led reef lighting?

[Spotted]

Finally got them up.

I have a 2 bulb T5 as well.
These are blues on the led and actinics on T5




These are T5 day light and actinics and blues on leds



This is all lights on


When I first turned the leds on it looked like the other half of the tank was not on. Lol

 

[paul87]

Wow big difference. How long is the tank?

 

[Spotted]

48x24x25

 

[paul87]

So I'm thinking of going with the xen-lux 120 Watt or maybe the taotronics 120 Watt light. I read the zen-lux are a little better made and claim to last up to 10 years as the taotronics claim to last up to 5 years. They look almost identical. Anybody ever use or hear about the zen-lux brand?

 

[Spotted]

So i ordered received and installed a second light. Results are awesome.







The right one is at a much more appropriate height. Lights the tank a lot more even. The left pookie is stuck where it is.
Otherwise really happy with it.

 

[paul87]

Looks bright! Ill be getting lights later down the road. I just started this thread to get feedback and discussion on different leds. You could always scoot your tank out a bit to put the other light that high? I guess u would have to move it out over a foot though huh? I guess if you have high light corals they will do good on the left!

 

[paul87]

I just purchased a xen-lux 120 watt led light fixture. I hope it does well. Expected delivery is January 10th. Maybe ill get it earlier. Can't wait to test it out! Here it is. http://mixwholesale.ecrater.com/p/15273819/2012-pro-120w-led-aquarium-coral

 

[paul87]

Got my light in today. Pretty impressed by it. We will see how it goes. By the specs it's great. Looks visually alot brighter that my 32" dual aquatic life t5 ho light. And the same price as that light. I still want to suspend it a little better but here's some pics.

 

[oyf709]

Can't see from your picture, but do you have coral in your tank? If you do then need to dim the fixture down, or you will start seeing melting corals. If you convert from T5 to LED, should always go from about 30% or less and add 5% every few days

 

[paul87]

It doesn't have a dimmer. Is this something I can plug into the powercord?

 

[oyf709]

oh boy, I thought all companies out thre make their fixtures at least with dimming knod. If you don't have a dimming knod for the fixture, then nothin really you can do to dim the light. As dimming the fixture require lower the current going thru the LED.

Without dimming, you need to be very careful especially if you already have coral in there, you are gambling with the coral. You might be lucky that all of them are fine no problem. Or you will find some coral would start melting or bleaching.

If your fixtures comes with 2 power cord, 1 for white 1 for blue, I would suggest to just keep the blue on only for now, and maybe turn on the white LED after at least a week.

 

[Kio707]

You can also place sheets of screening over your tank. I have the same LEDs and never had issues. But with the screening, you lay several layers, removing layers after a couple of weeks. Also start your corals at the bottom. Just a couple of suggestions.

 

[paul87]

OK thanks. Glad to get input from someone who has the same fixture. What if I just raise the light higher?

 

[Kio707]

OK thanks. Glad to get input from someone who has the same fixture. What if I just raise the light higher?

Can do that too... Eventually corals will get use to it.

 

[paul87]

OK. What if I buy corals that are currently under t5 hos? They will need to be light acclimated right?

 

[Sniperhank]

Understand that all t5 isn't equal. It is dependant

 

[Sniperhank]

Understand that all t5 isn't equal. It is dependant

On how many bulbs there are.

 

[Kio707]

He's right... And yes, put your corals down low and slowly bring them up.

 

[paul87]

The t5 ho I had was 2 bulbs. The new led fixture has 55 leds. 29:26 blue:white ratio. I raised my lights and what little coral I do have is at or near the bottom. Mostly zoanthids, mushrooms, and a flower pot coral. Which I'm concerned about. Looks alot better that when I first made my tank swap. I actually picked up a favia coral today for $20. Good size piece for the price but doest look the healthiest. That's why it wad $20. The guy said its made quite a recovery and it was almost all white when they got it. Here's some pics of it now.

 

[paul87]

Update on the xen-lux 120 Watt led fixture. Corals are responding well and the light is still doing great. If anyone needed a very affordable led light I would recommend it.