Show Us Your LED Tanks

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

um.. thats a handy way to figure out how many gallons your tank is now how many LEDs you need. LEDs are based on coverage only so how many would you need to evenly cover a surface area not a volume.

Steve

You divide cubic inches by 231 to get gallons not 324. But I agree that might not be the best way to decide on the amount of LEDs, kind of similar to the 5W per gallon deal.

As far as I know you need to be in the range of one LED for each 10-15 square inches. So for example take your tank foot print to be 48"x24", that's 1152sq" meaning you'll want to aim for a range within 76 to 115 LEDs, give or take. Now deciding on a final number will depend on your tank height and coral requirements. For something average say 24" tall and mixed reef with SPS you'd probably aim right in the middle of that range.

[martinmcnally]

Originally Posted by sphelps

You divide cubic inches by 231 to get gallons not 324. But I agree that might not be the best way to decide on the amount of LEDs, kind of similar to the 5W per gallon deal.

As far as I know you need to be in the range of one LED for each 10-15 square inches. So for example take your tank foot print to be 48"x24", that's 1152sq" meaning you'll want to aim for a range within 76 to 115 LEDs, give or take. No deciding on a final number will depend on your tank height and coral requirements. For something average say 24" tall and mixed reef with SPS you'd probably aim right in the middle of that range.

Correct I wasn't finding the gallons. We came up with the 324 figure based on some test tanks I have here to calculate an approximate recommended 3W LEDs per tank size. That formula would give you 86 LEDs for that tank size you mentioned. You are right though you then use that number and go up or down based on what your light requirements are.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by sphelps

You divide cubic inches by 231 to get gallons not 324.

haha thats right ... dislexia is wonderfull, guess I should finnish my coffee before I start reading

Steve

[ReefOcean]

Originally Posted by sphelps

You divide cubic inches by 231 to get gallons not 324. But I agree that might not be the best way to decide on the amount of LEDs, kind of similar to the 5W per gallon deal.

As far as I know you need to be in the range of one LED for each 10-15 square inches. So for example take your tank foot print to be 48"x24", that's 1152sq" meaning you'll want to aim for a range within 76 to 115 LEDs, give or take. Now deciding on a final number will depend on your tank height and coral requirements. For something average say 24" tall and mixed reef with SPS you'd probably aim right in the middle of that range.

yes

The degree of optics also impact the coverage significantly.

Also, you can save on LEDs depending on where you place your coral. If you keep all your sps in the middle, you dont need a large density of LEDs at the ends of the tank.

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