Can you look at this for me?

[lbannie]

Do you think this is a decent unit? I was thinking of doing a DIY, but for this price, it will look a lot better! And I can't screw it up!! Tell me what you think:
120 Watt Aquarium Coral Reef Tank LED Grow Light 120W 3 Watt LEDs 14k 1:1 Ratio | eBay

 

[Aziethe]

I would be concerned about the fact that this doesn't have dimmable controls. You also have to take into consideration the height that it is suspended over the tank.. Also, what size tank are you looking to use this for.. There is no way that it is going to cover 7 square feet as it sugests. IMO you get what you pay for, and that is very cheap for a LED build.

 

[Smithcinema]

Looks awesome but the price scares me way 2 cheap I have the ecoray 112d and it's unbelievable mines not dimming led fixture ether but I don't see the need !! As long as you have separate power cords That looks like mine for 1/3 the price something's wrong !!! Be careful pay with PayPal it's worth a shot you are covered with them

 

[jgraz]

I had a similar unit. Like it very much. Mine is 20k and has 40 blues and 15 whites. It has roughly a 24"x24" coverage. My corals had great color. I don't have anymore since I upgraded my tank and went with t5's instead. 2 of these would cover a 4' tank evenly. I would look for a light closer to 20k for better coral color though.

 

[lbannie]

Well, I have a 40 Gallon breeder tank, and a 10 gallon tank. This would be for the 10 gallon. I just started it so there is no coral in it.... yet! I'm hoping that if the unit is nice, to get maybe 2 of them for my 40 gal, which is loaded with LPS and soft corals. Are the bridgelux bulbs decent?

 

[jgraz]

It is way too much light for a 10 gal tank. As for the 40, 2 would be too much there also, IMO. When I say it's 24"x24" I'm not lying. There would be some lost light. If you were going with more SPS, then I'd say go for it.

 

[Smithcinema]

My tank is 24 x 24 by 31 deep and the ecorays are 1 watt and its a lot of light you don't need that on a 10 gal

 

[lbannie]

On the DIY setup, I was checking out Rapid LED, and they said I should have at least 10 3 watt leds on the 10 gallon......and the cost of that whole setup would be almost the same as this fixture. To go LED, what kind of fixture would be good for a 10 gallon? I want to be able to have SPS

 

[carey]

I just ordered the LED panel in question from Amazon, it's being delivered tomorrow.

It's a 120w fixture with 3 watt lights. I plan on using it over a 24 X 24 X 24 rimless cube so I think it would be perfect for that. over a 10g thats overkill, you'll burn out your corals.

 

[lbannie]

Carey- Awesome, let me know how you like it......any suggestions for an led setup for a 10 gallon (20"L x 10 1/2"w x 12 1/2" D) I'm finding some on ebay that are small, but they are mostly white bulbs..... I like the blue

 

[carey]

depends on your budget really. There arent any cheap options that will work well especially for sps. have you considered par38 or par30 bulbs? Like this one?

PAR30 Reef | BoostLED

 

[lbannie]

Yes, That was my first idea.... Then I thought I could build something! Now I think I'm back to the bulb idea, I found this one, I emailed the guy about the controller......not sure how that would work:
Dimmable PAR38 W+B LED Aquarium Reef Corals Grow Light | eBay

 

[lbannie]

I know I'm being a pain!! What about this for a 10 gallon, would it handle corals

www.LEDwholesalers.com - 225 Blue + WHITE LED Aquarium & Plant Grow Light Panel

 

[jgraz]

Why are you stuck on LEDs. You can get quality t5 fixture for that tank and have colors that are through the roof. For a 40 breeder you could get a good quality Tek or ati fixture used and it would be far better then any LED you could ever buy. You could even get any other 6 bulb t5 and be better off. The fixture on eBay are nice for a budget, but the color needs to supplemented with other LEDs or t5 to make colors really come out. Mind was nice because it was custom made at Apollo LEDs and had 3blues for each white. So color was nice in the 20k range. I have seen the 14k LEDs and its pretty yellow IMO. You would need t5 to supplement.

 

[lbannie]

I'm hooked on LED because I saw a setup at my LFS and the colors of the corals where amazing!!! I have a T5 setup on my 40 gal, and eventually want to upgrade. My 10 gal, is new and I need a light fixture that can handle corals

 

[Smithcinema]

Nothing like led

 

[lbannie]

Well..... I went with the Par 38 Led dimmable blue an white bulb! I'll update with pics when I get it!!

 

[carey]

Good call, I thinky ou'll be pleased. the colors are awesome on those bulbs.

Do you have a fixture to use for the bulb? Those bulbs weigh about 1 pound each so it's kinda heavy. It looked ok but I used the home depot clip on fixtures for mine.