Enough LEDS for a 46g

[ryangrieder]

i have a 46 gallon bow front currently with a 250w metal halide, 4 t-5's and a ice cap led strip. the tank is not going to have too many crazy corals. mainly LPS and softies. maybe a stony here and there. i figure the fixture i have is a little much for only doing basic corals. not to mention its expensive to run and heats the tank up way to much. would a fixture with 42 1-watt leds be enough? i dont know what 1 watt leds are equivelent to when it comes to say a t-5 bulb or pc. 36 10k and 6-460nm blue to be exact. is that enough for basic corals, nothing crazy?

 

[reefoman]

Stay away from 1w LEDs...
Get less but 3w LEDs with 40 and 60 degree lenses.
What is your tank dimension?
If you would like build your setup for future use with sps then get 24 blue and 24 white 3W LEDs, 4 dimeable drivers (each will run 12 LEDs) for now you'll run your setup at 50% or even less which gonna extend your LEDs life (lower work temperature).
If you need any help or want to see strong fixture in action lmk
My setup can kill sps coral in about 4-5 days when running at 100% that's why the blue LEDs are at 20% and white at 30%

Regards,
mark


Sent from my iPhone using Reefs