can a led lighting system that produces 1400 lux grow corals?
Thursday, July 21st, 2011 at
3:03 pm
its a 14 watt led panel 12 by 12 inches i want to use it to grow coral in a ten gallon it has 112 blue 450 nm leds and 113 white leds together they produce 1401 lux is it bright enough for coral. the light is a multi use panel either for growing plants indoor or for fish tanks
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Tagged with: fish tanks • growing plants • white leds
Filed under: Hydroponics
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Sadly those actually will grow coral. Stick to things that require low light such as mushrooms. Dont expect much more than the bare minimum though. 1400 Lux is plenty for LED which are low lux and high PAR. lux is what you see PAR is what makes phoosynthetic things grow.
problem with those low watt panels is that low watt leds don’t produce much light penetration and low PAR. You would need to keep them as close to the water surface as possible. The absolute only reason I’m even saying that they can support a low light coral is because I have a tank with coral and the only light over it is a 27w 6500k CFL household light.
For what those lights cost, you could actually get a PAR30 Reef light that actually does the job.
For most coral that is very lacking. For most moderate/high light coral, add another 0 to the end (14,000 lux) to be even close. For low light corals or non-photosynthetic (NPS) corals, it has a potential to work or be immaterial in the first place.
Low light coral and NPS need more care in food and trace elements but can be managed by novices, although considered "expert" corals because of their additional needs.
For anything moderate or more light needs, nope, it will not cut it.
Not bright enough for corals, and probably the wrong light frequency as well.
It would grow freshwater plants OK in that size tank, but for coral you need some serious lighting.
Ian