ramping up the lights - The above advice for going slow it SPOT ON!. Do be careful because many times by the time you see the coral bleaching it's already had the "Knee-Jerk" reaction and is declining. Just go slow with a game plan. I'm ramping mine up 5% every Sunday night. I'm up to 40% (or is it 45% I can't remember) and will crank it up again next Sunday.
Click to expand...

I will check out the magazine and good advice on the ramp weekly.

jedi82knight said:
Not running my AI right now, but I ran a SOL blue over a 29g at only 35% with all 70° lens. Everything was happy. HTH :)
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I was thinking of buying the 4 pack of 70* optics so all of mine are 70* and this may not so much focused direct light on the corals.

Also I am using a glass top to the aquarium. Could this be causing not enough good light to penetrate to the corals?
 
Bearjohnson

Bearjohnson

Well-Known Member
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RS Ambassador
I would not use the glass top and see what happens and as mentioned above go slow.
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
I agree about running sans the glass tops. They quickly get "dingy/cloudy" and will immediately start to alter the amount of light penetrating your water. Also they can inhibit the water to air gas exchange within your tank unless you're running an open top sump with a lot of water turbulence.

Good luck and keep us posted :)
 
Bearjohnson

Bearjohnson

Well-Known Member
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RS Ambassador
Just a side thought...You could try raising the lights from the tank a bit also. It might help the spread a little and perform better for your situation.

I'm afraid anything that you put on top of the tank between the lights and water is going to mess with the lighing, even egg crate. IMO
 
steved13

steved13

Well-Known Member
PREMIUM
+1 on the glass top.

Your question is more complicated than it sounds, with the AI or any other controller most people vary the intensity, I have both blue as high as 90% for ~4 hours per day and the whites as high as 70% for ~4 hours. "sunrise" is at 9:00 and "sunset" is at 22:00.

Rather than bumping it a small percentage, I would bump it 10% or maybe 20% but start at only 1 hour at the higher intensity at first and watch the corals for that hour. I don't know much about your set up but at 50% with a glass cover, I would think is very low.

The best "jumper shield" (in regards to light) IMO is a perimeter screen, upright around the sides so as to not block the light.

P.S. if you remove the glass cover do nothing with your lights for at least a couple of weeks as that alone will probably double your par.
 
R

reefnrog

Member
Thank You! Today is the second day I am using the T5 (weak 2 bulb actinic and 10K) with the LED and the corals are opening better, so IMO the intensity is way too low. I was thining about a reptile screen cover for the top but I think this may cut down light also.

At this point I think best thing would be supplemnt with the T5 and gradually increase intensity over the next few weeks
 
steved13

steved13

Well-Known Member
PREMIUM
I doubt you need the T5s, increasing the LEDs should do the same thing for you.

Are you using 1 module on a 3' tank? How high above the water is the module? What are the tank dimensions?

What is your full lighting program, with the AI? Time on, ramp time, what intensities?
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
steved13 said:
The best "jumper shield" (in regards to light) IMO is a perimeter screen, upright around the sides so as to not block the light.
Click to expand...

Ditto! I made a cover for my last tank from a "Screen Framing Kit" from the local hardware store. For about $10 I had a nice, non-light blocking, jump proof cover.
 
R

reefnrog

Member
Yes I have one light over my 65G. I was told I only needed one if I wasn't planning on SPS which I don't. It is mounted length wise with the length of the tank.

Here is the lighting program as best as I can remember:

8:20am 25%w 28%B ramp 1 hour
9:45am 33%w 38%B ramp 1.5 hours
11:45am 45%w 50%b ramp 2 hours
2:30 pm 35%w 40%B ramp 2 hours
5:15pm 20%w 26%B ramp 1 hours
6:30pm 0%w 5%B ramp 1 hour
 
Bearjohnson

Bearjohnson

Well-Known Member
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RS Ambassador
I hate to be the one to say it but on a 36" tank 1 is not enough no mater what way you mount them. IMO It's not that the light intensity isn't enough it's the coverage of the entire tank. My tank is 4' long and I have 4 of them mounted on AI's mounting stips roughly 8" above the water line. For simplicity purposes...your coverage on that light is roughly 18" x 18". Again I hate to be the one to say it because they aren't cheap and I went tgrough the very same pains as you are going through when I bought the Ecotechs and was told that they would cover 24"x24". Let's just say that the very next day I boxed them right back up and took them back and bought the AI. I wasn't buying 3 when I could buy 4 at around the same price.
 
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