# Edge led 48"



## UserJB007 (Sep 18, 2008)

So I have been doing a bunch of reading and spoke with another hobbyist, and came to buy an EDGE LED 48" bar for my planted 55G.

I've heard really good things about the spectrum of light it provides. My concern is wattage. This bar is currently going to replace my Dual T5 hood with a (6500K and Actinic bulbs)

It seems like both hoods put out about 2WPG. Should I run BOTH hoods for higher WPG? Or will my new LED Bar be good enough for the higher light plants like Cabomba / Madagascar Lace?

I'm just trying to figure my planted life out, I've been using T5s for so long this is all new to me.



Thanks a ton!


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## TropTrea (Jan 10, 2014)

Not all LED's are equally as efficient. They range on the lumen scale form 70 lms per Watt to over 130 lums per watt with some manufacturers expected to exceed 300 lms poer watt in production before the end of the year. Most of my LED fixtures are using LED's that run in the 90 to 130 lms per watt range. With these fixtures on Reefs I have found that I only need 50% to 65% as much total wattage as I used with T-5 lights. 

Assuming the LED';s your talking about are equaly as effecient as my builds are then I would say your running 116 watts now of T-5';s so the if the LED's are in the 60 to 75 watt range it should be close to a direct swap.

But watch the color balance. Most LED's are made made with a reef spectrum in mind which would have excessive blue and insufficient red light for a planted tank. Make sure they are using neutral whites with some supplementation of cool whites or they have about half cool whites.


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## klinckman (Dec 6, 2013)

The actinide bulb in your current light isn't doing much for your plants, therefore more likely that the LED is sufficient.


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## TropTrea (Jan 10, 2014)

it this is the fixture on Amazon

"LED Specifications: (27) 6K White, (27) 9K White, (33) 10K White, (7) Blue, (14) Red, (6) Blue Lunar LED's
Power: 12V, 6A, 72W"

You have 110 LED's using 72 Watts or 0.65 Watts per LED. This puts them in there most efficient range and if they are quality LED's 2 Watts per gallon would be overkill in itself. But if they are using low quality LED's it can be a truly different story.

My concern is the assortment of LED's they list though. the higher the K temperature the more Blue in the LED's and the less red. The 6,700K would be strong in Blue for a planted tank but with all the additional 9 K and 10K LED's is should be very strong on the blue end of the spectrum. 

Yes they are adding red LED's but there are various red LED's From Red orange LED's at 620nm to deep red LED's at 680nm. Parts of the red spectrum are beneficial to plants but there are other parts of the red spectrum that are algae magnets especially the deep reds. And with the combination of "whites" they are using there is not a lot of additional red so a red boast is needed.


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## ne0matr1x (Apr 19, 2014)

I heard that Max Spec Razor are really good for planted, but price cost a bomb.

http://www.maxspect.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1&Itemid=2&lang=en

Anyone knows of a relatively good led light set that does not cause a hole in the pocket?


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## TropTrea (Jan 10, 2014)

ne0matr1x said:


> I heard that Max Spec Razor are really good for planted, but price cost a bomb.
> 
> http://www.maxspect.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1&Itemid=2&lang=en
> 
> Anyone knows of a relatively good led light set that does not cause a hole in the pocket?


Yes this is an above average light designed for a salt water system with corals. The thing is your paying for a lot of BLUE and UV light that is not needed for a planted fresh water tank. As well as a lot of bells and whistles.


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## micheljq (Mar 25, 2013)

We would need PAR ratings of the Edge led to have a better idea of its intensity.

Michel.


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## superflame (Apr 24, 2012)

I think the intensity is going to be low but a par measurement would be ideal.


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## Tugg (Jul 28, 2013)

Assuming this is the light:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=28127

10,000K grows freshwater plants great. Personally I find 6500K to be too yellow for my taste.

From a spectrum perspective, the Edge sounds like a good mix of LEDs. Having a real nice peak at 450nm, which Chlorophylls a and b will make the best use of. LEDs naturally have a very narrow bandwidth of light, so having multiple temps will help cover the gaps each specific one may have, giving the plants a better variety for their assessory pigmits.

The fixture has 87 LEDs giving you your general white lighting for growth, the 27 other LEDs are color enhancers and a night light.

I would think it would do fine. Though personally, I wouldn't buy it without a PAR meter to test it first. I have no trust for the LED market. The only LED I trust to blindly purchase is the Finnex Ray2 since I've seen numerous PAR readings from various hobbiests.


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