[quote=“Hudzon, post:19, topic:5291”]
shipped today, i did not get optics for the uv emiters[/quote]
Did you not order the optics? I will tell you that without them you can’t even tell that there on!the light goes in every direction but down.i feel like I wasted money on the uv because they aren’t doing anything but wasting power at the moment. Yes I know its only like 8w but it’s the point.
Ok back on track, so if I use a 4 bulb t5 fixture how many watts of LEDs should I do its for a 75 gallon tank I will probably do 3w LEDs unless some one thinks otherwise and I’m debating between 60 or 80 degree optics I might mix both depending on how many LEDs I use
I know we got off track, but that’s still good info. My opinion would be to get 1 or 2 strips with 80* optics 75 g are not deep. If you can get 2 do it and be done. I also like royal blue LEDs. I don’t know about the other colors. The question is what color do you want your tank? Where are you going to get white light from the LEDs or the t5s? With say 28 rb and 7 whites will give you options 3 drivers total the whites separate. You can dim the whites to get the color you want. But don’t want to spotlight the white. You can run 7-14 LEDs per driver.
What I’m thinking right now is 12 uv(420), 6 rb (455), and 4 white which will be a total of 72 watts led plus a 4 bulb t5 which is another 216 watts I replace one t5 bulb with white if I need to. Is that enough or should I do more.
what bulbs will the t5 have if 420 actinic then you get more led 420 you will lack the 455-460 i would do 12 rb 7 420 and do a white t5 but its your tank I’m just going by everything I have read on reef central and what the led spectrum is. I would want to keep the colors on their own driver. maybe do 12 rb 12 420 no whites and do a ati blue plus the coral bulb and two 12k which is white. the led will give even 420 and 460 ranges the blue plus will give the 460 plus some 600nm the purple or actinic will give the 420 and the white t5 will give a full spectrum
http://www.championlighting.com/home.php?cat=1374
click on each bulb type and you can see the spectrum chart. just remember the rb led is 455-460nm and the violets are 417-420nm ish lol not sure if those led numbers are exact. but there is absolutely no other range for the led. You will only get the spectrum listed on the leds
http://www.cree.com/products/pdf/XLampXT-E_ROY.pdf
page 3 keep looking and maybe ken will post the chloraphyll a-b charts
ok here is a chart and great led read. when looking at the chart you notice there are different areas you get, the a and b chlorophyll, plus it seems you get vitamins. for a perfect set up you will want to hit all of these nm ranges. but we can’t tell what ratios are needed. You can have success without getting all the ranges. I think that when we hit the red spectrums in the 600-650 range it causes algae growth, but in moderation i think its good and a lot of 12 k bulbs will get this range. nearly all vho ho and halides have a huge range of nm. just the peaks are what we concentrate on, but the other areas is what makes them work and until leds can hit those ranges in moderation they won’t be as successful as halides or florescent. When led are completely figured out I think we can get better coral growth and less algae growth than any other type of light, because we can hit each specific nm range without getting the unwanted spectrums. so something to look forward too.
Dunk, that is really only true of the color emitters cool white, Natural white and warm white are made with multiple phosphors and do give a range of wavelengths
If you look at charts on page 5 you will see the outputs
thats correct hudz, even the white LEDs lack the 420 violet phosphors. and omit the 420-430 nm peak required by chlorophyl A. Which is why those new 420 nm UV LEDs hold so much promis of completing the full reef spectrum required by corals with both Chlorphyl A(420nm) and B(453 nm). Which is why some of our guys with LEDs are getting such good results with supplimental 420 actinic VHOs to round out the blue curves.
Ok well that’s good I always thought the whites were just for the eye. That’s good info. So will those whites cause algae problems with that spectrum?