- Today on BRStv Investigates.
In the last episode we learned the secrets
behind T5 bulb spectrums that have created decades
of epic tanks and how those spectrums relate
to LED technology of today,
and this week, we find out if it's possible
to emulate those proven T5 spectrums using LED's,
and if so, can LED's actually do it better?
Let's find out if LEDs will be the ticket
to achieving better coral coloration in our tanks.
(upbeat hip hop music)
Hi, I'm Randy with this Friday's BRStv Investigates.
We put popular reefing gear, theories, and methods
to the test by experimenting on our own tanks
so you don't have to experiment on yours.
And in today's experiment, we answer two questions.
First, can we use LED's to match the spectrum mix
from our BRS Recommended T5 bulb combination
for this eight bulb ATI fixture?
And second, can LED's actually improve on that spectrum
in ways that T5's just aren't able to do?
I'll tell you right now that if we use LED's intelligently
with a goal in mind, the answer to both of those questions
is a resounding yes.
Not only can we match the coral growth,
the metabolic performance of the T5 spectrum,
but there are three distinct reasons why
today's LED technology can actually beat the spectrum mix
of T5 bulbs alone.
The real question is, how do we do that?
And today we show you the answer.
If you watched last week's episode we broke the spectrum
of 16 different T5 bulbs and from that data
we created our BRS recommended 8-bulb T5 combo
following a similar formula that we use
to create recommended spectrum mixes for LED's
by first adding in blue bulbs
that span those optimal blue spectrum ranges
between 400 and 500, to support those coral energy needs
by using four ATI Blue Plus bulbs.
After that we used two of the hybrid bulbs,
or ATI Coral Plus, to bring in some white
and balance out the tank, for an eye-pleasing look.
Then we finish off the 8-bulb combo using two true Actinics
with their spectrum peaks at 420
for some additional violet light
and coral pop and florescence.
For what it's worth, Ryan and I tried
all sorts of bulb combinations from the 16 bulb types
we had available, measured the spectrum mix both visually
and using a spectrometer, and from what you see here
from our BRS Recommended bulb combo is our best attempt
at creating a wide, broad-spectrum approach
targeted at making the tank balanced to the eye,
that also serves the needs of the corals,
while accenting their florescence.
For our goals of coral metabolic function
being top priority, followed by an eye-pleasing tank
this bulb combo is what we believe will be the best
to achieve those goals.
So now that we have this spectrum mix using T5's,
our goal today is answering those two questions,
is it possible to match the same spectrum using LED's
like the AI Hydra 64,
Kessil A360X, G5 Radion Blue,
and the Maxspect Razer X, and if so,
can we actually improve upon it?
As you're about to find out, one of these LED modules
match our BRS recommended T5 spectrum
nearly identically out of the box, however all of them
have some surprising unique advantages in other areas
when utilized to achieve very specific goals.
Let's find out how they performed.
In order to conduct today's test,
I'll first show you what each LED has to offer
in individual controllable spectrum ranges,
then use those adjustable channels to try our best to mimic
the recommended T5 spectrum, show you what we came up with,
and then share some thoughts on how
each LED was able to achieve this,
and it all begins with the AI Hydra 64.
From the seven controllable color channels
in the AI Hydra 64 offering, we see a UV channel
that peaks at 408 nanometers, violet channel at 411,
royal blue that jumps to a 450 peak,
blue channel with a peak at 471, green at 514,
a red at 660, and a white channel that has a prominent peak
at 443, and a hump in that green to yellow area around 550.
After making multitudes of dynamic tweaks to the Hydra 64's
seven channels we finally landed as close as we could
to our T5 bulb spectrum with the channels set
to UV and violet at 140%, royal set to 145%,
blue's at 100%, green's at 90%, 0% for the red,
and cool white's at 40%.
Compared side by side to our T5 custom spectrum,
we find that it is less than perfect match,
which is likely due to the Hydra
being underrepresented in that 425 range.
As we saw from the individual color channels,
420 to 440 just isn't there, however, an informed reefer
should be able to solve that gap by supplementing
the Hydra 64 with some T5 Actinic bulbs, which peak at 420.
That said, there is an LED benefit here over T5's
in that, once you've maximized the blue spectrum range
for coral metabolic function and growth,
you can make dynamic changes to the other
lighting components that make the tank look awesome
and more appealing to the eye,
by adding in varying degrees of whites, greens, and reds
instantly, on the fly instead of endlessly changing
bulb combinations until you find what you like.
Up next we have the Kessil A360X which we've long touted
as being one of the most fool-proof LED lighting options
out there, clearly demonstrated in the data
you're about to see, where we were able to provide
a nearly identical spectrum ratio
to our BRS Recommended T5 bulb combo,
using only two of the A360X's four controllable channels.
Those four controllable channels start with a purposely
locked-down blue spectrum band channel,
that covers a wide blue band from 420 to 500,
and scales up from 0 to 100 while adding in more white,
followed by three other supplemental channels
with violet channel that peaks at 430, red channel at 636,
and a green spectrum channel that peaks at 512.
So as I just mentioned after several tweaks
to these four channels, we were able to create a spectrum
mix strikingly similar to our BRS Recommended T5 bulb combo
by simply setting the blue color channel to 30%,
and the UV channel to 100%,
which widened out that entire spectrum band
to just slightly less in that 400 to 420 range,
but almost dead-on from 440 to 540.
The blue peak of the Kessil at 441
is only slightly to the right of the T5 peak at 436,
but still the closest to that BRS Recommended T5 range
that we will see across all of LED's in today's test.
From an LED benefits standpoint shone here by the A360X
it doesn't get any easier than this when adjusting spectrum
where there's always a fixed peak locked-down
in that target spectrum range for coral metabolic function.
Choosing a spectrum that works
is as simple as tuning the tank to your eye,
and then scaling the intensity ratio across all channels
to meet your PAR goals.
Next we look at the latest from G5 Radion Blue,
which has double the amount of individual color control
as the Kessil, that gives you the keys
to eight different spectrum ranges,
starting with a UV channel that has a 404 nanometer peak,
violet channel with a 424 peak, royal blue at 446,
followed by a blue channel that peaks at 475,
cyan blue-green channel with a 498 peak,
and a lime channel with a wide band covering 500 to 700.
Red channel that spikes at 657,
and finally a cool white channel
with a more sharp blue peak at 442, along with a hump
in that green to yellow 550 range.
There is unique benefit to the LED array
that EcoTech targeted for the G5 Radion Blue,
and that is the ability to set each of these eight channels
to 100% and produce a spectrum that will support
both coral metabolic function, as well as look pretty good
to the eye, making this setup and adjustment
of the Radion Blue as simple as mounting it
and adjusting the overall point intensity slider
to meet your tank's PAR needs.
Although most reefers, including myself,
will likely choose to run the Radion in this fashion,
for the purpose of today's test, we revisited these settings
to try and mimic our T5 bulb spectrum mix
as closely as possible, meaning we found
the best representation of our T5 spectrum
with the UV channel set to 45%, 100% for violet,
royal at 60%, blue at 70%, cyan at 50%,
lime channel at 20%, 0% for the red,
and cool white maxed-out at 100%.
Comparing the spectrum produced by those settings
to that T5 bulb spectrum, we see that the Radion Blue
is fairly close with almost the entire wide blue band
being represented in at least half of the spectrum chart,
but with a very pronounced peak at 446.
So with eight channels of control using the Radion,
the LED benefit here is there is far more configuration
than ever, in terms of spectrum adjustments,
however, my biggest takeaway is the difference between
the blue peak in the T5 spectrum mix around 436,
versus the Radion's strong royal blue peak around 446,
which is really the range where we typically see
that intense coral pop and florescence.
Actually that 445 to 450 spectrum range is so desirable
for this purpose that many reefers who use T5's exclusively
intentionally target that by adding in some LED supplement,
like the Reef Brite Actinic Blue XHO Strips.
In fact, when we added one of them
to our BRS Recommended T5 mix you can see
that it fills in that 450 peak,
and visually adds in more florescence.
That 445 to 450 range is a feature unique to the Radion Blue
in this comparison, where we also have the ability
to increase the intensity of that 450 peak at will.
Something you just can't do with T5 bulb combos alone.
Next we have the four-channel 100 watt Maxspect Razor X
with a combined royal blue and cool white channel A
that has a prominent peak at 443,
and that small shoulder in the green and yellow spectrum
from the additional cool white LED's
that tops-out around 550.
Channel B is a combination of
royal blue and light blue LED's together
creating a wide peak at 450 to 460,
followed by a channel C of deep blue and violet LED's
which create one of the widest offerings
that we've ever tested in this near-UV range
that peaks at 396, and almost completely fills
that 380 to 420 band.
Lastly there's a channel D that combines deep red, cyan,
and warm white LED's for an interesting spectrum mix
with peaks at 662, 500, and a small hump around 440.
The Razor's approach to controlling two or three
different LED types using a single channel
shows up in those wider peaks and spectrum bands
versus the sharp spikes in LED's like the Hydra and Radion.
But did those pre-blended channels allow us
to recreate our eight-bulb T5 spectrum mix?
After mixing them together and testing the spectrum blend,
we came up with our best representation
of the Recommended T5 spectrum, with the channel A and B
set to 100%, channel C at 75%, and channel D at 40%,
which resulted in a spectrum mix
that was a bit thinner than the overall blue band
with a similar 445 to 450 peak as the Radion Blue.
Although we weren't able to completely fill in
that 400 to 430 spectrum using the Razor's
four fixed colored channels,
it's unique near UV and violet spectrum mix
absolutely sets it apart from T5's
by providing the ability of not only attaining
the spectrum range in much higher ratios
than you could ever do with T5's alone,
but also attaining those ranges in higher ratios
than any other LED's we've tested so far.
Which also begins to raise questions
about how reefers might be able to harness
this unique LED ability to test hobbyists theories
that controlling near UV spectrum might manipulate
or change coral florescence.
With that in mind I think we can clearly give
a nine out of ten reef certainty
for our first question today of can we use LED's to match
the spectrum mix of our BRS Recommended eigh-bulb T5 combo?
Looking at the spectrum comparisons
for what we were able to create using four different
approaches to LED control,
there are clearly LED's that were able to match
our T5 combo almost identically,
and some that were easier to control than others.
Keeping in mind that today's test was about
demonstrating the adjustability of LED's over T5's,
rather than a conversation about which spectrum is the best.
Nearly every reef-tank-centric LED option out there
is capable of growing corals, however we believe
that it's those that target a wide blue spectrum approach
that will achieve the most success.
Related to that, I'm giving a solid ten out of ten
for the second question today,
can LED's actually improve on that spectrum
in ways T5's just aren't able to do?
Outside of providing those spectrum ranges
for corals' energy needs,
I think we clearly saw three distinct ways
that LED's can improve our corals' coloration in the tank
and that is: 1. LED's are the only way to add in
and specifically target that strong royal blue 450 peak
without affecting the others,
for eye-popping coral florescence
that's just not available in T5's.
2. LED's allow you to control the addition
of near UV lighting below 420 nanometers
in higher ratios than T5's,
which most of the reefing community believes
creates or changes coral florescence color pigments
or color morphs.
And 3. LED's provide the ability
to adjust non-fluorescent coloration of corals and fish
through having dynamic control over reds, greens, and whites
allowing you to highlight subtle changes
in hue, shade and tint.
But do those benefits mean that T5 are out-dated
and no longer relevant?
Trust me, T5 users, I would be screaming
at my screen right now along with you
if I said the answer was "yes".
So for those of you who still hold a place in your heart
for T5's like I do, in this next episode over here
I'm sharing our BRS Recommended bulb combinations,
mounting heights, and PAR data
for a four-, six-, and eight-bulb
ATI T5 Sun Power fixture that you won't want to miss.