Adding UV to supplement LEDs

[dakota9]

Was at Rob's briefly last week, and was looking at his new fish room (SShhhwwweeettt).

Anywho, He was explaining that LEDs emit no UV, and after a while, corals begin to loose their color (I guess this can be likened to the way our skin tans under sunlight, which is fairly rich with UV).


Is there currently anyway to supplement the correct amount of UV for the people currently running LEDS? Rob had shown me that his fixtures are equipped with UV emitters, but there's many people out there that have LEDs, that without UV supplementation seem destined to end up with washed out coral.

Something tells me that the answer is NOT to crack open a UV sterilizer and hang it over the tank, but seems like there should be low intensity, stand alone emitters for this job.

A cursory Google search brought back bubcus, anyone else wonder about this?

Thanks for the quick eye-opener Robb, btw.

 

[brisco15]

Im up as we speak pondering the same im thinking a possible combo fixture 2 LED 55 bulb fixtures and either 2 single bulb t5 or 2 dual bulb t5 fixtures seems like that would do the trick but i also seek input on this matter ill tag along it sucks having the $ to take the next step but not quite be able to do it.

 

[dakota9]

That sound like a good plan actually..... If you have the space!

 

[lilrobb]

Well,
I am following a train of thought I read about online myself, so use w caution.

The explanation made sense to me, so I adapted it.

The pigmentation of a coral (if similar to human skin) actually works as a protective layer for the brown zooxanthellae. Just like we humans tan in UV radiation to protect deeper layers of our skin from tissue damage due to UV radiation the corals use their pigments to protect the lower zooxanthellae layers.

Which also explains browning in low light setups - pigments are removed for maximum exposure to the light source for the zooxanthellae.

Sounded logical to me, but I am no scientist...

 

[superclown]

Glad to see some insight on this, thinking of making the switch as well but I want to understand this before I do

 

[jbdreefs]

I bought my less from an online retailer, from the east. They have UV leds for a reasonable price...

http://www.aquastyleonline.com/products/Epileds-LED-3W-Ultra-Violet%28UV%29.html">http://www.aquastyleonline.com/products/Epileds-LED-3W-Ultra-Violet%28UV%29.html</a>

Edit: I can add 8 leds without buying more drivers. I'm thinking about buying these and adding them, spaced out evenly, without optics. I have a 125

 

[reeferman]

im not so certain that we need to add uv.the logic makes complete sense...but.ive only been running leds for a few weeks so i cant speak for color on my tank but Ryan[Rskillz]has been running them for over a year and the colors in his corals are AMAZING.he only runs whites and blues.im sure uv has something to do with something[im definitely no scientist] but im sure those of us not running uv are not destined for bland,colorless corals.

 

[db366]

http://www.liveaquaria.com/PIC/article.cfm?aid=114">http://www.liveaquaria.com/PIC/article.cfm?aid=114</a>
[IMG]http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-11/ac/index.php">http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-11/ac/index.php</a>

So in a nutshell, the sun produces UV, but the ocean filters it out after a certain depth. In shallow waters the corals have a pigment (red and pinks) that blocks out that UV. So without the UV the corals will fade. It is called phosphorescence, the second article is a great read and talks about it.

 

[reeferman]

how long would it take for the corals to lose said color?i would say,if it hasnt done it in a year,its not gonna do it.my insight is strictly anectdotal watching Ryans tank color up this past year.im sure theres people out there with the exact opposite experience,but this is just mine.

 

[db366]

It could just be that most of his corals have came from deeper waters. Who really knows. But I can tell you that I have seen the colors fade. It took about 2 months for it to start and now that I have switched away from LED's back to MH the colors of some have started to come back. It was nothing insane but there was some fading.

My LED light did not have any UV chips at all.

 

[superclown]

I saw it in my 12g cubue when I had led's before. My corals were all very nice and vibrant. it took about 4 months after the switch and mine all started loosing there "pop"

 

[sts04c]

It can be done both ways from my experience. I purchased a EVO120 watt fixture with no UV chips in Nov 10, all corals did awesome and grew a lot. The is tank (34 solana) only had a few SPS though to note. I had many colorful zoas ( Orange Oxides, CAR, Kedd Red morph, RH) all kept their color and grew very quickly. Also the SPS grew amazingly as well, specifically Spongodes and Sunset (on the easier side of SPS keep in mind). I had a 1" disc of the Spongodes and another smaller piece that are now a 4"x6" colony in my 120. SO in short you can grow stuff without the UV chips. Now with all that said, thanks to a Great person I have 2 LED fixtures with UV chips over the 120. I have only had these fixtures up for a few months, but have seen the zoas pop out multiple babies and the SPS is showing even better polyp extension than ever before. From what I understand the UV chips are better for SPS growth.

 

[cr500_af]

I have three UV chips per LED, and I can say that since switching to them from MH (on my frag tank; the DT is too soon to judge) my colors have gotten brighter than they were.

 

[reeferman]

the corals i was referencing in Rskillz tank are all acroporas,rainbow nasuta,pink lemonade,strawberry shortcake,yada yada yada.they have the best color of any single specimens of the same corals that i have personally seen.theyve been under leds for over a year.we have identical led builds so i can give better first hand experience from my own acroporas but im already seeing slight improvements in color.we both have the "high noon" kits but no uv.