Bought new led light fixture from China.

This is a wonderful thread with lots of great information! I am looking to upgrade my lights... I have been running 2 T5VHO w/ reflectors on my 90 gallon soft/lps tank for the past year or so. Corals are surviving and growing but I can't say they are really thriving and I think lighting is my biggest issue. I want to stay under $500 for the upgrade so I've been reading up on all of the chinese options. I also want to mount them under my canopy which also has a fairly low profile, which has ruled out the Photon series. I've been talking with Kevin and he suggests the S200 plus with 120 optics will work well about 6" above the water on a standard 48" 90 gallon w/ center brace. I can't deny that this looks like a very nice light and is in my budget. How do you all feel the coverage would be with such a setup?

The other option I am considering is a Dolphin 3, found here: http://www.twilightgroups.com/show-product-150-378.html. This is also a 36" fixture that would fit well under my canopy. It has more LEDs than the Malibu S200 and they are spread throughout the unit evenly. The spectrum has a higher white to blue ratio than the Malibu, but still looks pretty decent. I am a bit concerned that I can find no reviews anywhere of the fixture. I have found older reviews of their TL165 series, which seem pretty similar to other black box LED fixtures and have positive feedback. I've also found reviews of their plant grow lights on other forums and people seem pleased. The Dolphin will be significantly less than the Malibu, which is also a plus.

Has anyone else shopped Malibu vs Dolphin?
 
I couldn't give you any comparison against the dolphin as I haven't seen it, but with regards to the LEDZeal, ignore the standard spectrum - you can customise the LEDs to any spectrum you want amd there are some great examples in this thread.

This is one of the main reasons I bought this unit and not the much more expensive options I was looking at.
 
What size Malibu?

What size Malibu?

My tank is 60in x 20in x 27in height. Should I get the S400 or the S300. And what optics would be best if mounted on the tank or 8in above water. And what is the latest mod for led lay out. Have Reefbreeders hanging from poles over tank now but would rather have light tank mounted. That is why i am thinking of a 60in light.
 
The proof is in the pudding. These are excellent lights. I have corals growing on my sand bed 30" under the water surface.
 
I've only recently started up my tank, so don't currently have SPS in, but my Acan, Goniastrea, softie and two hammerheads are doing really well.

I'm on a max of 60% at the moment, wasn't really sure how high to take it up and I've had an algae outbreak that I wanted to contain. I may push this up a little over the coming weeks.

I had a niggling problem with the app, which was traced to a faulty board. This had been "repackaged" by DHL en-route and my guess is zapped with static. After some head scratching and great customer service, a replacement was sent on 48hour courier and worked perfectly.

I now have a dedicated tablet wall mounted next to the tank which runs my Apex interface and of course, LEDZeal app.

Here's the tank under relatively low light


(Note: I'm actually using MCRY's schedule, I just haven't programmed this tablet with it yet)

Control centre:
 
Thanks, the tablet is kind of superfluous as it's easier using the tablet in my hand than on a wall, however at least this means the tank can be controlled if I'm not home or the battery is dead (frequent problem when you want to change something). :)
 
Hi, I am following this thread for a while now. For my new tank I'll be looking for a Malibu ledzeal as an option. The dimensions are 120cm length x 75 cm wide x 60 cm height. Will a Malibu s200 cover it? I was looking for two s150's but it got out of budget as an option. I can always supplement with two t5's either side to get the extra punch if needed.
 
PCycho said:
Hi, I am following this thread for a while now. For my new tank I'll be looking for a Malibu ledzeal as an option. The dimensions are 120cm length x 75 cm wide x 60 cm height. Will a Malibu s200 cover it? I was looking for two s150's but it got out of budget as an option. I can always supplement with two t5's either side to get the extra punch if needed.
Click to expand...

What height will you be running them at? My S200 is fine close to the water on a 110cmx55cm tank, you might want to go with a S300 which is 120cm wide.

This basically the same as having 2 x S150's with 96 LEDs accross 4 pads.

Hope this helps

Here's my latest FTS, all channels at 65-75%, still waiting for phosphates to come down a little before adding the first SPS

 
Last edited:
tastyfish said:
What height will you be running them at? My S200 is fine close to the water on a 110cmx55cm tank, you might want to go with a S300 which is 120cm wide.

This basically the same as having 2 x S150's with 96 LEDs accross 4 pads.

Hope this helps

Here's my latest FTS, all channels at 65-75%, still waiting for phosphates to come down a little before adding the first SPS
Click to expand...
The height will be adjusted for best results and spread. It will be hanged from the ceiling. I was thinking at around 30 cm.
Yes, now I am looking at the s300. However, my rocks are two island-bonzai formations and will have enough space from the sides. As a result I think I can get away with the s200 length wise. The width is what worries me. That's why I was looking for the two s150's to get them installed at width over the two islands getting maximum light coverage.

Here's the rock formation on my current tank (80cm x 50cm x 50cm) that will be transferred to the new one. The light now is a maxpect razor 160w with two t5's as a supplementation. IMG_20150317_181537-2 by fmnstr fmnstr, on Flickr
 
I had x2 S400's for my 315x70widex 80 high and felt it wasn't enough spread for my tank and should have had x4 units in total one in front of each other ideally
 
the coral room said:
I had x2 S400's for my 315x70widex 80 high and felt it wasn't enough spread for my tank and should have had x4 units in total one in front of each other ideally
Click to expand...

I'm the same with my 800mm wide tank, 2 x S400 side by side 60deg lenses.

I have an odd shaped tank, 3.2m long, 2m at 800 wide and 1.2m at 600mm wide, I have an S300 with 90deg lenses for the 600 section and it's enough coverage but only just. Well impressed with the look and getting reasonable growth on both LPS and SPS.
 
From people whom have had their light fixtures for a while now so at least a few months, and feel your corals have responded well to the lights...
What is your LED configuration, and would you change something now that you've owned the fixture?
 
Hi, 1st post from England and was pointed to this post as I am interested in the zeals

Below is my tank

It's 5ft by 18" deep but only 14" back to front, so pretty narrow
view


https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B85ThLq4iwQpZnhNU010ZE5YZlk/view?usp=docslist_api

Hanging will be around 6" from the water surface, I want to avoid any shadowing under the large rock on the left and give plenty light further left of it also.

So S300 or S400?

I am slowly working through the thread, but has it been decided what is the best set up led for it is yet?

Thanks for any input
 
Last edited:
Hi, I am looking to purchase an s400 plus. can anyone give me a layout so I can achieve
somewhere between 14k and 20k? I would appreciate your help.

thank you
 
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