LED Light System Wattage Help?

[MKFMedic]

Happy Thanksgiving

I've been looking at adding more light to my small 12 gal. nano reef tank. I have a variety of soft corals, a birds nest and assorted zoas and polyps with one fan sponge.

Innovative Marine seems to add a pendant light that would work well with my situation, but I'm not sure of how many LED's, watts, I should be looking for in a 14" tank. They make a 8w model, then jump to a 30w model.

My local fish store has a used 30w model they used as a display on a 30 gal tank, and are offering a GREAT deal, less than half what they cost new so I was thinking about snapping it up, but am worried that it's way too much light and only do more harm than good.

If anyone can point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks from a Newby!

Mike

 

[CleverBs]

I dont personally seed how that would be to much light but Im no coral expert.

 

[Gti_Leo]

wit hLEDs its are to say as there are so many differetypes of LEDs that put off different light outputs. i'm not sure if 8watts would be enough light though what are the tank dimensions

 

[MKFMedic]

My tank is a 12 gal. Nano tank and measures 16 x 14 x 15 (deep).

I am thinking more and more that I should go for the great deal. If it is too much light, I can always fallback to the hood, or just move on to the larger tank, like I know I will anyway. It would just be a good excuse to size-up.

Thanks again,

Mike

 

[Jlsardina]

Look at the manufacturer site and check out its PAR rating. My LEDs offer 400 par at 24 inches but some of my corals have started to bleach from too much light so I have to move them to darker areas

 

[Gti_Leo]

i always thought corals turned brown from alot of light.

 

[Ricksreef]

i always thought corals turned brown from alot of light.

Turning brown would be from not enough light.

 

[MKFMedic]

Thanks guys!

My birds nest which is towards the top of my tank, which currently has 48 watts of CF white/blue light is getting brown on the bottom half, but is still green on the light side of the upper branches. Some of my other corals don't appear to be thriving, although they are doing O.K., which has prompted me to up the lighting.

The PAR Ratings are:

40 - 70 in the corners at 16"
70 - 100 in the middle at 16"
100 - 150 in the middle center 16"

range up to the top 4" to:

350 - 370 in the middle center

Of course, they also show their example tank as a 24" square and 24" inch deep tank.

Anyway, I appreciate everyone's time.

Mike

 

[Gti_Leo]

is that the 8 watt?

 

[MKFMedic]

It's their 30w model, 14000k.

 

[Gti_Leo]

thats actually not even alot of light :S you'll probably only be able to house mid light corals with that

 

[MKFMedic]

GTI Leo,

Thanks for your thoughts. I'm still trying to figure out the differences between CF's and LED's, but if I understand it correctly, they put out more PAR than the CFS of greater wattage. The other advantages are low heat and long, long life.

I don't really want to raise high light requirement corals anyway, so I think it will work for me and I pulled the trigger on the 30w led this afternoon. I also ordered a 30gal tank to replace my 12 gall, but it is only 4" deeper than my current tank, so I hope it will work well! I'll be sure to let everyone know about my experience once I have everything up and running.

Thanks again!

Mike

 

[Gti_Leo]

well CFS don't put out that much as much PAR per watt as LEDs do so you'd need to pump out more wattage from it to get the same growing power as an LED fixture