Red Sea 130 LED settings

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Madmax204

New Member
Hello all,

I have recently upgraded my power compacts to a AI Hydra26 HD LED unit. My question for the group, is what kind of cycle and settings do you guys currently use?

Also, I have retrofitted the LED unit into the stock hood. However, I am finding that maybe the unit now sits too close to the water, and by comparison I am not getting the same kind of lighting effect that many of you are getting from comparable set ups.

I am kind of new to this, so any and all help is appreciated. Thanks in advance!
 
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DaveK

Well-Known Member
The nice thing about LED lighting is that it's very easy to change. I keep my setting very simple. A one hour ramp up, all leds except red and green at 80% red and green at 50% all for 8 hours, a 1 hour ramp down, deep blue st 4% through the night.

These are Hydra 52 fixtures on a 125 gal reef.

I looked at the thread mentioned by @Ragsna2105 and in my opinion those very elaborate settings, with the 25 to 40 set points, are fine if your want bragging rights but of very limited value. They will work ok, but it's got to be a pain if you want to change things around. Keep it simple.

Above all, and this applies to all areas of the hobby, don't spend a lot of time to get "everything just right". You'll find that it really doesn't make that much difference and you'll spend a lot of time worrying about it.
 
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Madmax204

New Member
Thanks guys.

I am just wondering if because I have the light mounted in the hood, if it may be too close to the water? Also, how much can a dirty/old/miscoloured light cover change the spectrum?
 
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DaveK

Well-Known Member
You some potential problems with mounting the light in the hood. The main one is that the Hydra fixtures are not 100% water tight. This can allow salt creep to get inside the fixture and damage the unit. Another possible problem is that with the LEDs being so close to the water you can get areas of red, green, or blue color on the corals. This is more unsightly rather than a problem. Sometimes you see the term disco effect used. LEDs like to direct their light straight down, so you can also run in to problems where the tank is very bright directly under them and dim in the ends and corners.

If you find any of these things impossible to live with, your best option is to mount the fixture above the tank, and replace the stock hood with either a clear cover or a screen cover.

A "dirty/old/miscoloured light cover" will cause some difference in the spectrum and intensity, but the nice thing about high end LED lighting is that you can easily compensate for this, so it becomes a non issue.
 
SPR

SPR

Well-Known Member
Ive always used the standard Red Sea reef spec settings as shown below

I have sunrise with a 1 hour ramp up at 11.30am and then just amend the settings to go ‘blue’ at 7pm with storm effects because i like that colour in the evening. A 1 hour ramp down at 9pm and off at 10pm when wine has taken effect !

a2f57ba8c704be9be07ceda2d8b3d88f.png
 
Pancho75

Pancho75

Well-Known Member
Here are my settings, they are giving good results in LPS and SPS in my S-500. 12 hrs photoperiod with 4 hrs ramp-up and 4 hrs ramp-down. You can tune the cold white to make less or more blueish to your preference.
431e00639b8f0aaa70222f8bf1d11ed0.png



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Madmax204

New Member
Awesome thanks again guys,I will try these settings. This tank has been a project since I got it. It's never wanted to grow coraline, and it somehow has always killed zoanthids.
 
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Kamreef

New Member
Your best bet is to remove the hood! And suspend the light over the tank you don’t want to cause any water issues to your light. Also this will help the spread!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
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