LED wattage guide how many watts per gallon

[adamt]

As the title states I would really like to know how many watts of led are needed to grow specifically sps but a general guide would be awesome. I was looking at a maxspect fixture, the g2's seem decent now that you can get them with cree emitters. But I dont know if i need the 230w or the 170w Id prefer the 170 just because of color balance. Would a 170w 50/50 blue/white and a few uv all with 3w cree emitters be enough for a 65 gal sps tank? the 230 uses four 30w white emitters which i think would wash out the color and Id rather stay away from that.

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

my thumb rule for leds is 2.5 wpg for lps/softies and 3.5 for sps or mixed but make sure there dimmable because for some coral it can be to strong and bleach them.

 

[adamt]

3.5w of LED light for sps? seems bright but if it works for you ill go with that

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

ohh yes there extremely bright thats why its very important to have a dimmer so you can lower it if they start to bleach. i have 144 for a 125 gallon display and when i have it flipped upside down i can fire up just 12 of them and it lights up the whole room which is usually lit with 27 recess lights.

3.5w of LED light for sps? seems bright but if it works for you ill go with that

 

[strgazr27]

27 high hats in 1 room?

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

yea well its the living room which is the whole basement so almost the length of the house. if you go to my tank thread you can see it.

27 high hats in 1 room?

 

[Triple R]

what corals do you have AJ bc im pretty sure you just re did up your tank.

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

i dont have any coral right now but ive been doing research on leds since august and came to the conclusion that 2.5 watt and 3.5 watt thing work the best from the many tanks ive seen in between but when i start getting corals i guess that will be the only real way to determine it.

what corals do you have AJ bc im pretty sure you just re did up your tank.

 

[Triple R]

 

[dj ze]

170 wt for a 65 gallon should be more than enough i'm running 360 watts on my 180 fully stocked mixed reef with excellent results for almost 3 years

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

oh yes that is good new for me too because if i ever upgrade to a 180 i dont have to buy different lights. what kind of optics are you using and how wide apart are the leds like from side to side because i built mine on a 12" sheet for an 18" tank with 65 degree optics for the white and the blues i paid for but do not have wide lenses yet so i told them to ship it whenever they come in which is going to be like another month hopefully sooner.

170 wt for a 65 gallon should be more than enough i'm running 360 watts on my 180 fully stocked mixed reef with excellent results for almost 3 years

 

[dj ze]

mine are 3 panels that consist of 120 wt per panel with 120 degree my lights consist of 60% blue to 40% white and purple uv suplement