Another LED question

Looking at the form factor of the aquarium, type of corals, rock layout and depth I think yd be fine with two. If you get into SPS then Three. I have two D120's over a 56 X 30 something 150 gallon frag tub and the SPS look great with Blues at 100% and Whites at 30%. Dealing with the braces seem to be the challenge.
 
Ok, I ordered two tonight, I'm pretty excited about them! How high off the water should I mount them? 6" or more? And when I get them set up, what percentage should I start them at? I'm guessing not 100%
 
Which fixtures did you get?

You can hang them any hiegth you want. You are the one who can look at it and see if the light is covering the entire tank. If it's not, go higher.

You are right, don't start at 100% (unless all you have in the tank is LR). Start very low and bring them up a little every few days. Or do slightly bigger moves every week. Where you start depends a little on what kind of light you had before. Just guessing (which is all anybody can do without more info from you) I'd say 40-50% blue and 10%-20% white.
 
I got 2 of the D120's.

Currently for light i have 2 T5 fixtures- one no name thing that has 4 54W deep blue bulbs 2 actinic and 2 10000k. The other is a tek light with 4 39w bulbs 2 actinic and 2 10000k deep blue bulbs. These are not great bulbs and very dim compared to the geismann bulbs I used to use.
 
For a 58 gallon tank (36" long, 18" wide, 21" tall) should I get one D120 or 2?

I think 1 is a bit iffy. I had 1 over my 4' 55g tank and it was all of 12"-16" short of covering the tank at each end. I even pulled some lenses and it helped, but it was just barely 3'. If you can do 2, you'll be better off. More coverage, less shadows, lower power on both fixtures. I eventually switched to OR S026 which have the leds spread out more over the face of the fixture and can cover a little more square footage in the tank. They 'glare' less in a dimly lit room (like when watching TV at night).
 
I wouldn't do those, a few reasons:

1w LEDs. Those aren't going to put out what it says they are, I can promise you that.
Only white and blue. The most successful fixtures have expanded an incorporated many more color frequencies for a reason :)
The tagline "*Specs may slightly vary from actual" - scares the crap out of me.

From what you listed, I'd say the ReefBreeders is the best "cheap" option or a DIY rig from Rapid LED.

Saving $$ now means spending $$ later. I'm sure someone will chime in with more specific info, though. don't be one of those who buys a crap fixture and then comes back to the forum trash-talking LEDs ;)

+1

I have more than a Few LED's that were Cheap (Now they just sit on the Floor and Collect Dust) (Marineland 1 Watt Reef "NOT" Capable and AquaticLife 1 Watt I am looking at you). That is 600.00 right there that I burned and got no use out of.

In my opinion the Cheap LED's are the Most Expensive since once you get them and find out how bad they are you don't use them.

So Pretty Much it is like burning money for the cheap ones.

You think oh great price but you do not use them so they then become the worst purchases you ever made.

Buy something good that you are actually going to use.
 
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I agree for reef tanks (and to a lesser extent freshwater plants) just get decent leds in the first place, it would save you a lot of headache and cash:)
I do use my cheapo (but actually not so cheap, see above) leds over many of my cichlid tanks and a fowlr, some even grow low light plants (java moss, java fern) OK.
 
Would a Photon 32 work better? Those look nice

The EverGrow OR-IT2080 (32") and the Photon 32 are both very good fixtures. I have 2 of the IT2080's over my 180g sps& lps tank. And at 10 months my corals are growing and as colorful as I could want.
 
+1

I have more than a Few LED's that were Cheap (Now they just sit on the Floor and Collect Dust) (Marineland 1 Watt Reef "NOT" Capable and AquaticLife 1 Watt I am looking at you). That is 600.00 right there that I burned and got no use out of.

In my opinion the Cheap LED's are the Most Expensive since once you get them and find out how bad they are you don't use them.

So Pretty Much it is like burning money for the cheap ones.

You think oh great price but you do not use them so they then become the worst purchases you ever made.

Buy something good that you are actually going to use.

Use them to start your garden plants, at least then they won't go to compete waste..........
 
Ok, I got the 2 120's from Reef supply canada. I started them at 20% and have slowly go them up to 50% now. A couple of heads of my frogspawn and my gsp seem unhappy. Any ideas? suggestions?
 
Light shock most likely. Dial things back down and wait a few weeks. Back it off to ~40% and if no improvements in a few days back it down more. Then leave it for several weeks before increasing again.

Both those corals do well with considerably less light than one might imagine (but they should also aclimate to high levels in time), you could also try moving them lower in the tank, or to an area that recieves less direct light.
 
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