Quote:
Originally Posted by pkstylez
Currently looking at making a conversion for 8 T5 48" bulbs to a 48" LED over my Reef tank so i can control the colors and appearance the tank better. Having trouble finding the correct and or wish list that i want.
I was told to only use LED that have atleast 3/4 " bulbs otherwise your just growing Algae. Anyone have any experience with this?
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3/4" leds...???
I have no idea why the size of the led matters? It's about the light it puts out and if it has enough PAR and enough blue spectrum. Algae doesn't care what size the bulbs are. If you have tiny leds putting out a good amount of PAR in the blue spectrum it won't grow alga at all (well, very, very little).
The big answer is, 95% of aquarium led fixtures will work. There are a few like Current Orbit and Marineland that use 0.3watt to 0.5 watt leds which are only good for shallow tanks (under 18" max and better at 12" than 18"). The inexpensive Chinese Black Boxes use 3.0 watt leds and drive them at 2.2 watts so they run cooler and last longer. These will grow coral just fine. As good as any high priced fixture IMHO.
If you want to buy a Mercedes or Cadillac version of an led fixture, be my guest, but the Kia and Hyundai versions of led fixtures put out the same kind of light as the expensive ones.