T5 to LED on a 150g

[BigJim]

It's time for me to replace my 6x80watt t5 bulbs on my 150g reef. I was thinking of going LED and have been looking at this model (money is an issue):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USA-NEW-120...867?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20bf41dbeb

I have a few questions.
1) my tank dimensions are 6'long 18"depth 24"tall. I have clams, several LPS, soft corals, zoo's and a few SPS (monti's mainly). How many LED units would I need?
2) since these lights are not dimmable, how do I acclimate them to the LED's?
3) for those of you who changed over to the lights with a similar setup, what did you think?

 

[DragonWarriorPo]

MY suggestion to not switch to LED's, but if you decide to anyway, don't get rid of your T5 fixture for a few months to see if you like LED's or not.
I tried using different brands of LED's and ended up hating them. they are fine with LPS/softies, but my SPS and BTA's did not do well with them. I just went back to T5's and love them. Would not switch back to LED's again.

 

[BigJim]

bump:beer:

 

[RtReef]

My LFS has one very similar over the coral tanks. He loves them he said. For the price you can't go wrong....I'm thinking of getting one for my other bio-cube. LEDs are awesome lights and i have a few SPS including a birdsnest and they are doing fine.

 

[BigCountry74]

"my tank dimensions are 6'long 18"depth 24"tall"

thats a 135g right?

You will need 3 of those lights. And they work.

 

[BigJim]

I think the expression is "measure twice, cut once". The dimensions are 72x18x28 making it a 150g. Good catch, I measured at night.

Anyone have any thought on acclimating corals to LED when the light is not dimmable?

 

[DoubleM 10]

i read the ad for the lights. at the botom you are not getting 3w led's. i clearly states you are getting 2w leds.

 

[BigJim]

I've got it narrowed down to 2 sites with 3 different lights:
taotronics: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150726029374&fromMakeTrack=true

and aquarium LED: http://www.aquariumleds.com/products/120-Watt-Aquarium-LED-14K-3-Watt-LEDs.html

taotronics has 30 blue & 25 white

aquarium LED has 2 versions: 2:1 blue:white AND 1:1 blue:white

For those of you that have any of these three, how would you describe the color output? I would think 2:1 would be a lot of blue while 1:1 may be a lot of white. Is it safe to assume the taotronics is right down the middle? More on the blue side but not too much? Can any of you post pics of your tanks and tell me which light is being used?

 

[lil_man72]

i'd go with the ebay light. there 3w leds ran at 2w. i'd go with the black box/more blues.
i'm in the same boat as you and have been looking at these also.
several local guys on saltcity have them and like them so far.
the black/more blue light has a little more blue than say a 14k mh.
to acclimate corals i'd just cut my lighting schedule in half and gradually work back up to normal times.
so if you run your lights for 8 to 10 hours a day you'd have them on for 4 to 5 hours a day.
you could also mount them higher than planned if you can and then move them down gradually.