LED Help?!

[KaZeR.UK]

Hey, so I've got a nano tank with dimensions of roughly 61x44x33 cm. It's been up for awhile with fish etc but I want to move onto some corals.

There is 2 led bars already in there, a white and a blue. The blue is 127 lumens per 0.2w light and there is 6 lights. The white is 45 lumens per 0.2w light and there is 12 lights.

The white is advertised as suitable for marine. My question is either or both sufficient for corals? I can't find any par ratings for them and it confuses the hell out of me anyway. Any help and advice good or bad it appreciated.

The blue brings out the fluorescent on my mates corals so I'm hoping it will be suitable? If not I will have to do a custom job on the hood to install something more inline.

 

[mcgyvr]

Nope..
You have what.. .2x6 = 1.2W and .2x12= 2.4W so 3.6Watts on a what ~ 20 some gallon tank..
I'm surprised you can even see anything in the tank

You need somewhere around 30-50W or so for most corals for a tank that size.. more for SPS (high light) corals..

Id pick up a 165W Galaxy Hydro or Mars Aqua "Black box" from Amazon/Ebay,etc.. for around $100 and run it turned down below half (20-30% or so max to start and see how it goes..)

There really isn't "much" selection in between..

 

[KaZeR.UK]

Massive help . I will have a look Asap. Thanks man

 

[lockdown52]

Led

Led

Want a 2nd opinion? @mcgyvr is absolutely correct! :spin1:

 

[xCry0x]

If not I will have to do a custom job on the hood to install something more inline.

Are you using a bio-cube type tank with a hood or is this a tank with a custom built wood hood over it?

I ask because depending on the hood you may have issues with off the shelf lights.

Also, the previous comment about "not being able to see anything" with those lights is a bit short sighted. A LED strip will absolutely light the tank fine - those strips can be blindingly bright.

I have a 36" truelumen strip on my tank serving as actinic supplementation and dawn/dusk lighting. It is by no means by growth lighting - but it does a great job illuminating the entire tank and getting everything to fluoresce. It is listed at 23 watts and 216 diodes so what ~0.1w each.

Your lighting needs really come down to what you want in the tank. You said coral, what type of coral?

Do you want to just throw in some softies like mushrooms, xenya, star polyps maybe a torch or frogspawn? If so, you could likely get away with a couple more strip lights.

Do you want to grow SPS and throw a clam on the sand bed? Ok - likely going to need a fixture using 3w LEDs in order to get the PAR penetration.

 

[KaZeR.UK]

It's a fitted stock hood but it can be taken off and I could do a suspension or some sort of bridge for the lighting. As for the current LEDs, yeah they definitely light the tank up haha but I've no idea what spectrum they are etc. I was led to believe that the watts per gallon rule didn't really apply to LED lights? That's where my confusion comes in. If I need to buy another light then that's no issue, I've no desire to rush things and mess it all up.

As for what corals I'm thinking of keeping... I was mainly going to focus on Zoas, maybe a branching torch and if all goes well after some time, then I might try and keep a sun coral; Big emphasis on might though due to what I've heard about problems with nitrates.

 

[OllieNZ]

The wpg rule doesn't apply to leds but leds come in many different types. 15 0.2w leds will light up more area than a single 3w led but with nowhere near the intensity. Corals need this intensity in varying degrees for growth. I'd have serious doubts about the lights you have being able to grow corals.

 

[KaZeR.UK]

Looks like I'm going to buy a Mars Aqua then doesn't it . Thanks for the help guys.

 

[OllieNZ]

Looks like I'm going to buy a Mars Aqua then doesn't it . Thanks for the help guys.

They're a solid choice on a budget

 

[Jeff4777]

Kessil just came out with the A80

 

[KaZeR.UK]

I had a look at that Kessil A80 and it looks great but I decided to try the Mars Aqua for now. Ordered, payed and expected to be here and set up in 2 days time now just to install a water storage tank so I can utilise my waste RO and I'm pretty much done. Hate seeing so much water be wasted.... there's only so much plant watering you can do :lolspin:

 

[OllieNZ]

I had a look at that Kessil A80 and it looks great but I decided to try the Mars Aqua for now. Ordered, payed and expected to be here and set up in 2 days time now just to install a water storage tank so I can utilise my waste RO and I'm pretty much done. Hate seeing so much water be wasted.... there's only so much plant watering you can do [emoji38]spin:

Hopefully you like the Mars, I'm pretty happy with mine. As we're coming into winter there won't be much plant watering to do...

 

[NS Mike D]

see if you can get hands on a PAR meter that will work with LEDs or if MARS publishes a PAR Mapping to take some ig the guess work out of dialing in the best settings for your tank

 

[KaZeR.UK]

That's a good shout. I'll definitely look into it, thanks!