UV effectiveness on SPS

Ok as some of you might know, Ive been running two kinds of UVs on the DIY LED fixture over my 90 gallon for a little over 2 months now. I've noticed the positive effect on SPS around one month mark and I am glad I included the UVs in the build: the color started to ripen up and not just the looks, but the corals themselves got colorful (more purple, more green etc..), and this was the main reason why I wanted to include UVs in the first place, so Im very happy so far

So here is the question:
Are there any 3reefers who can share the experience of UVs?
How long have you been running UVs?
How many LEDs?
Anything to add?


Here is what my LED consists of:
Cool white (Cree XP) x 12
Royal Blue (Cree XP) x 12
Neutral White (Cree XP) x 12
Blue (Cree XP) x 6
420nm UV x 6
398nm UV x 8
Turquoise x 4
All 3 watts, total of 60 LEDs

 

Are u using optics on your uv's?

 

Im using optics on 398nm UVs. They are from AquaStyle.

 

I've been using UV LEDs for over a year and have been one of the only ones on 3Reef fully supporting and encouraging other DIY's to add them. I gave info to Rapid about them around this time last year, and they finally added them recently. I noticed enhanced coloring almost immediately. I have not noticed any negatives.

 

Thanks FoD, I was thinking about PMing you when I was starting this thread

 

Royal Blue's peak is 450nm. Blue's peak is 485nm. These spectrum covers for Chlorophyll b, but bit off for Chlorophyll a.
You can see the spectrum for Chlorophyll a and b below.
File:Chlorophyll ab spectra2.PNG - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Therefore, people who do NOT use 400nm or 420nm LED, it obviously misses some important spectrum for Chlorophyll. When you check the MH spectrum, it contains the spectrum from 380-700nm. Since LED is mono spectrum, we sometimes misses important spectrum.

 

Thanks for the info. I am planning on a Rapid diy build (once uncle sam sends me my rebate) using the plug-n-play version and they just added uv to the kit. I have them planned in the build based on what you, Cosmo and Evolved have been saying.

 

Ya he's a LED guru, I'm tellin ya.

Ill be looking forward to your build Seminole, and you won't regret including the UVs!

 

Thank You, Cosmo, Evolved and Face, because if it wasn't for your posts, I would never have even tried!

Question, though. You said that you only used the optics on the 398nm but not the others. How deep is the penetration on the uv's? I am doing the build on a 36 bow that is a little on the deeper side of tanks (I believe 21"). I'm just wondering if even 80 optics would be needed...

Again, thanks alot for all the info!

 

I have never used optics on my UV's. I cannot see them (by naked eye) if any other lights are on (i.e. blues, whites, etc.). I can see color differences in my corals and fish however, but just not the violet rays. I have had my UV LED's on a number of tanks, including ones 24" deep and never needed optics. I would be afraid using optics on 398nm diodes anyway as those rays can be harmful if over exposure occurs.