Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

I ordered these last Friday from BoostLED.com. They are supposed to be coming in today. I cannot wait. I ordered 2 with the lamp for my biocube 29 HQI. I am going to remove the HQI fixture. I'll tell you how it goes.

Keeping an eye out. I'm waiting until I see a much-improved efficiency ratio on more daylight-oriented LEDs. As they stand, they have no real intensity advantage over blue LEDs, which have had much more attention and tweaking within the hobby--probably explaining the disparate efficiencies, when daylight should always be more efficient.

well in a diode you are not using gas to create light(refer to leds description and operation ) so there is not going to be any difference between par on any color of led
to create what you are looking for i would run optics on daylight leds and no optics on actinic leds
that would create that intense daylight effect that i think you are looking for

The medium used is irrelevant in this case, actually (be it gas or metal complexes in a diode). I think you may be confusing energy input and actual photosynthetic usage. Photosynthesis is more active overall with a daylight spectrum, since it can take advantage of a number of wavelengths via various other accessory pigments. While in corals, it may have a very slight efficiency curve toward the blue end, it requires more energy to create blue light. So, while the same amount of energy is going into the diode to produce light, there will be fewer photons, though they will be predominantly blue. Compare this to a more optimized daylight LED that takes advantage of a broad band of spectra (including a nice blue spike) that can be useful to photosynthesis, resulting in more overall usable intensity. The LED hasn't quite caught up with that portion of theory, yet, but they are working on it. There are plenty of bluer options that are more intense in terms of PPFD, but there are even more possibilities with daylight LEDs intensity-wise. Beyond that, it will still largely boil down to what kind of light tint you particularly like--blue, white, or daylight. I prefer somewhere between the latter two, since that is how most of the reefs I've been on look like, but that is just preference. Thanks to the interest in bluer LEDs in the hobby, they are able to emit more than enough light to satisfy peoples' tastes AND satisfy the energy requirements of corals.

As far as the suggestion goes, that would create more spotlighting effect than what I'd be interested in. I also dislike the refractive effects of mixing LEDs, which is why I'd prefer a single alternative.

I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU MEAN "The LED hasn't quite caught up with that portion of theory"
I THINK IT WILL BE SOME TIME BEFORE WE ARE AT THAT POINT

The lamps have been on for a week now and it's awesome. More of my Zoa's ans GSP have opened than ever before a,d my water temp stays at 77 now instead of 80 during the day and 77 at night.

Any pics?

come on let us see some pics !!! and what did the lights cost you???

i'll get some pics up tonight.