Light question

[Lyghtning]

Fantastic responses! thank you so much. So i've been doing some calculations on lumen's and led's vs T5's and such.

First i'd like to respond to a few already made comments

@ajcanale, Fantastic suggestion, i'm going to go ahead and get another 50/50 dual blue/white for the spectrum, and a small 50/50 to use as moonlight, i think... unless someone else here has suggestions for moonlight.

Doing the lumens testing on LED's and which is indicated on Wavepoint website.
Wattage is not what we want to consider looking at, just luminosity and angle or possibly even some diffusion.
T5 HO's wattage aside can produce a wide range of luminosity, from 3000/60000 color temp from listed site below
http://www.lightingtaxdeduction.org/technologies/t5.html

Now the wavepoint LED's which i own are
Small: Wave Point® 6" 8-watt 10000k Daylight Micro Sun LED High Output Clamp Light
Large: Wave Point® 12" 16-watt Super Blue & 10000k Daylight Micro Sun LED High Output Clamp Light

now the light angel i'll have to look at i'm considering possibly diffusing it or, doing the reverse indirect lighting.


for a combine total if both on of 20000k i'm guessing slightly to much with both. i'll be breaking down

 

[gbru316]

Fantastic responses! thank you so much. So i've been doing some calculations on lumen's and led's vs T5's and such.

First i'd like to respond to a few already made comments

@ajcanale, Fantastic suggestion, i'm going to go ahead and get another 50/50 dual blue/white for the spectrum, and a small 50/50 to use as moonlight, i think... unless someone else here has suggestions for moonlight.

Doing the lumens testing on LED's and which is indicated on Wavepoint website.
Wattage is not what we want to consider looking at, just luminosity and angle or possibly even some diffusion.
T5 HO's wattage aside can produce a wide range of luminosity, from 3000/60000 color temp from listed site below
http://www.lightingtaxdeduction.org/technologies/t5.html

Now the wavepoint LED's which i own are
Small: Wave Point® 6” 8-watt 10000k Daylight Micro Sun LED High Output Clamp Light
Large: Wave Point® 12” 16-watt Super Blue & 10000k Daylight Micro Sun LED High Output Clamp Light

now the light angel i'll have to look at i'm considering possibly diffusing it or, doing the reverse indirect lighting.

for a combine total if both on of 20000k i'm guessing slightly to much with both. i'll be breaking down

I hate to throw a wrench in your calculations, but comparing lumens is useless. Lumens, and luminous flux, measure what the human eye can detect. Problem is, coral don't have human eyes.

Instead, the (main) measurement we use to "standardize" lighting to allow similar comparison is PAR (photosynthetically active radiation). This is the light that photosynthetic organisms use for synthesis.

You keep citing color temperature (kelvin). This only matters to us. It is the summation of the ratios of all the wavelengths present in a lighting source. Again, disregard this number.

An extremely simplified example: Coral needs wavelengths 2, 4 and 6 to thrive. This color temp would be 12. However, there are many ways to get 12:
1) wavelengths 1, 2 and 9
2) wavelengths 3, 4 and 5
3) wavelengths 2, 4 and 6
4) wavelengths 1, 5 and 6

As previously mentioned, only wavelengths 2, 4, and 6 would suit the corals need, yet all have the same color temperature.

The 2 biggest measurements to focus on are PAR and wavelength.


Lighting is an incredibly "deep" subject and can trigger quite an emotional response in people, for reasons unknown to me. Keep reading. It wouldn't help to get away from the forums and search for some scientific journal studies either. You can usually skip all the science (if so desired) and go right to the analysis/conclusions of studies to get the gist of them.

I spent hours and hours researching, for several months, prior to building my LED fixture. I don't recommend LED's to anyone without doing so. There is too much information to consider. They aren't like metal halides or T5, you can't just throw an LED fixture over any tank and have success.

 

[Lyghtning]

now that's the science i was looking for! now i know where to head next!

 

[jinks]

I would not put money into any more of these. They are 1w. Putting 3x the amount of one wats over the tank isn't going to give you the same results. These remind me of the marine land led. They are just light, not for growing coral. There is a reason that one of these fixture costs less then a par 38 bulb and its not that they really like saving you money.

 

[Lyghtning]

any advise on where to get some reputable led's i really dont want to go T5 or Hailide. My tank runs 80 degrees as it is with no heater/chiller i really dont want to add more heat, i'm in arizona

 

[jinks]

You could get one of eBay. There is a long thread on here somewhere about Chinese LEDs. Doesn't seem worth the money for higher ender LEDs if you know you won't keep them long.