Need Help Placing LED Lighting

MFTJohnson123 · Oct 21, 2015

I Built a fixture to hang above my 250 gallon tank. It is 8 feet long and 24inches deep and wide. I bought 6 of the Chinese LED lights that will fit in the fixture. My question is how high should the lights be above the water?

Thanks,

Vivid Aquariums · Oct 21, 2015

Most LED's are made to be operated aprox 9-12" above the water but it would be best to check the manufacturers specs. You might also see if anyone local to you will let you borrow a PAR meter to dial them in better.

James

MFTJohnson123 · Oct 21, 2015

ok, i will look into that. I know a few guys. The fixture is at about 13 inches now. I will look at the lights and see if they have any info on them when they come.

Thanks,

TD13 · Oct 21, 2015

MFTJohnson123 said:
ok, i will look into that. I know a few guys. The fixture is at about 13 inches now. I will look at the lights and see if they have any info on them when they come.

Thanks,

If you have access to a PAR meter, it's worth taking a reading and adjust the lights accordingly.

MFTJohnson123 · Oct 21, 2015

I know a guy who may have one.

WetWhistle · Oct 21, 2015

Is this a new tank or does it already have corals in it and you are transitioning to LED? Transitioning to LED is a little trickier vs setting up a new tank with LED.

I myself like to put them at my final height level I want them at and if they are dimmable I turn them down and slowly over then next few months turn them up a few % each week. I keep mine around 10 to 12 inches, any closer and I loose light on the top front and back portions of my tank with shadding. Any higher it bleeds to much light on the back wall and front floor and it lowers the PAR. It really depends on how much coverage you want and what you are planning to keep.

MFTJohnson123 · Oct 21, 2015

I have had the tank for about eight months, or had a tank. This new one has all the livestock from the old tank, but i have had it only a few weeks. The corals are all very new. I purchased about 15 small frags recently to get it started and the lights i had were used and not doing well. I decided to go LED rather than dump cash into a dead horse. The lights do have dimmers, should I start out at lower light at first? I plan on keeping mostly LPS, and fish.

WetWhistle · Oct 21, 2015

I would start a little lower to be cautious. I have seen people bleach rocks white and nuke their corals because they turned it up to high and fast. LPS are pretty adaptable to LED it is the SPS you have to really worry about. LPS normally will show you if they are displeased with the level of light. They will shrink in if it is to high. With LED you have to make small slow changes and if you do you will be rewarded with beautiful color and growth. If you go fast you can end up with dead corals very quickly. Till you get experience with placing corals under LED go slow. Learn your zones of high light and low by looking at your tank.
Your corals will tell you if you are doing it right. If the light level is to high the corals will lighten up quickly, bleach or worst case RTN. If it is to low a light level over a few weeks it will lighten up slowly. It is important to distinguish the two because both are lighter but by completely different reasons. These lights are not plug and play like T5 or MH so they do have a learning curve. It you stick to slow and small changes you will be fine.

MFTJohnson123 · Oct 21, 2015

Ok, i will go slow and see how they do.

Thanks

MFTJohnson123 · Nov 4, 2015

LEDS have been up and running about two weeks. I am at 50% on the whites and 75 on the blues. Should i continue to get stronger? How far should i turn them up? Everything seems to be doing well so far.

WetWhistle · Nov 6, 2015

What all do you have in the tank coral wise? Until you get experience with LED going slow is your safest option. If all is well in the tank bumping up a few % should be fine. Just pay close attention for any signs of distress in the corals.

MFTJohnson123 · Nov 6, 2015

i really just have a few zoanthids right now. also some duncans. When i add a new coral should i turn the leds down for them?

WetWhistle · Nov 6, 2015

What all do you have in the tank coral wise? It really depends on what you are keeping. Until you get experience with LED going slow is your safest option. If all is well in the tank bumping up a few % should be fine. Just pay close attention for any signs of distress in the corals.