I don't know if this is a known issue regarding LED lights so...

wartooth1

wartooth1

Member
Its something thats been bothering me... but I've noticed that over the course of the last year... half of my coral's coloring faded away very slowly. Mostly reds have gone. It happened so slowly that I didn't really notice this effect until I compared some old pics of the coral with how they look now.
After testing my water and confirming that all my parameters are good, I contacted my most trusted LFS and explained to them what was happening. The first thing they asked me was if I was running LEDs as my main light source and I told them yes.
They told me this issue has been popping up a lot lately since LEDs are becoming more mainstream. What they told me was since the PAR rating on LEDs never degrades over time, the corals are constantly "revving their engines at full power" so to speak, as apposed to T5s where the bulbs slowly get weaker until they need to be replaced. The fact that the T5s slowly degrade means that the corals are revved up when a new bulb is in but slowly relax.
So I got some suppliments that are meant to restore the coral's original coloring and hopefully in a few weeks my corals will return to their former glory.
If anyone else running LEDs is experiencing the same thing I am... y'all may want to look into this!
 
wartooth1

wartooth1

Member
I currently have 2 Ecoexotic Panoramas for my 40 gallon tank. I am probably going to add the new 30 inch module that they just came out with where you can adjust the white and blue lighting with the turn of a knob, since it can both provide more light for harder corals and then at night I can turn everything off except the blue and have it function as a moon light.
 
mr. limpid

mr. limpid

Active Member
I've had my marienland reef LED's for over a year haven't seen anything like you described about your corals happening to my tank. But I only have hammers, Xina, Polys and Disc corals.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wartooth1 http:///t/392770/i-dont-know-if-this-is-a-known-issue-regarding-led-lights-so#post_3489718
Its something thats been bothering me... but I've noticed that over the course of the last year... half of my coral's coloring faded away very slowly. Mostly reds have gone. It happened so slowly that I didn't really notice this effect until I compared some old pics of the coral with how they look now.
After testing my water and confirming that all my parameters are good, I contacted my most trusted LFS and explained to them what was happening. The first thing they asked me was if I was running LEDs as my main light source and I told them yes.
They told me this issue has been popping up a lot lately since LEDs are becoming more mainstream. What they told me was since the PAR rating on LEDs never degrades over time, the corals are constantly "revving their engines at full power" so to speak, as apposed to T5s where the bulbs slowly get weaker until they need to be replaced. The fact that the T5s slowly degrade means that the corals are revved up when a new bulb is in but slowly relax.
So I got some suppliments that are meant to restore the coral's original coloring and hopefully in a few weeks my corals will return to their former glory.
If anyone else running LEDs is experiencing the same thing I am... y'all may want to look into this!
Couple of quick questions for ya just so I'm not missing anything. You claim all of your parameters are in check, has this always remained the case over the last year? You say you got some supplements from the LFS that will restore your corals vibrant color again in a few weeks that took a year to lose under the leds. What are the supplements and how are they going to restore the color?
Color loss under leds has been documented a great deal in the last few years. Generally, the typical color mix of blue and cool white leds does not cover a wide range of color across the spectrum that many corals that LOOK GOOD have become accustomed too. So they adapt to this narrow spectrum of light in time and often times corals like SPS can still be thriving and growing but lacking in the colors that make them beautiful to us. I think what happens is that sometimes they can grow really well, but the narrow spectrum causes them to grow an excess of zooxanthellea which chokes out some of the finer colored pigments (or something along those lines).
Any shallower water corals are going to benefit from a little more punch in the red range. That's why we see many manufacturers now beginning to incorporate more colored led's to their designs or swapping out cool white leds for warmer ones. It's to help cover more usable light across the spectrum and this helps make them a little more comparable to be able to produce some of the vibrant colors and growth we see under halides and or fluorescent bulbs. So they'll grow and look more like we like them.
On the other hand, there are many species that are completely at home simply under the more intense blue light that the blue and white leds use and are not so much concerned about the lack of range in the spectrum.
 
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