Multiple Hagen Fluval Sea Marine and Reef "Full Spectrum" LED Lights

[alany611]

Hi all,

I've recently come into 6 24" units of the aforementioned led light strips at a low cost. I know that their retail value is high and at that price point I would be better off buying the typical kind of LED you guys buy, but a good friend sold them to me for a very low price. My question is would 6 of these LED light strips be able to replicate something like an AI Sol or the other expensive LED's you guys buy? Again, I'm not trying to say if they'd be equivalent, I would just like to grow some corals in my tank :)

Here (http://www.reefs.com/blog/2012/07/12/product-review-hagen-fluval-sea-led-light/) is a review of the unit that has some good information in it.
Here (http://www.fluvalaquatics.com/ca/product/A3983-marine-reef-full-spectrum-performance-led-strip-light/#.U8jvcfldVdk) is a product page of the unit that I have.
Here (http://www.fluvalaquatics.com/ca/saltwater/aquarium-lighting/series/marine-reef-performance-led/) is a page with information about the entire line of LED lights (wavelengths, light dispersion, etc).

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These are par values for the 36" unit that has 504 diodes. Mine has 312 diodes. I'm assuming I can just make a proportion that directly correlates to PAR value, so 312/504=about 62%, which means a single 24" unit has a par value of 223.82 at 1" depth and 60.76 at 9" depth. Not very impressive.

However, since I have multiple units would I be able to put, say, 3 units on each half of the tank, and then have 3*361*.62 par value at 1" depth and 3*98*.62 par value at 9" depth?

Since I am going to have 6 of these units (125w total, 1872 diodes, 3.72x light), is it safe to say that closer to the middle of the tank I will have 6*361*.62/6*98*.62 par values at 1"/9" depth?

Please educate this newbie :D

[alany611]

up :)

[Bpb]

So far I've only seen one or two people on here that have used those units (theyr'e all the rage at the local petco though lol). I think with three on each side, one front one back one in the middle, not all bunched together, you'll actually have really good coverage. I've not used them before but that just seems logical. Being said, prepare yourself for comments like "those aren't powerful enough for corals" or some variation on that. I think you'll be able to grow softies, zoas, and some lps species just about anywhere in the tank with that. I wouldn't expect to get serious in dabbling with acropora though. Most of us who grow acropora are shooting for par in the 300-500 range even lower in the tank, and 500+ up top which i just dont think those leds are capable of providing, even if you literally covered the tank in them.

[alany611]

If my math isn't too far from being correct, hopefully I could hit 400 par at 6" depth in the middle of my tank. Would be nice if I could rent a PAR meter somewhere.

[hart24601]

It's really hard to guess PAR numbers. With 6 of those you shouldn't have any problem growing quite a few coral. Stony coral up high and softies down low. I do like they have 400nm, and 420nm LEDs. I noticed an increase in growth when I added those to my DIY rig. In my biocube before I got a stronger LEDs I used 2 panorama pro LEDs and I heard they wouldn't be strong enough, but I grew LPS too fast for the little tank and birdsnest, montis, and even green slimer acro grew like mad.

[alany611]

wanting some more opinions...

[alany611]

up please :)

[alany611]

pls halp

[nikon187]

they are 0.08w led they arent going to be very strong at depth. remember those numbers posted are through air not water so through water will be a lot less. they will work for lower light corals, wont have spectacular colour but will grow. this is from experience, i have many at my store and a couple over corals but we use them mainly for lighting over our retail fish tanks.

[alany611]

they are 0.08w led they arent going to be very strong at depth. remember those numbers posted are through air not water so through water will be a lot less. they will work for lower light corals, wont have spectacular colour but will grow. this is from experience, i have many at my store and a couple over corals but we use them mainly for lighting over our retail fish tanks.

how do you know its for air and not wateR? o.0

[nikon187]

most par numbers posted on boxes by manufactures are through air so i would assume these are as well. I have a hundred at the store but like i said mostly using to light the retail tanks. Have kessil, maxspect, ecotech over our coral tanks. I can say for sure that 3 4 foot units over a 48 x 12 x 16 was not enough for anemones.

[jachrist]

hey just dug this thread up when I was searching for information on the fluval reef light..

I have recently added the 24-36 inch Fluval Marine Full Spectrum Light to my reef tank and have had recent success.. I am currently growing mushrooms, zoas, polys, and a few LPS (Hammer, frogspawn, and Duncan). These corals all have done well and I think the light has done it's job.. The only complaint may be the tank does look a tad white if you are going for that blue tint but other than that I have had great luck. Next mission is to test a couple SPS frags under this light.

[Bpb]

hey just dug this thread up when I was searching for information on the fluval reef light..

I have recently added the 24-36 inch Fluval Marine Full Spectrum Light to my reef tank and have had recent success.. I am currently growing mushrooms, zoas, polys, and a few LPS (Hammer, frogspawn, and Duncan). These corals all have done well and I think the light has done it's job.. The only complaint may be the tank does look a tad white if you are going for that blue tint but other than that I have had great luck. Next mission is to test a couple SPS frags under this light.

Hey I hope the lights work out well for you I really do. But just know that a measure of success in a thriving reef is growth and expansion over months and years. Not simply that your corals didn't instantly die within a couple days. You should take documented photographs of your coral progress in the coming months to really visualize if they're working

[jachrist]

Thanks me too. I will continue to document with pictures hoping that the corals continue to grow as the 2 month mark approaches.