LED lighting options for coral tank

[carey]

I was gonna post this in my build thread but figured I'd get more exposure with it's own thread and more people would see it.

I have a 24 X 13 X 15 high rimless 20g tank I just purchased. I want leds for sure on this tank.

I am currently using a nanotuners PAR38 3watt X 5 bulb and another PAR 38 led bulb, I believe it's 15 1 watts bulbs. I was using it on my Pico and got some good growth and color. Exactly what i wanted.

what i want to keep in this particular tank is ANY coral I want and a clam and maybe a mini maxi anenome.

Would this setup suffice? I have almost a 3 inch sandbed so theres only about 12 inches of water to penetrate to get to the sandbed.

First off, I am not the DIY kinda person, no matter how much you guys say it's easy I know I can't do it. I wanted to do the diy upgrade to my cube but couldn't do that lol.

My thoughts are since the tank looks so weird with two fixtures was to get an all in one fixture with leg mounts. I can't hang anything so that's out.

I was looking at the marineland "reef capable" leds and was thinking maybe to get one of them. Or even two if needed.

What are everyones thoughts on this? Should I keep what i have or get a new fixture? And will one marineland unit be enough? This tank will be almost entirely corals. I want sps as well, even the more light demanding ones. This tank I want no limits on.

And would 2 of those marineland units be overkill?

Thansk for your thoughts people, looking forward to see what you all think and if you have any other options for me. I am a total LED noob.

If this belongs in the equipment section, sorry.....feel free to move it

 

[carey]

Awww c'mon, I know someone has an opinion. LOL

Am I heading in the right direction? Are led's gonna do it for this small tank or should I be looking at metal halides?

I love the shimmer from the leds, but I also want the best option available for my purposes.

Thanks in advance, I know you guys will help me out! LOL

 

[slitherbomb]

I heard the marine land reef capable LEDs are not good for coral lol. That's all I really can contribute since I know next to nothing on LEDs.

 

[carey]

So I am scouring ebay for potential fixtures. I'm not against getting a cheap fixture as long as it can support my corals.

here is one
NEW 120W LED GROW CORAL AQUARIUM WHITE BLUE REEF TANK | eBay

and some more

eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

120 Watt Aquarium Coral Reef Tank LED Grow Light 120W | eBay

White Blue LED Aquarium Reef Coral Grow Light Panel 50W | eBay

120 Watt Aquarium Coral Reef Tank LED Grow Light 120W | eBay


I'm only half way through but wanted to know if I;m in the right ball park.

 

[Cardinal3420]

Those look nice, I was going to have some made by someone but I'm still doing a lot of research on LEDs. I want to make sure I get what's best for my corals. Especially having a 24" deep tank.

 

[carey]

Yeah, I figure I can get away a bit cheaper since I only need to penetrate 12 inches of water. At least I hope I can

 

[Cardinal3420]

Yeah I'd say so lol, the par rating for those are very good at 12". You could grow anything! It's suppose to be equivalent to a 250watt MH. Just would have to watch out for bleaching possibly lol. I'm thinking of doing a nano with LEDs before I invest big money for my 90.

 

[carey]

Well after researching til my eyes bled, I think I'm either gonna stick with the PAR38 I have currently or I am gonna switch to metal halides.

So much for my rimless led build.

Just disgusted today...grrrr...between this and the aqucon thing I;m at my wits end.

 

[gljvd]

for a 20 gallon tank i wouldn't worry about the marine land . \

why don't u go with something like this

Hight quality 60W CREE LED Aquarium Light products, buy Hight quality 60W CREE LED Aquarium Light products from alibaba.com

you should just buld your own. 1 cree for every 12-15 inches of surface area

 

[carey]

I went to the site and they asked for all this information and theres no price available until you give them your information, including company name.

What if I got 2 marineland reef capable fixtures? Or maybe get another PAR38 bulb? I really just want plug and play ability. i can't hang the fixture either, high vaulted ceilings.....grrr.....

If I went halides would a 150w or 250w be best?

Any opinions welcome.

Thanks so far guys...

 

[Dbrown4u]

I ordered an ecoxotic module from my lfs, that still hasn't come In yet but I've heard they are really good for reef tanks, take a look at their website if you have some free time

 

[gljvd]

I'm not a pro by any means and don't know much about halides and others. From what i read the halides get very hot and you have to cool them and sometims your water.

You can go with par 38 bulbs , just make sure they don't spot light , make sure they spread out well over your tank. If your tank is long i'd look into going with 3 bulbs if the spread isn't that well.

Are you handy at all ? A par 38 bulb will set you back about $80 . Yo ucan get a nice 24 led kid from rapidled for about $150-$200 depending on the size you need .

These are the heat sinks they sell

So you can buy one , get two pieces of metal and drill holes on the fins and connect the two pieces of metal with a nut and bolt to the fins to create arms on each side of the heat sink and have the metal pieces bend to clamp onto the side of the case.

you can also buy from these guys LED Drivers : LUXdrive : MagTech : Lightech : Constant Current LED Drivers : LEDSupply.com they have the newer XM-L lights which put out better lums at less voltage
Its really easy to wire and if you buy a kit they give you everything u need.


you can also try these guys AMDbulbs - Products

 

[gljvd]

you can also get one of these , they are supposed to be really good but hard to get. I'm told they are $250-$200

New kessil A150w 15k Over new tank! - YouTube

http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l638/ahsan234/DSCF1128.jpg


http://www.neptuneaquatics.com/supply/kessil-a150-led-aquarium-light-a150-ocean-blue

 

[carey]

Wow some good links guys, thanks very much. I already have the two PAR38 bulbs, one is a 20k mix and one is a 14k. here is a picture of hwo it's set up now, shoulda included it to begin with. lol

In my perfect world I would have a metal bar running across the top and then hang the bulbs from there, kinda like track lighting but I really don't know where to begin. I was thinking of adding another PAR38 bulb and mount it on the back glass. It would look like a picture in an art gallery LOL.

The bulbs I do have a re cree at 40 or 60 degrees so I dont' get so much of a spot light effect. The big question is would that be enough light and would it penetrate to the sand bed? Enough for a clam? NMaybe not a maxima clam but a derasa or something similar.

In the links above though, how would I mount the strips? I don't have a canopy to put them in.


Thanks so much for taking the time out to help me. i really appreciate it.

I'm sorry I was cranky in yesterdays posts, just had a bad day and was so over the whole fish tank thing.

 

[gljvd]

which links are you talking about ?

For the $250 bulb in my last post

Kessil A150W Gooseneck


as for the heat sinks from rapid and other diy you can just build something.

Like i said there are 2 or 3 fins depending on the heat sink you buy. Use a drill and put a hole through the 2 or 3 fins with a long and a washer on the other end. but this Aluminum Square Tube - LED Supply.com enough to make 2 legs

Drill a hole on both sides of the leg for the bolt. Attach to the heat sink using the bolt and washer.

Then attach to this guy BCU4BN - Glass frameless framed shower doors, tub enclosures & C.R. Laurence CRL & US Horizon shower door hardware

using a screw. It will clamp to the side of your aquarium . Just put something between the clamp and the case so you don't get scratches

you can check out the above at homedepot or lowes btw

 

[abdhalim2]

im not good with lights....here are some link maybe u might considered before buy the lights...
Best article covering types of bulbs & spectrum
Aquarium Lighting; Kelvin, Nanometers, PAR, Bulb, Watt, MH, LED, Light Basics.
Super High Output Energy Saving bulbs
SHO, CFL Aquarium Lights, Compact Fluorescent; Hydroponics Lighting, Lamps, Bulbs

 

[carey]

im not good with lights....here are some link maybe u might considered before buy the lights...
Best article covering types of bulbs & spectrum
Aquarium Lighting; Kelvin, Nanometers, PAR, Bulb, Watt, MH, LED, Light Basics.
Super High Output Energy Saving bulbs
SHO, CFL Aquarium Lights, Compact Fluorescent; Hydroponics Lighting, Lamps, Bulbs

Excellent links, I learned alot about par and pur. These lights have the potential but I;m at a loss on how to mount them.

Would buying a cheapo ebay t5 light and gutting it and installing the strips work does anyone think? The pictures showed for example that you could just place the bars across the top of the tank. BUT the lights are only 18" and my tank is 24".

I don't wanna drill any holes on the new tank, I would prefer something that sits on top of the frame. If I could envision it, I could mount a 2 by 4 an attach the lights strips to that and then somehow mount that to the tank. ??? Looks ugly in my head though as I try to picture what the result would be.

I havent seen any commercially made "mounts": for these light strips, most if not all are recommended for a canopy where I can easily understand the setup, but alas, no canopy for me and I wanna be able to see the cool rimless feature of my tank.

Also, it appears from reading those articles that my PAR38 bulbs need to be higher off my water, right now they are about 6 inches tops off the water edge.

I would mount a small shelf behind the tank BUT theres a window there so no back wall. Can't ceiling mount cause its a good 10 feet tall and slopes. :-(

see the more I learn the more questions I have. lol

I appreciate the links guys, if you know of anymore please tell me. I'm still gonna keep researching. But I;m almost leaning towards jimmy rigging a light fixture to put the tubes in OR getting another nanotuners PAR38 bulb and attaching it to the back wall. Just will look cluttered in my opinion. Kinda why I like the marineland fixtures, nice and pretty and very sleek. Maybe I can get the single bright models and then attach the light strips to them? LOL Just a thought, probably not a very good one though I betcha. lol

 

[Dbrown4u]

Hey, I'm sure this Probly isn't what you need just cause it's so cheap, but I is really cheap just in case it is what you need lol sorry I don't have a link cause I used the eBay app but here are some pics and specs

 

[tdwright1971]

I have one of those 225 led lights and they are not good enough for corals, maybe for neons or glow fish. I think an ai sol is what you need. AI Sol These things rock!

 

[Dbrown4u]

Oh okay, I figured, but just to be sure, are those the same specs as the ones you have?