Reef lighting question

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dakotajoe1

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Mar 30, 2012
Messages
56
So iv made my own lid for my 35g hex reef tank lid and I built a large light box that contains 4 T8 bulbs and 4 leds. The ballast are the cheap under cabinet fixtures from walmart and claim to consume 15w and output 60w but I will run coralifebulbs 2 10k and 2 actinic. The leds are again cheap desk lamps that the k is unknown but the sticker on the bottom sais 3w, and there is 6 LEDs per unit so I'm assuming they're wired in paralell so it should be roughly 24w of LED. Is that enough for enenomes and reef in general? When I was running 3 T8s alone I had a condy slowly die on me. So I'm not sure. Any tips or advice is greatly appreciated
 
Sounds like a lot of light.... I just started my 10g again, I'm only running a Marineland reef ready LED and I already have coralline, my puffer tank has a regular hi end fluorescent and I managed to get a couple button and mushroom polyps to open before my puffer killed them.
 
If your tank is a 35g hex, then it would be 24" tall. I'd consider your light to be very weak without knowing more about the Walmart LEDs (but then again its walmart). If you're really serious about growing corals, we can give you cheap options of LEDs that can penetrate a 24" tall tank, which would cost a little less than $200. You could also consider T5 (a lot stronger than T8) and metal halide light fixtures. The taller your tank, the stronger your light needs to be. You might be able to grow some corals close to the top of your tank with your current lighting.

Edit: the t5 and metal halides wont penetrate the height of your tank as much as a good LED fixture with a low numbered optic (i think around 60-90 degree optics).
 
Thanks for the tips guys. I tried looking up specs on the LEDs and can't even find the lamp on walmarts site or anywhere else. They are very bright tho so I'm assuming a higher k value. They are mainly in there more for accent lighting to brighten everything up and add the shimmer effect. Below is a pic of my aquascape, and as you can see the top is only ~8" from the surface. Tho condy I currently have migrated his way to the top with the lights I have in there now.

ForumRunner_20130101_142343.jpg
 
Oh and I only went with T8s because they were the only ones I could find in the 18" size I have to have.
 
PAR levels will really help if you dont know how much light your lights is producing. PAR might not tell the whole story, but it will give you ballpark numbers.
 
Ya I think I may buy one soon. Any idea where to find a decent cheap one?
 
LFS will usually carry high-end products or LEDs that are not effectice. The ones you are seeking is sold online.

Look under the general hardware/equipment section of this forum. You will find some different units being discussed. There is a surge of people using LEDs, usually newer hobbyists.
 
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