New to reef tank and lighting

burtc37$$

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Just had a quick question I'm new to this hobby and got the coral life seascape led lighting is that a good light
 
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burtc37$$

burtc37$$

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It's a 40 gallon breeder and eventually going to do soft corals

 
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burtc37$$

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DrkNMighty

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It is basically showing 3 different PAR ranges given a 48" long x 8" wide area. Basically the higher the PAR number the more light something placed there would receive. Depending on the types of coral you are keeping you can generally find recommended PAR ratings for them. This light would give 70 PAR at the highest point under the light. This might work for some soft corals but I think most people usually aim for over 100 PAR at the bottom of the tank for a mixed reef/LPS.
 
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burtc37$$

burtc37$$

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It is basically showing 3 different PAR ranges given a 48" long x 8" wide area. Basically the higher the PAR number the more light something placed there would receive. Depending on the types of coral you are keeping you can generally find recommended PAR ratings for them. This light would give 70 PAR at the highest point under the light. This might work for some soft corals but I think most people usually aim for over 100 PAR at the bottom of the tank for a mixed reef/LPS.
Oooh ok I got it now thanks for that explanation I appreciate it, so what if I get another one just like it and put it with this one would increase the PAR or no..... Also didn't pay that much for it they had a sale going on
 
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Mr. Mojo Rising

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Oooh ok I got it now thanks for that explanation I appreciate it, so what if I get another one just like it and put it with this one would increase the PAR or no..... Also didn't pay that much for it they had a sale going on
No, two bad lights don't make one good light, better to go with something suitable for that size tank.

There are good cheap options on amazon like the nicrew or smatfarm for example, get something about 150 watts. Many people also suggest noopsyche, a pair of those should also work.

Use the search function to search the forum, there are many threads on good quality budget light, but no one has ever suggested the coralife light, sorry.
 
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oreo54

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Oooh ok I got it now thanks for that explanation I appreciate it, so what if I get another one just like it and put it with this one would increase the PAR or no..... Also didn't pay that much for it they had a sale going on
This is what to expect at 12" from the light face.
And yes another one will increase par. At best doubling it but usually overall not quite so much.
Thing is the numbers for one aren't very good overall.

They don't list wattage but it cant be very high. It "maybe 35W? Saw one refernce but not a very confident one.
Would get that number w/ 1/2w emitters.

The 30-36 is $119 at Amazon.
It's spectrum design is sort of "jack of all trades" like a black box design.
"Good" or fw or saltwater.

corallife.JPG
.

A Nicrew 36-48" saltwater 36 watt light is $68
Amazon product

The 2 together "may" get you close to the old school 2watts/gallon area.
Even with a "t5 to led conversion" you may at best be 2.5WPG.

A Viparspectra run full (all 110 watts) and hung a bit (8-10") high will be a better overall deal than the 2 lights Currently around $150-ish).. BUT you already own 1/2. ;)

I'm not going to suggest what you can or cannot grow only to say that with the 2 lights you probably get about 100 par at the sand bed if the 50@12" holds for one light.
Now again at full..

Current "flavor of the day" spectrum suggestions usually like a broad violet-blue band as predominant (or violet to cyan for even broader coverage). You are a bit short here. Royal blue to blue at best.
 
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The lighting demands of a Reef Tank are far greater than that of a Fish Only With Live Rock setup. So when choosing a light for your reef tank, consider the following:

  • Light Spread. When we speak of light spread, we are speaking of the area which a light covers.
An easy way to demonstrate light spread would be to take a flashlight, turn it on and stand it on end with the light facing down on a table. Now, slowly pick it straight up, moving away from the table. Notice that as you move the flashlight further from the table, the area of the table covered by light increases. The growing and shrinking of the area covered by light on the table based on the distance from the table is the spread.

So when selecting a light, the spread must cover the footprint of the tank. And much in the same way you adjusted the spread of light on the table top by changing the distance of the light from the table, you can adjust the spread of your light by changing the height at which the light hangs over the aquarium. But there is more…

  • Light Intensity. It isn’t enough that your light spread covers the entire footprint of your tank. It must do so with the proper light intensity as well.
When speaking of light and it’s intensity in aquariums, people will reference light measurements in “lumen” or “PAR”. What is the difference between PAR and Lumen? As I understand it, lumen are used to measure the brightness of light as perceived by the human eye.

PAR is the amount of light that is actually available to be used during the photosynthesis process. So when speaking in terms of PAR, we are speaking about the portions of the light spectrum usable by the inhabitants in the tank.
 
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Cichlid Dad

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I have a 40 gallon breeder and I plan on keeping soft corals
May I also offer a suggestion. Using the boxed sea water is the most expensive way to keep a reef tank. It is way more cost effective over time to get an RODI filter and mix your own.
 
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oreo54

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Lumens a practically worthless concept in blue rich lights. Also worthless in "burple" grow lights.
Basically a measure of "greenish light" content which is the band the human eye is most sensitive to (brightness).
PAR is the band from 400-700nm (dotted box below). It is a description not a measurement but is used, sadly or not, ;) in place of ppfd.

Its measurement is actually called PPFD (photosynthetic photon flux density (micro-moles (# of photons ) per square meter per second )

What lumens measures is show below and reference to the (one of, they differ across species) plant action curves.

Spectrum-visibleLight-PAR-lumen.png
 
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burtc37$$

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May I also offer a suggestion. Using the boxed sea water is the most expensive way to keep a reef tank. It is way more cost effective over time to get an RODI filter and mix your own.
The saltwater really wasn't that expensive and also that box is filled with regular water for top offs if need be
 
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