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

[jdavid]

kstyle13;948669 wrote: Ok this can do that. Thank you. Now one more thing. If 20 k is good because of the blue. Does it matter if I run 6500 k since I already have blue?

I would go with a more diverse range of LEDs if I was to go that route. If I had to pick only two LEDs to make my whole fixture it would be 50% blue in the 460-470 nm wavelength and 50% white 12,000k color temperature.

Will 6500k work for whites? I don't want to say no because I'm not sure but it is certainly not ideal

 

[kstyle13]

Gotcha. I'm just gonna add red and green just to be safe.

 

[reeferman]

reds and greens are useless as far as coral growth is concerned,theyre just for aesthetics.use a warm white led and it will encompass those spectrums

 

[jdavid]

reeferman;948686 wrote: reds and greens are useless as far as coral growth is concerned,theyre just for aesthetics.use a warm white led and it will encompass those spectrums

What's considered a "warm white"? 10,000k?

 

[reeferman]

mine are binned at 3k.i use a mix of warm white and cool white[65k]with a LOT of royal blues

 

[jdavid]

Oh so I'm way off. I had a fixture that was 50% 12k and 50% 470-490 nm (royal blue? I think so).

It worked pretty well. That's what I was basing my previous post off of

So your white channel is 3000-6500k but you use T5's as well, correct?

 

[ringo®]

JDavid;948687 wrote: What's considered a "warm white"? 10,000k?

10k is still a cool white

Lots of fixtures are trending towards whites in the 4-6k range. Who knows though....I'm sure there will be a new trend next year.

 

[jdavid]

Gotcha

 

[reeferman]

my 2 t5 bulbs were old so i unplugged them months ago.when i was using them,they were just 2 pure actinic 36" bulbs over a 48" tank.
my cool whites and warm whites are on different channels.i use the warm whites as high noons that ramp up to peak at reef midday

 

[reeferman]

my leds were premium binned so theres no wandering of spectrum,like a range from 4-6k.they have a very tight spectrum and very uniform color.lots of factory units use cheaper bins with lots of variance in spectrum and color.

 

[jdavid]

Gotcha. LED lighting is not my forte

I would have stuck with the halides

 

[reeferman]

ive been led over 3 years and wouldnt even consider going back to mh or t5.

 

[jdavid]

To each his own

I would run kessils (good for a rimless tank with the gooseneck & not too much spill over). I have one and corals do very well under it. DIY is probably the best but I don't have the patience to complete a project like that