- It's BRStv Reef FAQ Wednesday,
and today we answer, "How do I program, spectrum?"
"Is it time to start flipping switches?"
(upbeat synth music)
Hey, I'm Ryan with BRStv Reef FAQs,
a resource for quick, straight to the point answers
in realizing that dream reef tank.
It's time to answer how to program your LED lights,
meaning intensity, photo periods, spectrum, and ramp time.
This week, we're taking on just the spectrum
portion of that question.
But more importantly, how do you know when you got it right?
This will be a bit more in-depth
than your average FAQ, but anyone looking
to solve the challenges, or more directly put,
solve the lighting-related mortalities
that they've been experiencing,
or just enjoys the payoff of system design perfection,
this is it.
For 90 percent or more reefs are using LEDs.
The days of plug-and-play simplicity
with halides and T5s.
And the no-brainer approach to spectrum are long gone.
The LEDs now give us the keys to the spectrum
and intensity kingdom.
But sadly, with few exceptions,
most of the manufacturers out there didn't bother
to tell us how to drive when they handed us those keys.
Most provide almost no information
on how to adjust the spectrum or intensity
to support the metabolic function of the animals
that we care for.
Because of that, many people just adjust
to what looks good to the eye and hope for the best.
All these sliders are essentially the same
as allowing the average driver to adjust
the car's computer for custom air-gas mixtures
without any real guidance on what that's gonna do.
Or at least this is a super advanced feature
that should only be used by the pros.
More or less, all this amounts
to the slide and play approach.
Some reefers will get lucky,
some are just intuitive guessers.
But many, obviously, fail.
Fail, meaning mortalities, slow growth,
and undesirable coloration.
Our goal here is the highest percentage path
to success possible.
So we're gonna share our unique solution
and define that in relation to spectrum.
Luckily, you don't need to be a marine biologist
or get this absolutely perfect
to have a successful reef tank.
The most important factor here is stability.
Corals are amazingly adaptive creatures,
if you'd just give them a chance.
That primarily means resisting the temptation
to flip the switches.
If there's one thing that you'd take away
from this entire video.
Let it be set spectrum to the best of your ability
and then leave it alone for nine to 12 months,
if not permanently.
If you're flipping switches every week, month,
or even every few months, don't be surprised
if it shows in negative results.
That's another reason why T5 and halide bulbs
produce those plug-and-play results,
not because every bulb had the perfect spectrum,
but the nature of the bulb is only changed
about every 12 to 18 months.
Stability is king.
So what are the best spectrum settings for our reefs,
and how do we implement them?
Meaning all those UV, violet, deep blue, blue,
light blue, green, red, and now even infrared channels.
What are you supposed to do with them all?
Again, they're not actually color channels
that we can flip to whatever we like
and expect the corals to thrive.
The channels are essentially beams of energy,
and the corals have adapted over millennia
to specific spectrum ranges.
Meaning they can use specific wavelength peaks
much more efficiently than others.
And some spectrums can actually cause
major metabolic differences like drastic color changes.
This chart from Orphek is a good example
of the spectrum peaks many of the coral types
utilize and the areas the corals can potentially
utilize them most efficiently.
You can see the color of the light on the bar below,
and how that references different nanometers
or wavelengths of light.
And above that, you can see where the various types
of chlorophyll and carotenoids are the most
deficient at absorbing those energy wavelengths,
which our eyes see as color.
Well, all those LED channels have very specific peaks
that blended together, create the desired spectrum mix.
For instance, here's our measurements
of all the different spectrum peaks of the AI Prime channels
and then what the spectrum mix looks like
when they're all blended together
to make it one cohesive spectrum mix.
Like the AB custom mix that we made for the AI Prime.
How well each light is able to do this
is up to some debate, but you can certainly see those
that are making a strong attempt,
because they tell you what you're doing
and why they do it.
For instance, here's another graph that measures
the spectrum offering that the Oprhek produces
and how it overlays with the light of energy requirements
of many of the corals.
Okay, how in the world is a reefer supposed
to do this at home?
Because I can guarantee almost none of you
own a multi-thousand dollar spectrometer
to measure spectrum and blend
all those spectrums perfectly.
There has to be a better way than slide and pray.
Well by far the best way to do that
is expect the manufacturer of the light you bought
to do that for you.
I think most reefers just want to set the light
to coral health setting and plug it in.
The light is in fact designed to support coral health.
So it's not too much to ask from the people
that are selling it for that purpose.
If the pro-level reefers want to do the research,
adjust the sliders from there, that's awesome,
but it should probably be hidden in some pro tab
which might be properly referenced as death
or brown-town mode if the switches
are treated like a toy and flipped frequently.
Some of the companies who've done that the best
over the years are Kessil with the peaks
important to metabolic health locked down.
But the less critical peaks adjustable for visual appeal.
Something they call Kessil Logic.
EcoTech's Coral Labs and AB Plus spectrum mix,
based on research and results in high-demand environments,
like coral grow-out facilities
where maximizing growth and coloration
is what makes them profitable.
Red Sea's new REEF-SPEC has lock down options
based on their research is another example.
In these cases, and in any other case,
where the light manufacturer directly suggests
this is the right mix for a reef tank,
or even further refines it to SPS or LPS mode.
I'd trust their expertise and use their spectrum settings.
Optimized settings designed for the goal
is part of what you get when you pick the right light.
If you don't trust their expertise,
I think it might be wise to consider another option
rather than try to fix their lack of expertise yourself.
It's likely a manufacturer's lack of understanding
or effort to the light's intended use
is going to show itself in a variety of ways.
Get the right tool for the right job,
and you'll be happy with the results it produces.
So there are many options out there
that only provide slider bars
and limited advice on how to use them.
To be frank, the options which don't put a lot of money
into R&D are often lower cost,
which obviously is attractive for those
that are willing to put a bit more effort in
to achieve the same results.
There's no universal right answer here,
but there are a few paths.
First, as part of BRStv Investigates episodes
on the individual lights, we generally recommend
a specific spectrum mix, often based on using
a spectrometer to measure and adjust the light
to emulate the most successful spectrum mixes in the hobby.
Certainly a good resource on the spectrum
in LED light is capable of producing,
and then how to mix them to achieve the desired goal.
Outside of that, if there are limited resources available
on the light that you selected,
most people will have to make their best guess.
As a general statement on well-designed lights
with proper LED spectrum ratios,
this may be helpful but it doesn't apply
to every last light.
The most beneficial way flanks tend to be
what the eye perceives as the blue spectrums.
For that reason, most reefers will turn
those UV, violet, blue spectrums to max,
and add white in until it looks appealing.
Most reefers will then use the red and green sparingly,
because the reefing community's undecided on their value.
There's a lot of discussion on the value
of red, in particular.
Red and green also tend to really highlight
the disco ball effect.
Because those individual colors are easy to see,
shooting all around the tank.
Once you get this adjusted, you'll likely
have to take the second step of adjusting them
all down in ratio to each other to get
the desired par or intensity.
Some options, like the Radion and Kessil
have intensity sliders which adjust intensity
or ratio of all the channels together.
But a majority require you to do it individually.
We'll get into intensity next week,
but renting a par meter is the best bet.
However, rather than sliding all the blues up
where they're better past?
If you don't know what's best, ask.
Almost any question on REEF2REEF or our Facebook group,
#AKSBRStv community is answered by multiple people
within minutes, because things like Facebook groups
are attached to your phone.
It's easy and can often get a dozen responses
inside of 10 minutes.
Most of the communities are also willing
to show you their actual results associated
with the exact light you're using in their settings.
So my personal opinion to get the best results
are from emulating those who come before you.
The next bit on this is something called spectrum blending.
That means our T5 and halide bulbs offer a uniform spectrum
but LEDs need a slew of different LED peaks to emulate that.
Visually, it may look blended but if you look closely
at the tank, you can often see individual dots
or lines of white, blue, green, or red
shooting all around the tank.
And that's what the hobby refers to as spectrum hotspots
or poorly blended spectrum.
Much of this is created by the ripples
on the surface of the water,
catching the individual LED spectrums,
magnifying it, and shooting it all around the tank.
I think the jury is still out on how much this matters.
But I can say with near 100 percent confidence
almost everyone would prefer a uniform,
perfectly blended spectrum if they had the choice.
Outside of that, a well-blended spectrum
not only is almost certainly better metabolically
for the coral, but it also looks a ton better visually.
Properly blending the spectrum eliminates
the little green, red, and blue dots
shooting all around the tank in the most unpleasant
of disco ball effects.
There are three common solutions to that currently.
First, is Kessil's approach of putting
all the LEDs under a single lens does a really good job
of blending all the individual spectrums together,
something that we tested in air and underwater
in BRStv Investigates.
Also, the diffused options which use
a sheet diffuser material to blend the spectrums.
The most common in the US being
EcoTech's Radion optional diffuser.
This does reduce the light output a bit,
but comes with performance advantages.
I don't think most people buy high-end lights
like this for maximum par alone,
but really maximum performance on a variety of fronts.
This is again, something you can see definitively
in the diffuser Investigates episode.
Third, you can pair your LEDs with T5's even spectrum
which will mute the spectrum hotspots,
something that you can see both visually
as well as likely metabolically.
Another question here is, "Should the spectrum
"change throughout the day, such a bluer
"in the morning or evening?"
I can say, well I don't think anyone knows
the answer to this definitively.
We do know that changing spectrum
is not required for success.
If you do want to change the spectrum for visual appeal,
I'd consider doing it similar to the way
Kessil Logic does it which is reduce the whites
but leave all the blues the same.
Then remember, stability is more important
than anything that we've said today.
Set it, let the corals adapt,
and achieve the desired results.
I will say the WWC does change your spectrum
throughout the day from whiter to bluer
with very minimal ramp times.
The mentality is somewhat turbo-charged photosynthesis
in the morning and then give them a break
throughout the rest of the day.
I think anyone considering either new lighting
or optimizing their current lighting,
will benefit from watching that lighting episode
of the hybrid series.
It's almost certain that you'll take away something
that benefits your tank.
See you next Wednesday
with the next batch of BRStv Reef FAQs.