Beamswork V4 Hi-Lumen 36-40" Planted Aquarium Led Light Unit 6500K

[clivealive]

would 2 of these be enough for a 7ft tank with plants or would i need more ?

 

[Ch4rlie]

These Beamsworks lights are very intense lights.
 
I've had one on a nano tank in a attempt at a very high tech set up for plants, got LOTS of hair algae, never found the balance to eradicate th hair algae, it may work on a larger tank like yours.
 
But the build quaility of these lights are pretty good and is decent value for money imho.

 

[StevenF]

It all depends on how much light you want, the surface area of your tank and the lumen rating of the bulb.  See:http/fishtanktv.com/forum/topics/how-to-calculate-your-tank-lighting.  For a 7 ft tank you will problably need 4.

 

[clivealive]

thanks for replies ,  tried spead sheet for light but dont get it as  Beamswork V4 Hi-Lumen 36-40" is only 33 watts  on that iam no where near even with 4

?
 
                            Tank: Width(In) Length(In) Depth(In)         Bulb Type Lm/Watt       24 84 24   1.3007 sq m   Incandescent 17               209.5 Gallons   LED   80       # Watts           Spriral CFL 62.5     Bulbs: 4 33 @ 80 Lm/Watt     Power CFL 75                     T-12   40-72     Lux @ Depth      = 4066     10560 lumens   T-8   78.8               5.2 LSI   T-5   88-98.4               0.6 W/G   Metal Halide 80-120     Very Low Light: 6,000-8,000                     Low Light: 8,000-12,000                     Medium Light: 12,000-20,000                     High Light: 20,000-25,000                     Very High Light: 25,000 +                                            

 

[StevenF]

Assuming I read your post right you have 84X24 inch tank with a surface area of about  2,000 square inches.  Assuming high light as the target, 30 lumens per square inches that works out to 60,000 lumens total  light needed.  That is about 20 beam works lights. Ouch!  Even the old watts per gallon rule gives me 10 to 20 lights.  Just for reference a light meter on the ground at noon on a clear day will read about 24,000 lumens.  I have a nano tank right now and it is running at about 25 lumens per squar inch for a total of about 2500 lumens. This seems to work well for me.  But I have no experience with large tanks.  So I don't know if Lm/sq/in scales well with large tanks.      You could go with fewer lights and just just run them longer.      However It should be noted that your tank is 24 inches deep.  That extra depth may require a bit more light than Lm/sq/in recommends.  Does your home have a 7 foot long window?

 

[NickAu]

I have one 150 centimeter on this 6 foot tank.
 

 
and one 60 centimeter on this 2 foot tank.

 
I have no complaints.

 

[clivealive]

Assuming I read your post right you have 84X24 inch tank with a surface area of about  2,000 square inches.  Assuming high light as the target, 30 lumens per square inches that works out to 60,000 lumens total  light needed.  That is about 20 beam works lights. Ouch!  Even the old watts per gallon rule gives me 10 to 20 lights.  Just for reference a light meter on the ground at noon on a clear day will read about 24,000 lumens.  I have a nano tank right now and it is running at about 25 lumens per squar inch for a total of about 2500 lumens. This seems to work well for me.  But I have no experience with large tanks.  So I don't know if Lm/sq/in scales well with large tanks.      You could go with fewer lights and just just run them longer.      However It should be noted that your tank is 24 inches deep.  That extra depth may require a bit more light than Lm/sq/in recommends.  Does your home have a 7 foot long window?

thanks no big window , cant be right to need 20 units tho . somwthings not right

I have one 150 centimeter on this 6 foot tank.
 

 
and one 60 centimeter on this 2 foot tank.

 
I have no complaints.

looking at this 2 x 60 inch units should be enough , so speadsheet cant work !  yes tank will be 7 x 2 x 2

 

[Ch4rlie]

20 does seem to be on the high side, like i mentioned these beamworks leds are BRIGHT, very intense, so 20 is possibly too many.
 
But i have never worked with lumens so I do not know how that is calculated at all. So can't really comment.
 
Though a 7 foot tank is a pretty long tank and having 2 feet of depth will effect the intensity of any light by the time it reaches the substrate level.
 
Have you considered using T5 or T8 light units? They can make pretty long tubes for these. Thinking T5 will be better for this depth of tank to be fair, as are a bit more intense lights than T8's.

 

[clivealive]

have t5's in my current 4 foot tank and ideally wanted Leds mainly for power saving and space
 but might have too

 

[Ch4rlie]

Ah fair point.

Looks like you'll need to look into how much pur/par output these LEDs do, some of them will state this in the technical info or on the packaging itself.

Then that would be a decent starting point in researching what you need then calculate how many would be suitable.

Of course this depends if you're aiming for low tech or high tech for lots of plants etc.