not enough watts?

[lazycouch]

hey guys, when i got into this hobby (not knowing enough about lights and only looking at the package suggestions) i decided to purchase some leds at my lfs, FLUVAL marine 3.0 bluetooth leds that supposedly say they’re good for reef tanks. they’re 32watts resting about 5-6 inches about my 30 gallon tank. the tank measures 23.6" x 17.7" x 16.9"

anyway, now that i’m reading up about lighting i see that the average wattage would be 4 watts per gallon making that 120watts! and i’m at 32! my soft corals are good but i want to start getting more LPS soon (trachy or lobo to be exact) and octospawn or frogspawn/ torches or hammers. my plan was to place the trachy or lobo that i end up getting on my sand bed along with my favias. do you think my lights will be fine for this?

thanks for taking the time to read this!

 

[lazycouch]

heres how they look!

 

[oreo54]

https://fluvalaquatics.com/us/marine-spectrum/
At least go by the PAR specs listed there.
ONE problem is they don't list WHERE they measure the height from.
To err on the better side assume light face to substrate not including mounting height.
you know their 18" number is not 18" plus mounting height of their legs.
It might but ??

Your height currently is about 20" give or take a bit..
you could figure that out for more accuracy.

So light levels at the sand bed are below 47

5" height looks fairly good as to not lose too much light outside the tank.
17" dia cones from the diodes.

Half way up your tank you "may" be around 90 PAR..

Match species accordingly

 

[lazycouch]

https://fluvalaquatics.com/us/marine-spectrum/
At least go by the PAR specs listed there.
ONE problem is they don't list WHERE they measure the height from.
To err on the better side assume light face to substrate not including mounting height.
you know their 18" number is not 18" plus mounting height of their legs.
It might but ??

Your height currently is about 20" give or take a bit..
you could figure that out for more accuracy.

So light levels at the sand bed are below 47

5" height looks fairly good as to not lose too much light outside the tank.
17" dia cones from the diodes.

Half way up your tank you "may" be around 90 PAR..

Match species accordingly

thanks for the info! appreciate that

 

[Sharkman89]

See if your LFS has a par meter they will rent you, if not look into a Seneye.

 

[Matteo]

Can you return? I think for the price you maybe better off with a decent Amazon LED light?

 

[Pistondog]

hey guys, when i got into this hobby (not knowing enough about lights and only looking at the package suggestions) i decided to purchase some leds at my lfs, FLUVAL marine 3.0 bluetooth leds that supposedly say they’re good for reef tanks. they’re 32watts resting about 5-6 inches about my 30 gallon tank. the tank measures 23.6" x 17.7" x 16.9"

anyway, now that i’m reading up about lighting i see that the average wattage would be 4 watts per gallon making that 120watts! and i’m at 32! my soft corals are good but i want to start getting more LPS soon (trachy or lobo to be exact) and octospawn or frogspawn/ torches or hammers. my plan was to place the trachy or lobo that i end up getting on my sand bed along with my favias. do you think my lights will be fine for this?

thanks for taking the time to read this!

If you have funds, $220, ai prime 16

 

[lazycouch]

Can you return? I think for the price you maybe better off with a decent Amazon LED light?

no. unfortunately bought them some months back!

 

[DSEKULA]

Looking on the par readings this is a bit low but doable if you pay attention to specific species needs etc. If you want to get into some higher light corals but not go insane upgrading lights you can always just add to a specific spot. There's some decent LEDs that just screw into a standard gooseneck for example that you could add a concentrated area without spending a ton or necessarily replacing the existing light... Just a thought.
If you a little handy you could also lower the light a little for day to day and just raise it fo cleaning etc.

 

[lazycouch]

t

Looking on the par readings this is a bit low but doable if you pay attention to specific species needs etc. If you want to get into some higher light corals but not go insane upgrading lights you can always just add to a specific spot. There's some decent LEDs that just screw into a standard gooseneck for example that you could add a concentrated area without spending a ton or necessarily replacing the existing light... Just a thought.
If you a little handy you could also lower the light a little for day to day and just raise it fo cleaning etc.

thanks for the tips, will see what i can do!