LED light questions selection help please

[mark freshwater]

hi ,
i am getting back into reef after about 10 years and need some advice on choosing a led light.
i have a 4ftx18x20 and would like to keep soft and hard corals.
the last time i had a reef tank i was using T5s.
my main question is while looking online, alot of sites state thats there leds are for marine and coral but how can i tell if the info is, legit, eg lumens etc.
Also the prices are so varied which concerns me.
Here is an example :

• Perfect fits for 48 inch aquariums in length.
• 1800 lumen output super bright but only 27W. Service time up to 30000h.
• 5730 high brightness LEDs; Ultra-thin aluminium alloy shell ensures excellent heat dissipation and keeps keep long service life.
• The aquarium strip led light fits for freshwater, saltwater, low-intensity plants and marine aquariums.
• The combination of 10,000K White LEDs along with 460Nm Actinic Blue LEDs create the perfect SPECTRUM for marine Fish, inverts, live Rock, corals and plants to fluoresce like never before.

As you can read it states for live rock and coral etc , but i wouldnt have a clue if the lumens stated etc
back it up.

Thanks Mark

 

[mark freshwater]

Also i am in australia , here is one i found on australian Amazon, again i cant tell if its good enough or not
https://www.amazon.com.au/Aquarium-...1053909&sr=8-2&keywords=marine+aquarium+light


Also if i was to get something with more bells and whistles like this
https://www.amazon.com/VIPARSPECTRA...5124&sr=1-10&keywords=led+reef+aquarium+light.
would i have to get 2 of them for a 4ft .
thanks

 

[redfishbluefish]

It is my opinion that low watt LEDs have very poor penetration. That fixture you posted is an example.....0.22 watts per LED. You want at least 2 watts per LED. Search for 165 watt fixtures...two of these would be perfect.....or one fixture at 300 watts.

In the States, Mars Aqua is one brand that is popular.

 

[WVNed]

37 watts wont grow coral. It would be fine for a fish only tank. Try your search with reef aquarium light instead of marine. You will see higher wattage lights.

The first one that comes up is Viparspectra. Here are 2 over a tank your size.

165 watts on each side of the tank brace.
They work but have some limitations as far as tuning for power and color. The ones I received could only be adjusted in 10 % increments on each color channel. They do grow stuff though.
These lights are called BBs or Chinese black boxes on this forum. You can search for more info. There are other brands. They differ in firmware control and in LED colors. Not sure what you can get there.

I moved on to a Reefbreeders Photon V2 48 after several months.

 

[mark freshwater]

ok great thanks ,
so 2 x something like https://www.amazon.com/VIPARSPECTRA...sr=1-10&keywords=led+reef+aquarium+light&th=1

or 1x https://www.amazon.com/VIPARSPECTRA...sr=1-10&keywords=led+reef+aquarium+light&th=1 ?
thanks

 

[WVNed]

There are several brands of these lights. The Viparspectras had good build quality for the price but I would look at the other brands to get away from the limitations I mentioned above.

 

[WVNed]

And T-5s are still an excellent choice that works.

I went with 2 of the 165 watt lights because of the tank brace fearing a shadow.
I made the hanger from PVC pipe and conduit from a local store.

 

[mark freshwater]

I like the pvc hanger i will have to make similar as we are renting and cant drill holes in the roof.
Here are a couple available in australia
https://www.ebay.com.au/p/MarsAqua-...ps-sps-Tank/694476027?iid=262902688684&chn=ps

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/MarsAqu...682091&hash=item3f2810b1f9:g:WYsAAOSw91hbLFb0

https://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/catalogue_products.php?prodID=6410&catID=86

Would 1x 300w be ok if i kept the LR and coral towards the middle of the tank?

 

[WVNed]

I don't know. It says it's for 38'' x 24'' tank so you might be dim on the ends. Most of the posts I have seen are of people using multiples of the smaller ones. They cover 24" x 24".

I have seen posts about Ocean revive, Marsaqua, Viparspectra, Evergrow and Dsuny. They all look the same build mostly but there are subtle differences in the spectrum because of the LED emitter mix. Some of them may do ramping but mine did not.
The Viparspectras I have are very white but powerful. I bought them for a 24 inch column tank and they could still cook coral if you turned them up over 80%.

 

[mark freshwater]

Ok thanks, i might just go for the two , only $40 extra.

Thanks for the help and info

 

[mcarroll]

• Perfect fits for 48 inch aquariums in length.

• 1800 lumen output super bright but only 27W. Service time up to 30000h.

• 5730 high brightness LEDs; Ultra-thin aluminium alloy shell ensures excellent heat dissipation and keeps keep long service life.

You would use these pretty much exactly like you would a T5....four to eight of them in a combo.