Recommendation of LED light for 85cm height

[CloudStreams]

1.I have a 8w LED mostly Red light for my aquarium, is that sufficient ? If not, kindly recommend. Tank size 180cm(L) x 60cm(B) x 85cm(H) 

2.Also if possible can explain how to identify what light should be utilised 

[Clement Chen]

The type of light will depend on the type of corals u intend to keep and your budget. Maybe you want to share more.

[R0B]

agree with my fellow refer, what are your aims?

Just to help you, here is some info on lights... The strength of light is measured in PAR, and the different colours refers to the lights 'SPECTRUM' (also look for high PUR in this regard). as such we tend to look at lights for our reef tanks in those terms, rather then just Watts. But there obviously is some correlation. A very rough rule of thumb would be to have 4 to 8 watts of light per gallon, but that is old school measure and not always representative.

Here is a good resource that discussed PAR values for corals...

Also this channel has loads of info on lighting and reefing in general.

Basically corals use light energy to grow...more accurately the microscopic zooxanthellae that grow inside the corals Epitheliomuscular cells use this energy and produce byproducts which then the corals consume.conversly the corals also capture the nutrients that the zooxanthellae need to survive. One cannot survive without the other. (Back to lighting...) Getting the right lighting regime is important to allow corals to thrive. SPS corals do well under stronger light sources 330 par plus, whilst soft corals do well under weaker sources 75-125 Par (and LPS is inbetween).

However, I would suggest not to get too hung up over this, most modern lights from notable manufacturers have proven track record of producing the right environment for coral growth. So check out AI, Radion (both owned by same company - Ecotech), kessil , Orphek, Reef Brite.

Note most LEDs are aimed at producing good PAR values at low energy usage, and within the 'correct spectrum'. This 'correct spectrum' that these light manufacturers chase after is typically very close to - if not identical to - an older technology that being the T5 light bulb, principally the ATI blue plus bulb. The issue is that the T5 is fairly weak. Hence it may produce the correct spectrum but cannot grow SPS unless you have a lot of them (see the ATI 8 bulb system for example). Metal Halide is another old technology, not many people use it, as it uses loads of electricity and gets very hot (so not great in beautiful Singapore). That said it is a proven technology that will almost certainly allow corals to flourish (I predict a comeback for this technology). Personally I have both LED and T5 combined. I run an aquaticlife hybrid system with Radion xr15 and ATI T5 bulbs, also supplemented with my own made 'orphek' bar.

Anyways possibly too much info. But I hope it helps.



Sent from Singapore Reef Club mobile app

[CloudStreams]

Thanks

Edited September 19, 2020 by CloudStreams