lighting questions. yes I know I have already asked a million...

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kstyle13

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I ordered some led light modules. They are 14 watts each with 225 blue led light that run at 450nm. They are not dimmable but I have a good 3 feet clearance between my tank and the of my can apo so I can slowly lower them to acclimate my corals to the light. However I'm currently running 3 175 watt metal halides so it shouldn't be too much difference. .. but just to be safe :). Now my question it since they are totally blue with no white do I need to add white light in there somewhere? If so what would be the best route? Get a white led module or just keep a metal halides in there? Or will can I get away with flourecensts? I have the mh to play with still and I have t5 and t8 bulbs to play with but I can always get white leds. Does it after the temp on leds? If so what's best as far as they go? Keep in mind that it's a 150 gallon 6 feet long 18.5 wide and 24 tall.....
 
14 watts out of 225 leds? I doubt you'll need to acclimate anything. Are you trying to make this your primary light source?
 
No each led is 14 watts.... One panel is supposed to cover a 4 square foot area. That's why I only got 2. They are really strong led panels
 
kstyle13;948450 wrote: No each led is 14 watts.... One panel is supposed to cover a 4 square foot area. That's why I only got 2. They are really strong led panels
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Think you may want to double check the specs on that. If you bought an agricultural grow lamp fixture. ...I'm sure it's 14 Watts total.
 
That's possible.... maybe I misread it.... If that's the case should I send them back or just get some strong white lights and use them as supplements?
 
I'm gonna send it back and get the 55 count 3 watt white/blue dimmable kit. It's 163 and it will take 3 of them but I think they will work better for me
 
Wasn't really planning on getting rid of them... I was just gonna switch them spread mh out over my other tanks
 
kstyle13;948461 wrote: I'm gonna send it back and get the 55 count 3 watt white/blue dimmable kit. It's 163 and it will take 3 of them but I think they will work better for me
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Better idea. At that price point, you should be able to find a "full spectrum" fixture easily.
 
I'd take the advice that several have offered in your lighting threads. It will save you money in the long run..you try and cut corners to much in this hobby you'll just end up buying the same equipment as you've been finding out.reefbreeders seem to be the best value outside of a DIY kit from rapidled.
 
This is gonna sound crazy but I found a way to rewire the led module I got. So I'm now going to have 225 blue leds in each pannel. They will be putting off 2 watts each. So 450 watts per module. I will have 2. So back to my original question. Do I need to add white lights? And should it be metal halide or just get more leds in white? And what color temp? Oh and I found a way to make them dimmable. :) I love tinkering with things so this has turned out to be really fun!!! I'm super excited
 
I've built led modules from scratch before so rewiring these is fun. And really quite simple. It's just increasing a small resistor inside the motherboard of the module. A little soldering a 3 dollar resistor and bam. Instant upgrade!!!
 
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