New to leds

buz2au

buz2au

buz2au
Oct 12, 2005
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Hi all new to leds need some help. I've got 24" light with 76 leds - 62 white, 6 blue,4 pink, 4 red & 2 green @ 0.5w each, rated @ 3510 lumen & 8000K need to know if this is high light ( have a second one if needed) & how long should it be on. Plant load will be high & is co2 injected - tank is 24" x 18" 18"
 
You might want to check out my very recent old dog, new Leds thread. I'm a newb to LEDs but got some very good info. Not sure if it'll help in your case. What brand is your light?
 
I would estimate it will be closer to medium light.

But lots will depend on the beam angle of the lights.
 
Dougall I think you might be right with medium light. Got the lights off flea bay & info on them is just about nil, so no beam angle details but it lights the tank fairly evenly. I'm running it for 8hrs at the moment & have the option of running it longer say 10 -12hrs or add a second one (which looks like it could be too much) for a shorter or mixed time - ie - 1 light say 10hrs with the second for 6 hrs offset by 2hrs to the first light
 
I will answer because it is here..

the angle does 2 things, 1 spreadss the light out...

and spreads the light out.

spreading out will mean it covers more of the aquarium, but spreading out means it will be less powerful... so the lumens will be covering more space.

a 120 degree angle, means 60 degrees each side, if you think of it as a triangle.

( I cannot believe I am going to do math at this time on a Sunday)

a 90 degree angle, on an 18" aquarium, assuming the fixture is in the middle, will have about 9" that isn't lit by the LEDs directly , 120 degrees would give you about 5. but maybe 2/3 of the amount of light.

you can raise the light, or move it to one part of the tank and tilt it as that may help too.

I know I prefer to use 2 lights over a 40B, FWIW.
 
Thanks Dougall, it looks like it might be 120deg so will follow your lead & put a second light on the tank just have to fine tune the light period
 
If you can finagle it.. I am a fan of longer photiperiods with less light intensity.
 
ok will start with 1 light at 10hrs & see how that goes for a week or so - currently 1 light 8hrs a day - tank is only 6 days old with half the plant load other half of plants should arrive Wednesday. With full plant load - the idea is to give the new plants a chance to settle in for a week or so then increase light time to 12hrs. Open to all suggestions on this
 
Not to doubt dougall (he's the AC plant king in many ways, lol, TY for the mathsl), but I go for shorter photoperiods & work up from 6 or 8 hours...See, there's more than 1 way to grow plants & light a tank, so many factors to consider...my advice, go slow & ramp up, less algae IME than starting high & reducing...but co2 changes many things...
 
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