DIY Converting from MH to LED! RAPID LED

Okay, time to update this thing and complete this project. I need to add a few things to my list. Originally I planned on only CW and RB LEDs along with a few moonlights. Along the way I changed this a bit. I also incorporated UV LEDs. I cannot believe how much those things make my corals pop! I bought the 9 UV LED kit from RapidLED and it came with a constant current driver. So no need to adjust the SVR2 screw on this driver. I have several more videos ready to upload and I hope to add one tonight. Currently my tank has been under LEDs for approximately 2 weeks. Its not enough time to tell for sure on growth but I would like to point out a couple things.
1st, my Milleporas seem to love the LEDs. Polyp extension has never been better.
2nd, one of my Acros seemed to dislike the change a bit. It had some polyp extension issues for a short time and then parts of it bleached. My fault on the bleaching. I went too fast on running 100 percent power on the LEDs.
3rd, several of my Montiporas have done some changing. Unless the entire colony is under direct light the growth seems to slow. With my LEDs I have to position them accordingly to get the best lighting in the tank. Parts of the colony that are under direct light show excellent growth while on that same coral, parts that are not in direct light show slowed growth. This was never an issue with my metal halides.
I will try to get another video up tonight. I have also added to my project a new canopy. It is something I am building with my brother.

 

Isn't 9 UVs too much? I am only adding 3 with 3 cyan.

 

Im not sure how large your tank is but mine is 6 feet long. I spread them out over the length of the tank. This is what Mike thought I should put over the tank. Ive had the lights running for a while now. The SPS corals seem to love the new lights. ;D

 

Update. I know some people have been using the UV LEDs from Rapid over their tanks. My question is what are your thoughts so far? I have 9 UV LEDs over a 125. I love the color pop that I get from the UVs but I am curious how long each day I should run the UV lights? I run them for about an hour in the morning and another hour in the evening. Ive also seen a movement towards adding Blue and Red LEDs to the mix. Right now I have Royal Blue, Cool White, UV, and some Moonlights but I feel like I am missing something. Thus far I seem to have good growth from my SPS corals. There is only 1 thing Ive noticed that seems odd. I have a bright green Mille that shows excellent growth however, its coloring seems to be turning more yellow than green. Could this be due to lack of light spectrum? Any insights are appreciated.

The last of my videos in the series are completed. I hope to have them uploaded tonight and tomorrow! Any comments or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks

 

bump

 

I dont know if you have seen this but Rapid now has some new led colors....amber, orange, and orange/red. might be worth doing a little research to see what colors those could help with.

Ive seen amber leds on the coralife fixture at macna and they seemed pretty promising.

 

No I didnt know this. I will have to check it out. I worry about adding light that I dont need that will only help nuissance algaes. Most people seem to add Blues to the mix. I think I will have to do some more researching. Should I be running UVs all day or just for short periods during the day?

 

I think you could run the UV all day, or at least for most of it. Ive never had them, so i dont really know for sure.

 

I'd run them for the duration of your blue's cycle; I don't see why not.

If you're thinking it might be damaging to the coral, realize they're not actually UV, as they're above the 400nm wavelength. Therefore, they are violet by definition, not true UV.

 

+1 I run my violets with my blues all day and it seems to be working great. I have a 55 and run around 30 blues(20 rb's and 10 blues), 24 whites(16 cw and 8 nw) and 10 violets over it. The blues are on from 2PM till 1PM with a 1 hour sunrise and 2 hour sunset and the whites from 3 to 11:30 with a 1 hour sunrise and set.

IMO I's swap out about 25% of your rb's for blues,
25% of your cw's for nw's
and add a string of cyan and red

I'm debating adding a string myself as soon as rapid comes out with cyan plug and play. Yeas I am that lazy