Question regarding LEDs over a pico

[VoidRaven]

So it's been a while since I have started up a tank and a lot has changed in the brief number of years that have passed. I'm delving into the picoreef end of the pool this time around with a 3g acrylic desktop tank and a 5g cube (looking at the Ecoxotic).

So what's the deal with LEDs these days in relation to tank lighting? Specifically, what number of LEDs over a tank is sufficient for moderate to high lighting classification? I'm looking at possibly having 9 LEDs over the 5g Ecoxotic tank...will this be adequate lighting for keeping colored sticks or do I need to blast this thing with 20+ LEDs? (at which point a MH bulb would be cheaper IMHO)

Any and all thoughts/opinions will be appreciated. I'm excited at getting back into the setup phase of a tank again. At one time had a 55g, 75g, and 30g....then when to a 100g and 29g....now just have the 29g but the bug has bitten for new reef stuff so I'm going small this time around.

 

[mussel and hate]

More LEDs of varied spectrum within the appropriate range, at low amperage would be ideal.

I kind of like the idea of 12 LEDs on Kcress' dimm4 @500mA... say 3 X-TE RB, 3 X-RE blue, 3 TV 420nm and 3 neutral white(may as well go X-ML since there's only 3).

You could tune your color and have plenty of PAR for very little $ while preserving an upgrade path...

 

[ange062]

What I typically find is that LED's are typically equivalent to roughly 2x their power when compared to T5 / MH.

I.e. a Radion is 130w but comparable to a 250w MH. If you want to go back to the old watts-per-gallon trick using this equation then you would want about 9-12w of LED on a 3g, and 15-20w on a 5g to be in the high light range (6-8wpg). That being said, I have a 19w LED on my 3g pico and all is looking well so far, though it is insanely bright!!

 

[VoidRaven]

Hmmm...ok, interesting. Thinking small is a whole new realm for me so I'm enjoying the adventure and learning.

mussel...I have no clue what you said but search is my friend! I'll dig into your recommendation and see what I find. Whole new terminology for me here. Thank you!!

ange062...Thank you for that explanation. Starting to make more sense to me now. I will have to dig further on potential fixtures. I do really like the Ecoxotic LED fixture for its smooth lines and simplicity but it's only expandable to 3 strips of 3 LED's. To add more I would need to add another fixture which, at that point, probably exceeds the cost of just buying a larger LED rig in the first place.

Obviously I have more to learn but thanks for pointing out a couple directions to start wandering in.

BTW...aside from the usual suspects (Foster an Smith, MarineDepot) where are some good places to buy pico/nano gear?

 

[mussel and hate]

The dim4 is an LED controller with 4 channels. It can drive 3 high power LEDs on each channel at ~500ma without any additional driver as long as you provide proper power. this would probably be more than adequate for such a small reef. If you decide to go bigger later the dim 4 can control drivers instead of driving LEDs directly.

Here's a link to a thread about it: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=19582651

The cryptic codes describe specific LED models. I suggested 3 different Blues with some neutral white to target a broad section of the photosynthetic response curve. You could tune the spectrum and intensity by driving each color on separate channels, adjusting each channel according to your preference and response from your animals.

Edit: BTW I was suggesting DIY components. I realize I wasn't at all clear on that. You can build something at least as good as what you can buy fairly easily.

 

[VoidRaven]

Ah ha, thank you for that clarification. Much appreciated. I'll dig through that thread. My DIY skills are a little mediocre at best but could be fun...then again, I'm sure I'll just be looking for fixtures already made for simplicity.