Cheap LED solution???

[TomStav]

Thanks Tom, I may bump it up, no bigger than a 20 for my home office. Would you suggest the 25w then or stay with the 10w 12K?

Then I would probably go with two 10w, or one 20w. The 20w would need to be raised to spread the whole tank (assuming 20g).

A few times on this thread I've mistakenly mentioned 25w, it's actually 20w.

 

[Ibrahim]

On a 10g, 20w is equivalent to 40w of t5ho so a 10w would be too little to grow LPS.

 

[TomStav]

On a 10g, 20w is equivalent to 40w of t5ho so a 10w would be too little to grow LPS.

I'm not sure how it converts, I had a frogspawn frag growing well in my sump under a 6500k 10w for about 5 months. It did take off once I put it in my display tank under the 20w 12000k.

 

[Ibrahim]

I'm not sure how it converts, I had a frogspawn frag growing well in my sump under a 6500k 10w for about 5 months. It did take off once I put it in my display tank under the 20w 12000k.

6500k has higher par than a 12000k

 

[TomStav]

6500k has higher par than a 12000k

That might explain it then, good to know. All the frags in my tank have been responding well to the 20w, I will test them out on more corals once I get my 55g running.

 

[TomStav]

I have finished my canopy, there are two 20w 12000k LED floodlights on the outside, then two 10w blues, then one 10w 12000k in the middle. Very happy with how it looks, I've just temporally put it on my 72g, and will have it on my 55g once the tanks ready.

Attached are photos of blue only, white only, and both on...

The colors look better in real life, just shot these on my phone.

 

[didysis]

Looks great. I like the lights allot working really great and nice build. I just got a 450 gallon tank would love to get some of these for it but an thinking of other options. Tank is 3 feet deep so 20-30watt at 50.00+ each would he a bit to light it. Im cheap. Rather spend the money on tank filtering and fish. But good lighting sure looks good

 

[didysis]

You have a deal going with a guy where I could get a deal on bulk. Lol

 

[Lovin Fish]

WOW!!!! Excellent work! The hood looks very proffessional!

 

[mr_X]

Would you mind taking a few close ups of the sps. I'd love some before and afters.

 

[TomStav]

You have a deal going with a guy where I could get a deal on bulk. Lol

Ha I should have a deal with him, I've bought enough! I'm sure you could make an offer on eBay a get a discount if you buy them all at once...

 

[TomStav]

WOW!!!! Excellent work! The hood looks very proffessional!

Thanks, It came out much better than I expected.

 

[TomStav]

Would you mind taking a few close ups of the sps. I'd love some before and afters.

The only SPS I have is two small birdsnest frags. They have been under the two 20w 12000k for a few months now and are growing well. I will take some photos and keep track on their growth and post it here.

Once my 55g build is done (see my other thread) then I will put a few more SPS corals under these lights and keep track of the growth with weekly pics.

 

[mr_X]

The color is my main concern. Are they brightly colored?

 

[TomStav]

The color is my main concern. Are they brightly colored?

I assume you mean the birdsnest right?

Im not an expert on SPS corals and this is my first frag, it has got brighter green and opens up more since I've had it under these lights. Here's a shot of it from my phone, I will charge up my real camera for better shots.

 

[SeanMonster]

Very nice. I'll follow the LED journey here.

 

[TigerBarbs]

Awesome thread and hood!!!

 

[TomStav]

Awesome thread and hood!!!

Thanks

 

[Marquis]

looking forward to seeing more pics of the corals im in need of a cheaper led light for my 70 and 50 but i don't wanna jump on the band wagon until i know for sure corals will thrive

 

[TomStav]

looking forward to seeing more pics of the corals im in need of a cheaper led light for my 70 and 50 but i don't wanna jump on the band wagon until i know for sure corals will thrive

Yea that's wise! This is an experiment with these lights as I have not seen anyone prior using them for saltwater. As I said before, once I get my 55 running (as soon as my tanks ready at the glass shop, getting drilled) then I will put the canopy over the 55 and get a variety of frags in there so I can do weekly updates on how they are developing. But having used them for a few months I'm confident that they will work, fingers crossed!