The team at Philips didn’t just slap some diodes into a box and call it a LED light for coral as it is showing it has put serious consideration into this product. In fact, Philips commissioned Tim Wijgerde, Ph.D. of Coral Publications to run a preliminary test of the CoralCare vs. T5 lamps to test the hypothesis, “What is the performance of the CoralCare LED unit, in terms of stimulating coral growth, shape and coloration, compared to conventional T5 technology?”
该测试在一个月的时间内进行了，使用两个Coralcare灯在一个储罐的一个部分上除以PVC，由PVC与一对ATI SunPower相提并论，6x54W可点化的T5固定装置，总计12个Aquablue Spezial 12,000 Kelvin灯泡。尽管这些标准被认为是相当温暖的（甚至在报告中指出），但这为比较增长提供了频谱。
For corals, there were a variety of SPS corals includingStylophora pistillata, a purple morph ofAcroporasp., and a green morph ofAcropora cf.muricata.After one month of balancing lighting, flow and parameters, the study found there was little difference in the growth rate, coloration and shape of the coral, however there was a 30% higher wall–plug efficiency gained from going LED.
Of course, this was just a test ran for a month and we’d have to see longer-term tests in order to draw other conclusions around growth, color and morphology. Many reefers and vendors tout better growth and coloration from LEDs and while these are mainly subjective, it is nice to see a scientific test completed. We are looking forward to hearing more from Philips over the next few months.
Here is the overall report summary, but you can see theentire report here:
“This report presents the preliminary results obtained during a field test of the CoralCare LED unit developed by Philips. The goal of the field test was to evaluate the performance of the CoralCare unit as a light source for marine aquaria, in particular corals.
将两个190W的珊瑚雷单元放置在490升水族馆（尺寸200 x 70 x 35 cm）上方，以及两个T5参考灯具（ATI SunPower，每个可点化6x54W）。使用PVC分离器将水族馆分为两个部分，以防止每个光源的交叉效应。将量子辐照度（光合活性辐射，〜400–700 nm）设置为〜560 µmol光子M-2 S-1。通过在每个部分中放置一个流动泵（Maxspect Gyre 150），在恒定正向流动下以20％的功率运行，从而产生水流量，从而在珊瑚周围以10-15 cm S-1的形式运行20％的功率。
在每个部分中，培养了三种硬化珊瑚珊瑚种（每个光源的每个物种n = 5个片段）；Stylophora pistillata的粉红色变形，Acropora sp。的紫色形态和Acropora cf的绿色变形。Muricata（ntotal = 30个片段）。通过测量每个珊瑚物种的特定生长速率以及对其形态和颜色的主观摄影分析来评估两种光源的性能。
经过一个月的培养，在T5和CoralCare LED单位下获得的增长率分别为2.7±0.3％和2.8±0.4％天，分别为pistillata。对于紫色的Acropora sp。，在T5下，生长率为1.7±0.4％，在Coralcare LED下，生长率为1.7±0.3％。Acropora cf.在T5和Coralcare LED下，穆里卡塔（Muricata）的增长率分别为2.5±0.3％和2.2±0.3％。
No significant growth differences between T5 and CoralCare LED were found, for any species, although growth differences between species were detected, irrespective of light source. Subjective evaluation of photographs suggests that coral morphology and colouration are similar between light sources after one month of culture. In preliminary conclusion, the newly CoralCare unit developed by Philips delivers results which seem equal to conventional T5 technology, at 30% higher wall–plug efficiency. This report will be followed up by a more detailed analysis of coral growth, morphology and colouration after several months of culture.”
[Images viaPhilips, Thanks to Toby for pointing us to the report]
