corals and their light?

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Again, any formula you use is going to depend entirely on the optics you use. I repeated my build for my frag tank which is a 33 long (same footprint as a 55) and I only used 24 diodes in 2 pods of 12. The huge difference between the 2 is the optics. On the 210, I used 60 degree and on the frag tank I used no optics. No optics = ~120 degrees. I get great coverage with both. I had to go with 60's on the 210 to get the penetration I needed for a 30" deep tank. If I had gone with anything tighter, like 45's then I would have needed more diodes to get sufficient coverage of the surface. Had I done that, I would have been dialing them back even more. Personally, I would say that a good number of diodes for you to look at would be right around 84-96 for your tank, with 60-80 degree optics. For color mix, you really might want to consider more RB and blue in that mix. You would be surprised how white your tank will look with that mix. As I mentioned, our of 72 diodes, I have 36 RB and 12 Blue and I still personally feel what it is not quite blue enough. If I had to do it over again, I'd probably throw another 4-8 Blue's on the tank.

[sweeneyc]

I think you should have more pinks or Reds. I have read that the color of the coral is intensified by the color lighting it is receiving. Correct me if I am wrong on this, but a red Monti will display color better if it has red or pink lighting over top.

Now I don't know if this is completely correct or not, but I do know that I switched my t5 lights out (originally 3 actinics 3 10,000k) to 3 actinics, 1 pink, 1 10,000k and 1 50/50. My monti is brilliant red now, my pink bird's nest is pinker, even the red on my watermelon zoa's seems redder. This happened within a few weeks mind you, so it might just be a trick on my eye.

Good luck, I hope this helps.

[glarior]

Thanks again for the information.

I may switch up some the colors again but came up with a good idea... why not make a modular LED system? I can experiment with the best coral growth and my color liking. The system will allow me to add, remove or change up the colors when I want.

@ILuvMyGoldBarb - thanks for yor DIY build link. I like your idea!

@sweeneyc - Red's are good but they also promote algae growth. That is why they use 660nm Deep Red for algae scrubbers. It is a give and take on that one unless you can remove phosphates/nitrates by some other means. You have the right idea on the lights. With LED's the colors are more precise so using different wavelength can replicate MH / T5's.