How Much LED lighting do I need?

[sanchezkk]

I have a 55g Reef with some Softies, finger Corals, Star Polyps and various beginner corals. I was curious as to the wattage needed to run a rich reef tank. Any advise would be appreciated.

[Brandon4432]

I personally own two tanks a 75 gallon freshwater setup with diy sump and diy led's also a 110 reef setup with a diy 75 gallon sump in the basement of my house. It also has diy led's. for my freshwater i have around 40 led's. But i have them ramped down ton1/4 power. On my 110 lighting i have around 90 they are ramped all the way down to. I think its better to put alot of leds and ramp them down then to put little and ramp them up. Especially in a proffesional reef tank

[bavass]

depends on what you want to keep as to what type and how many LED's you need. There is a difference in LED's some are 1w and some are 3w. Do a google search for LED's on a 55g and see if you can find some PAR readings