LED light help
 

Hoping to get some insight...hoping I didn't make a stupid purchase

I purchased an ELive track system today

http://elivepet.com/fish/lighting/le...le-track-light (48" version)


It comes with 8 White & 2 Blue LED PODs which have the following output/draw:

Cool White 10,000K White 80 lumens 1W

Lunar Blue 445 nm Blue 475 mcd 1W

I added 4 more Lunar Blue, so I have 14 total

When I turned it on and observed my tank it was a lot less "bright" than my 2 T5 10K I was running

I know "brightness" has nothing to do with the PAR etc. but I am wondering if I have enough light or PAR (still learning) to maintain my softies?

I have a few leathers, kenya tree and GSP

I appreciate any input, and help!

Most led fixtures run 3 watt LEDs and covers a couple feet so 14 1w led over 4 feet? I'd guess yes its underpowered

How deep is your tank?
Also the link doesn't work for me

led
 

ok for fish only.i would use a min of 3 watt leds

Elive
 

So it would be 56 LEDS at 1W as there are 4 LEDs per pod

I wonder why they told me this would work for simple coral

The tank is 21" deep

How does the rating work for LED vs T5 etc.

I know they say 3W per gallon or something like that, but LED is a totally differing light

Ah I read it wrong. My bad.

So will it be enough?
 

No worries, I am more interested to know if this will be enough?

I am confused with all the information out there in regards to lighting

I know the 3W per gallon rule...but LED is different...right?

So with the 8 - 10K - 80 lumen white and 6 blue will that be enough for my coral?

Or will I need more?

Thanks again

Fwiw I doubt your getting more light than your 2 t5s were giving you, 1w LEDs are not all that strong and then 21" of water depth is the killer. No reason you can't supplement with other led strips or add more LEDs though if your of the creative kind , I should also note that just because you are doing softies don't mean less light is better you'd still want decent lighting;)

1W draw VS output...
 

Maybe a dumb question but is the 1W draw, different than the output of the LED?

Also what about my 2 T5's and these LEDS? Would that work?

Mike

Ligjt
 

Softies don't need much light, how many watts total is the fixtuee

No idea...
 

I am not sure...this is a frustrating process, that I know

It has 14 pods in it with 4 LEDS in each...from what I gather they are 1W each (or at least that is their power draw)

So that is 56 LEDS...but I think LED and fluoresent Wattage is different

I really just want to have a couple enenemies and a bubble tipped

I have some leathers and GSP that won't grow now with my 2 T5's

Any way to make this more simple?