Pulling the trigger...going LED

A

aaronlp

New member
Well im going in to the LED world lol. And yes im trying a cheap chinese fixture. I found one that had a ton of good reviews and pictures of peoples tanks tha had great growth and coloration. Here the link to the lights.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/120-Watt-Aq...ultDomain_0&hash=item20be3e51a1#ht_6249wt_902 or something close the that type of fixture

I will be ordering 2 for my 75 Display Tank.:celeb1: OR a nano tank build no more than 14 gallons

Now if anyone has found any other types of led lights that seem good please share the link to the fixture and any knowledge you have towards the led lights for corals in a reef tank.

Thanks!(And please don't trash the thread about the LEDs being cheap i am quite aware of the problems with cheap fixtures but i have cheap light over my tank now and everything looks beautiful being an aquatraders fixture)
 
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I was thinking of going LED, but bought new MH bulbs instead. Keep us posted as it will be interesting to see how it works out. Not a huge investment so not a real big gamble.
 
tent boy said:
I was thinking of going LED, but bought new MH bulbs instead. Keep us posted as it will be interesting to see how it works out. Not a huge investment so not a real big gamble.
Click to expand...

Yeah im just looking to go with something cheap that looks good and will work. I have heard 50/50 mix on led especially the Chinese ones(saw the thread on RC) but i am looking for a fixture 3w bulbs blue and white hopefully this search will go good! I do currently have halides and t-5s on my system now but its getting to expensive to buy new bulbs every 7 months or so.
 
Check out aquastyle LEDs I got mine direct from china 4 days. It was $75 for 10 white and 10 blue kit comes with everything. Drivers, lights, heat sink, wire, adhesive plus it came with 2 spare LEDs of each color as well
 
Good luck with them. Watch the browning of the corals that some people get. Do you have access to a PAR meter? I would be curious of your before and after numbers.
 
The best advice that I can give is to steer clear of fixtures that are only a blue/white mix. You'll notice that blue/white fixtures are starting to pop up regularly in the sale forum. If you're keeping SPS, try to go for a fixture with some variety in the mix of bulbs (small numbers of red, green, natural white, teal, violet, etc).

I ended up going with a DIY 32 bulb LED fixture for my frag tank. It's only been up for a couple of weeks, but my SPS is responding well.

There is a huge thread on Chinese LEDs in either the DIY or lighting forum on the main board. Lot's of good info there.
 
DIY is awesome if you have the time and motivation. I'm extremely happy with my DIY setup over my 75 gallon. A mixture of XT-E and XP-E royal blue and XP-G cool white, neutral white, and warm white. I may add an LED or two of a couple colors eventually. The ability to turn up and down each string of LEDs to get the exact color I want is definitely a huge plus.
 
Do not buy that fixture. You will have issues with SPS growth and spectrum. It will grow birdsnest and softies. If you are going to upgrade to a 120 tank you might as well do it right. Get a radion or the future A.I. Pacific sun has a nice system as well.
 
Im running 2x 119 watt leds. 20k version 3 blues to 1 white.
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They are from China. My par numbers were excellent when I first put them in. A year later they are exactly the same. I never had problems with sps and get excellent colors. Here's a few examples..
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John at MO on Ridge Road tried 9 ways to Sunday to talk me out of buying a cheap fixture on ebay. Warned me I would burn my house down. Well, I am a tight wad. I bought a t5 fixture complete with moon lights and led timers for all 3 sets of lights and have been absolutely thrilled with the entire thing. Works great and so far I haven't had to call the fire department. As best as I can tell I saved about $175 going this route.
 
Foody said:
John at MO on Ridge Road tried 9 ways to Sunday to talk me out of buying a cheap fixture on ebay. Warned me I would burn my house down. Well, I am a tight wad. I bought a t5 fixture complete with moon lights and led timers for all 3 sets of lights and have been absolutely thrilled with the entire thing. Works great and so far I haven't had to call the fire department. As best as I can tell I saved about $175 going this route.
Click to expand...

The upfront cost of good LED fixtures is high, but you have to figure in bulb changes and electric cost. I'm sure your system is fine, but if you have it a few years an LED system may have been cheaper. They're the long term cheapwad choice.
 
I've been running 3 of the the Taotronic 120W Chinese LED fixtures over my 125 for about 8 months. Start them high and slowly bring them closer to your tank. Very powerful light. Only complaint is they are very tough to keep straight if you are hanging them from a chain. The fans are pretty strong and they tend to move a bit.

Off topic: I haven't been on these forums in the last 6-7 months, yet you are still screwing around with your equipment... I assume you're looking at your equipment as a way to "fix" a problem. Even top of the line skimmers and lighting wont fix poor habit. Just leave it along and quit screwing with it....
 
That I'm going to say that some members of this board are crossing the line from friendly ribbing to unnecessary berating.
 
i have heard soo many bad things about many of the high priced "factory built" and also some good but i decided to go with what i have seen work . i have seen two friends tanks thrive with the AI super blue sols with all coral type including sps and fully believe they work just fine . first you cant run them wide open and expext to even have anything left below them but water and sand . i also believe that with any LED you need to have a way of controling it other than an on/off switch .
 
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