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FAQ
1. What is a LED?
LED stands for light emitting diode and is a semiconductor light source.
Check out Wikipedia for more information.
2. Why buy LED’s?
Simple!
- LED’s use less energy to produce the same amount of light as T5/T8, compact fluorescent, metal halide, and high pressure sodium lighting.
- Initially the cost of LED’s is more, but in the long run, the use of LED’s actually saves you money–both from the costs of your electricity bill and frequent bulb replacements.
- LED’s are very efficient and produce significantly less heat. Therefore, LED’s will require less cooling than the other lighting options noted above.
3. How long do LED’s last?
Our LED lights last up to 50,000 hours! Let’s do some math. If you run one of our LED lights for 12 hours per day for 365 days per year, it would last >11.4 years!!!
4. Can LED’s provide enough light energy to grow hard corals (SPS/LPS)?
Absolutely! LED technology has advanced significantly within the last few years enabling it to provide more lumens per watt than before. BoostLED™ lights are made with powerful LED’s. If not used appropriately, they can and will burn both corals from their light output. Please do not be fooled by your own eyes.
Instead of lumens, a more accurate measurement of useful light energy for corals is Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR), which measures light energy in the wavelength range of 400nm-700nm. Remember, all wavelengths are not created equally. Human eyes see more light within the green-yellow-orange range (500-600nm). Corals benefit the most from blue lights (440-470nm), and plants will benefit from both blue (420-470nm) and red (630-660nm) lights.
Light Absorption of Chlorophyll a & b in wavelength. Note how the highest absorption peaks in the 420-470nm and 630-660nm ranges.
5. What’s special about MarineGleamHD™ LED's?
MarineGleamHD™ led's are made with a combination of Royal Blue and Cool White LED’s. Both will provide significant light energy in the 440-470nm wavelength range to optimize coral growth and coloration. Note the more Royal Blue LED present in a lamp, the more corals will fluorescence.
6. What are optics and why do you need them?
Although LED’s are directional, they still give out a spread between 90-170 degrees. Optics are LED lens that help focus the direction of light making them more efficient and enabling light to penetrate further through air and water. For reef aquarium setups,MarineGleamHD™ recommends using 40-60 degree optics to maximize PAR output and also light spread. For a tank deeper than 16", we recommend using tighter optic lens such as the 40 degree optics to give better penetration.
7. How high should I mount MarineGleamHD™ LED's?
This depends on how tall your tank is and what type of corals you have. We recommend using a Quantum PAR meter to determine the optimal height. However, 3-10″ from the top of the tank would be a good starting point, and then adjust the height of the light over several weeks based on the response of the corals. As general rule of thumb, hard corals (SPS) prefer PAR at least 100 micromoles/m^2/sec. Soft corals will do just fine with a PAR of 50-100 micromoles/m^2/sec.
8. What LED Light Fixture is right for my Aquarium?
Of all the lighting options available to aquarists, LED aquarium lighting is becoming one of the more popular choices for both marine, reef and freshwater hobbyists. Aquarium LED lighting was initially used only as moon lights for reef aquariums, but LED aquarium lights have since grown into much more. Now you can find aquarium LED lights for reef tanks that put out as much PAR as a metal halide system, but without the additional heat and high electric bill.
In addition to the aquarium LED light fixtures and pendants that are suitable for reef tanks, there are also other options, such as supplemental LED light strips (to use in combination with metal halide or T5 lighting), LED refugium light fixtures and LED moonlight fixtures.
From pendants and full fixtures to PAR38 LED aquarium lamps, aquarium LED lighting options are almost limitless, with some hobbyists even making their own DIY LED lighting systems.