New to reef tank and lighting
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AetherealKnight
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IMO it’s pretty mediocre, but it kinda depends on what type of corals you plan to keep. Are you planning on keeping soft corals, Stony corals, etc?
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AetherealKnight
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It might be fine then, but how much did you pay for this light?
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AetherealKnight
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I think there are better lights for a cheaper price, like Current USA Orbit Marine LED. It’s $125 for 24”-36” one. But your current light is fine for soft corals I think.
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DrkNMighty
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I think I found the light you are referring to. If this is the light, scroll through the pictures and there is a PAR chart.Link for light.
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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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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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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.
A Nicrew 36-48" saltwater 36 watt light is $68
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:
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…
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.
- Light Spread. When we speak of light spread, we are speaking of the area which a light covers.
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.
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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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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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.
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.
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