EBay Reef LEDs?

[Petrichor]

I'm looking for something that can penetrate 24" of water and support LPS and softies at that level (and maybe SPS higher up), but is also dimmable. So far I found these:

120W with Bridgelux LEDs

120W with "same as Taotronic" LEDs (I'm leaning towards buying this one)

or something like two of these on each side of the tank (not dimmable):

PAR38 Bulb White/Blue x2

PAR38 Bulb 5 Colors x2

If none of these work please let me know what I should be looking for! I'd prefer to not go above $300. Tank dimensions are 23"x23"x~24" with 2-3 inches of sand (so depth is about 20" to sandbed).

 

[mfdrookie516]

Personally, I'd look in to one of these -

reefbreeders

or

reefbreeders

 

[carey]

I'm using a taotronics unit over my 24 x 24 x 24 rimless tank. It is alot of light. lol I have burned a few corals already but am working on the issue. I have mine about 7 inches above the water too. If you can get the dimmable version of any led panel as it will be needed.

 

[Petrichor]

Personally, I'd look in to one of these -

reefbreeders

or

reefbreeders

Ooh thanks, I'll definately look at those. The warranty alone makes them better than Ebay already.

I'm using a taotronics unit over my 24 x 24 x 24 rimless tank. It is alot of light. lol I have burned a few corals already but am working on the issue. I have mine about 7 inches above the water too. If you can get the dimmable version of any led panel as it will be needed.

I remember reading about people burning or bleaching corals which is why I think dimmables are a must. I think it was in one of your threads that I read that, actually, heh. It would also help me acclimate my existing corals too.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Ooh thanks, I'll definately look at those. The warranty alone makes them better than Ebay already.

Well, not to mention the owner of that site is a hobbyist as well, and has tested these out on his personal tanks (and still obviously uses them). He's also a frequent poster on some other sites, hopeful he'll want to come here and sponsor as well.

 

[needmorecowbell]

I have the dimmable one on eBay, very nice, but I'd add some supplemental lighting to it as well, be it t5 or led, doesn't really matter. Some people don't agree but I think when you only have royal blue and cool white, your missing some big parts of the needed spectrum. If you can find a unit that has more than just those colors, is the same price, and is dimmable, jump on it. You can find them on alibaba but you need to buy like 5 lol.

They don't use the same LEDs that are normally bought, they don't have the star type board. They don't have any pcb and instead, are just soldered to a pcb board in the unit. This means that you can't just add any led to the fixture unless you can remove the led from its star type board. Bridgelux is the only one that I know of which sells them with just the diode and legs. I'm just saying this because that's the only way to supplement them using what you already have. Of course, adding a premade strip is a lot easier, but about 50$ more than just manually doing it.

 

[Petrichor]

I have the dimmable one on eBay, very nice, but I'd add some supplemental lighting to it as well, be it t5 or led, doesn't really matter. Some people don't agree but I think when you only have royal blue and cool white, your missing some big parts of the needed spectrum. If you can find a unit that has more than just those colors, is the same price, and is dimmable, jump on it. You can find them on alibaba but you need to buy like 5 lol.

They don't use the same LEDs that are normally bought, they don't have the star type board. They don't have any pcb and instead, are just soldered to a pcb board in the unit. This means that you can't just add any led to the fixture unless you can remove the led from its star type board. Bridgelux is the only one that I know of which sells them with just the diode and legs. I'm just saying this because that's the only way to supplement them using what you already have. Of course, adding a premade strip is a lot easier, but about 50$ more than just manually doing it.

Good to know. I'll look into some supplemental lighting or just spend an extra hundred or so on the second light set mfdrookie516 linked.

 

[nestor29]

I'm using a taotronics unit over my 24 x 24 x 24 rimless tank. It is alot of light. lol I have burned a few corals already but am working on the issue. I have mine about 7 inches above the water too. If you can get the dimmable version of any led panel as it will be needed.

Carey do you think one TaoTronic 212w fixture is good for my 40g breeder?

 

[carey]

To be honest, I see one as not being enough and two as being too much. Depending on how high you hang the light will determine the spread of it. You may get away with onlyone if the hanging height is good and you dont mind that the sides of the tank arent as bright as the center. You would have to place corals accordingly. BUT you could put zooa's and mushrooms off to the sides and the bigger better stuff in the center.

 

[nestor29]

To be honest, I see one as not being enough and two as being too much. Depending on how high you hang the light will determine the spread of it. You may get away with onlyone if the hanging height is good and you dont mind that the sides of the tank arent as bright as the center. You would have to place corals accordingly. BUT you could put zooa's and mushrooms off to the sides and the bigger better stuff in the center.

Do you I would be able to keep SPS corals in the center?

 

[carey]

I have a couple hard corals directly under the light and half way up and they seem to be doing really well. My hard corals are liking the led's alot more than my other corals are. lol