LED lighting?

soccerbo24

Member
Hey I'm still new to the hobby my 29 gallon tank has been set up for about a year now and I am getting into corals I will be upgrading my tank in a few years so I don't wanna dump to much into my lighting I have a
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002DIRBY/ref=mp_s_a_1_10?qid=1402182041&sr=8-10&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70
Lamp on my tank right now with a
Ultra sun and coral sun on it my coral doesn't seem to grow I have a few softies in there and they open but just never grow have had them for 6 months and seen no growth I would like to find a cheaper LED that will get some grow so I have some nice coral pieces when I upgrade any ideas?
 

silverado61

Well-Known Member
Read up on your corals and find out what kind and how much light they need. You might find that what you have is enough but your corals are getting either too much or not enough light. You might need to place them higher or lower in your tank depending on their needs.
 

silverado61

Well-Known Member
Again, some corals are light hungry. Some, are not. You have to do your research to find out if they are at the right level of your tank or if your meeting their water and nutritional requirement's. Read up on them.

This is a good book to start with:
 

acrylic51

Active Member
Those books are good for general knowledge but ultimately LED lighting is a different beast. The output of and LED is different than a MH or fluorescent bulb. It's a more pointed source and depending on optics so to basically say "X" amount of LEDs are equivalent to a 250w MH is hard to do.
 

silverado61

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///t/397769/led-lighting#post_3546681
Those books are good for general knowledge but ultimately LED lighting is a different beast. The output of and LED is different than a MH or fluorescent bulb. It's a more pointed source and depending on optics so to basically say "X" amount of LEDs are equivalent to a 250w MH is hard to do.
I offered help but your way more qualified than I am to answer these questions acrylic.

I pass the baton to you sir.
 

acrylic51

Active Member
Not even close sir!!!! The bboks mentioned are an excellent starting reference point. I'm a novice with the LEDs and I'm running a "cheap" Oceanrevive unit over my setup trying to learn....very good results, growth with a very new system but my purple monti is giving me fits....it's growing but pale so I suspect to much light. This piece came from a MH system up top but as I mentioned LEDs are more sourced than broad compared to MH in my trials.
I just caution to acclimate slowly and hard to compare the 2 and no real hard science to base things off of.....
 

tur4k

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///t/397769/led-lighting#post_3546697
It's growing but pale so I suspect to much light. This piece came from a MH system up top but as I mentioned LEDs are more sourced than broad compared to MH in my trials.
I just caution to acclimate slowly and hard to compare the 2 and no real hard science to base things off of.....


Yeah. You have to be really careful when transitioning to LED's. I bleached the crap out of my monti caps and my BTA before I dialed them way back and used the acclimation feature to very slowly increase the intensity. Anything new goes straight to the bottom on a side.
 
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