whats the right wattage for LED ?

[aliyesami]

i am seeing wide variety of wattage usage in LED lighting system. e.g the Obit has this chart where they are showing an unit for 18-24inches with 72 leds but just 18watt ?
i was building a LED system for my 48 inches tank as two panels each with 36 leds 3 watt/led .. so 108Watt/panel. . is it over kill ?

thanks
http://www.marinedepot.com/Current_...xtures-Current_USA-CU04100-FILTFILDTN-vi.html

 

[oscarinw]

Corals don't care what wattage your LEDs have. They care about only Intensity, Color and Spread. Wattage is mildly related to intensity. However, what you need to ask yourself is how efficient any given LED bulb is. Efficiency is a function of intensity and electrical consumption.

In the aquarium industry, the use of PAR (Photosynthetic Available Radiation) is more the measure of how appropriate is any given lamp for the reef. If you look at Aqua Illumination website, for example, there's a graphic with how much PAR their fixtures produce at different depths in the aquarium at different distances from the center.

I hope this helps.

Best

 

[aliyesami]

Corals don't care what wattage your LEDs have. They care about only Intensity, Color and Spread. Wattage is mildly related to intensity. However, what you need to ask yourself is how efficient any given LED bulb is. Efficiency is a function of intensity and electrical consumption.

In the aquarium industry, the use of PAR (Photosynthetic Available Radiation) is more the measure of how appropriate is any given lamp for the reef. If you look at Aqua Illumination website, for example, there's a graphic with how much PAR their fixtures produce at different depths in the aquarium at different distances from the center.

I hope this helps.

Best

how can i measure the PAR at various depths ?
regards

 

[Reefing Madness]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/par-meter-and-leds.64387/

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2013/2/equipment

 

[aliyesami]

first of all these units are pretty expensive to start with ,and secondly I got the feeling that a person can't read these values accurately.
so my next question is , are there any companies i can goto and they can measure the PAR for me ?

thanks

 

[redfishbluefish]

PAR is what is critical to our corals. For any particular LED, the higher the wattage, the greater the PAR. Generally speaking, 1 watt or less LEDs have relatively poor penetration numbers and therefore low PAR. They would work for a FOWLR or FO, but not for a reef tank. For me, as a minimum, I look at 3 watt LEDs running at about 2.1 watts each. Good PAR and good penetration, and at the lower wattage, longer life.

 

[redfishbluefish]

first of all these units are pretty expensive to start with ,and secondly I got the feeling that a person can't read these values accurately.
so my next question is , are there any companies i can goto and they can measure the PAR for me ?

thanks

We have an LFS in NJ who rents out a PAR meter. Check with LFS's in your area.

 

[aliyesami]

are there LFS or some tech people in the industry who can do it for me ? I want to produce these color graphs which i see online associated with the PAR values.

 

[redfishbluefish]

are there LFS or some tech people in the industry who can do it for me ? I want to produce these color graphs which i see online associated with the PAR values.

Wow! Spectral analysis of certain lights is nice stuff to have for marketing your lights, or doing scientific research, but the regular Joe aquarist, it's rather meaningless. Again, for our simple minds , PAR is really all you need to know. Does this light put out enough or too much, and then I'll adjust the light accordingly. I'd be more interested in a PAR map showing values at various depths of water and locations under the light....and at various intensities.

Otherwise, check out the papers Sanjay Joshi of Penn State has written on aquarium lighting.

 

[aliyesami]

you said "I'd be more interested in a PAR map showing values at various depths of water and locations under the light....and at various intensities."
i understand PAR I can measure with the PAR meter , but how will i measure the "intensities " at various levels?

regards

 

[mikejrice]

i understand PAR I can measure with the PAR meter , but how will i measure the "intensities " at various levels?

Most PAR meters come with a remote sensor that can be placed at different depths within the aquarium.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Just so we are singing off the same sheet of music, when I mentioned intensity, I'm talking how high or low you've turned the light up or down. As an example, using a PAR meter only, and fixing on a vertical path within the tank, I'd set the intensity at 50%. I would then take the PAR meter and do readings at fixed depths...say just below the surface, at 6 inches and at the bottom of the tank. I'd repeat this process with intensity set at 75% and again, set at 100%. I now have a PAR map at that location at various intensities.

I'd repeat this at other locations under the light.

In the end I'd have a map of my tank of PAR values at various locations and various intensities. I could use this to set the intensity of the light and where to put certain corals dependent on their specific light needs.

Hope this was clear.

 

[aliyesami]

yes its clear now

thanks

Just so we are singing off the same sheet of music, when I mentioned intensity, I'm talking how high or low you've turned the light up or down. As an example, using a PAR meter only, and fixing on a vertical path within the tank, I'd set the intensity at 50%. I would then take the PAR meter and do readings at fixed depths...say just below the surface, at 6 inches and at the bottom of the tank. I'd repeat this process with intensity set at 75% and again, set at 100%. I now have a PAR map at that location at various intensities.

I'd repeat this at other locations under the light.

In the end I'd have a map of my tank of PAR values at various locations and various intensities. I could use this to set the intensity of the light and where to put certain corals dependent on their specific light needs.

Hope this was clear.

 

[reefwiser]

Here is a good video on using a par meter and how Par relates to coral health.

I have always used MH and T5's on my new tank I wanted to learn about LED's so I started with using a Par meter to adjust the lights to my corals.
You will find that corals do not need the high wattage that most LED's put out in fact they can do more harm that good. Corals react poorly to high par rates that most lights will put out. I see a lot of people running their lights at 5o% and above and having problems with corals 20 to 35 % works great on corals. giving you a good par of 60 to 80 at the bottom of your tank to the 240 to 300 par at the top of your rock work. This is very important to setup on lighting on a Reef tank with LED and really every hobbyist should use a Par meter to set up their lighting or to adjust it. Our human eyes do not see the light coming front the LED fixture the same as we do. Only a meter will give you the proper tools to adjust your lighting.

 

[Duke4Life]

Here is a good video on using a par meter and how Par relates to coral health.

I have always used MH and T5's on my new tank I wanted to learn about LED's so I started with using a Par meter to adjust the lights to my corals.
You will find that corals do not need the high wattage that most LED's put out in fact they can do more harm that good. Corals react poorly to high par rates that most lights will put out. I see a lot of people running their lights at 5o% and above and having problems with corals 20 to 35 % works great on corals. giving you a good par of 60 to 80 at the bottom of your tank to the 240 to 300 par at the top of your rock work. This is very important to setup on lighting on a Reef tank with LED and really every hobbyist should use a Par meter to set up their lighting or to adjust it. Our human eyes do not see the light coming front the LED fixture the same as we do. Only a meter will give you the proper tools to adjust your lighting.

Anyone in the club have a PAR meter?

 

[reefwiser]

Yes. PM me.

 

[ReefLEDLights]

Never judge The PAR or output of a LED by watts.

There are too many variables like Binning Optic Efficiency and Thermal Management.

Some Bins of the same type of LED are 30% brighter, keep the LED Cool and add 15-20%. use a quality optic and add another 15%.

This does not include driver efficiency.

The best way as mentioned is a PAR Meter. I like to see 200 PAR on the sand bed for 4-6 hours a day.

Bill

 

[reesed5]

Mine are 3 watt and the corals are doing great