Finnex ALC

[yourendofdays]

I'm going to start up a 40 breeder. I have 2 36" Finnex ALC lights I bought for a freshwater planted tank. It is customizable as far as colors, and has great par levels, especially since the40 is 6" shorter than the tank I had it on (a 65). Seems a shame to spend all the extra cash on new lights when I have these already. Assuming I can customize them to take out the red and maybe the green, any issues with this?

 

[TX_REEF]

What do you want to grow?

I find it hard to believe that PAR numbers are "great" from a 35.8 watt max output fixture - sorry to be a debbie downer

 

[yourendofdays]

I'm going to start up a 40 breeder. I have 2 36" Finnex ALC lights I bought for a freshwater planted tank. It is customizable as far as colors, and has great par levels, especially since the40 is 6" shorter than the tank I had it on (a 65). Seems a shame to spend all the extra cash on new lights when I have these already. Assuming I can customize them to take out the red and maybe the green, any issues with this?

It's listed as 117 at 14". I have two of them. So far I'm just planning on lps.

 

[TX_REEF]

I see, if that's the case (114 watts per fixture x2 fixtures) you should be fine. When I searched for finnex ALC lights, this came up on their website:

 

[MoshJosh]

Technically speaking they will probably work but likely not the best options.

Appears the fixture uses white, red, green, and blue LEDs. Depending on the temperature (kelvin) of the whites, you will probably want to run the blues and whites max and the green and red very low. Given the PAR reading they provided are likely on max settings, cutting the green and red is likely cutting out a chunk of that PAR.

While the visible appearance of these fixtures can be customized, the actual wavelengths they provide are limited to the white, red, green, and blues. . . if that makes sense? Like you aren't getting boost in royal blue, cyan, or purple like is some other reef specific LEDs. Said another way, you can adjust this fixture to look like a reef specific LED without offering the same spectrums. . .

 

[yourendofdays]

I see, if that's the case (114 watts per fixture x2 fixtures) you should be fine. When I searched for finnex ALC lights, this came up on their website:

I see that as well. I probably should have prefaced this with the fact that I'm relatively clueless when understanding correlation between watts vs par. Regardless of what I saw for par, would a light of this wattage/type be successful for a 40 breeder?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

You might be successful at keeping them alive, but you will not get that gorgeous colour pop from those lights. Likely the corals will brown out, since the lights give different colour spectrum for green plants than corals.

You can try it though, get some cheap zoa for $10 and see what happens. Maybe we will all be surprised and it will work.

 

[TX_REEF]

I see that as well. I probably should have prefaced this with the fact that I'm relatively clueless when understanding correlation between watts vs par. Regardless of what I saw for par, would a light of this wattage/type be successful for a 40 breeder?

do you have a PAR meter? if so, can you post a photo of your tank with the PAR values written over top of the photo at various locations? to be honest, I think you'd need a more purpose-driven reef light. If you're on a budget, check out NooPysche, they're the gold standard for affordable, capable LEDs: https://noopsychereeflight.com/products/k7-pro-iii-full-set-aquarium-led-coral-light

If you're more open on budget, let us know, and we can give all sorts of excellent recommendations.

 

[TX_REEF]

It's listed as 117 at 14". I have two of them. So far I'm just planning on lps.

Ahhh ok. That probably means you get 117 PAR at the surface of the water if you mount the fixture at 14" above the water surface? Definitely not sufficient for a mixed reef.

 

[FUNGI]

This light will work (keep alive) for most if not all softies. You might even have luck with monti caps if placed at the very top.
however, spend the $$ now and get a new light and sell the current ones. I dont know about the nooPsyche lights, but these are awesome:

Maxspect Razor X 150w LED Lighting Fixture (CLOSEOUT)

The Maxspect Razor X is an All-in-One LED Lighting System designed to seamlessly merge into your living area and over your aquarium with elegance and style. Available in 4 affordable models.

store.coralvue.com

$389.00

 

[oreo54]

Technically speaking they will probably work but likely not the best options.

Appears the fixture uses white, red, green, and blue LEDs. Depending on the temperature (kelvin) of the whites, you will probably want to run the blues and whites max and the green and red very low. Given the PAR reading they provided are likely on max settings, cutting the green and red is likely cutting out a chunk of that PAR.

While the visible appearance of these fixtures can be customized, the actual wavelengths they provide are limited to the white, red, green, and blues. . . if that makes sense? Like you aren't getting boost in royal blue, cyan, or purple like is some other reef specific LEDs. Said another way, you can adjust this fixture to look like a reef specific LED without offering the same spectrums. . .

Finnex generally uses 7000k whites.
ALC was sort of a specialty design.
At one point it was supposedly doomed from lack of being able to get the proper LEDs , or at a reasonable price. Not sure.
Trivia.
115 par at 14" light face to sensor and in free air. Finnex provided.
Other measurements were 75 par at 18"

Stands only about an inch off the tank rim.
40b is 16" high. So 17"- substrate.

2 should get you about 150 at the substrate level...on full.

 

[MoshJosh]

Finnex generally uses 7000k whites.
ALC was sort of a specialty design.
At one point it was supposedly doomed from lack of being able to get the proper LEDs , or at a reasonable price. Not sure.
Trivia.
115 par at 14" light face to sensor and in free air. Finnex provided.
Other measurements were 75 par at 18"

Stands only about an inch off the tank rim.
40b is 16" high. So 17"- substrate.

2 should get you about 150 at the substrate level...on full.

I assume the color LEDs don’t put out nearly the same PAR as the white, wonder what the PAR would be with red and greens less than 25%. . .

Still not the worst PAR though

 

[oreo54]

I assume the color LEDs don’t put out nearly the same PAR as the white, wonder what the PAR would be with red and greens less than 25%. . .

Still not the worst PAR though

Well green LEDs are notoriously inefficient.
Red on the other hand is pretty good.
You may lose about 30% with both at 25%
Rough guess.

You can test your lights a bit.
Use either a lux or pods app and put the lights at the right height
Test would be in free air of course.
The lux measurement would need to be converted.