Lighting upgrade!!!

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acolotto

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
388
Hey guys

So I'm upgrading my 4x54w t5ho for LEDs! I ordered my first taotronic 120w Friday should be here by Friday and gonna order the 2nd one at the end of the month. Never really did a build thread so I'm gonna do a light upgrade one lol. So I'll post a pic later of how my tank looks now and keep it going to see how the lights make a difference (so kind of a review of the taotronic lighting system to see how well they work and how LEDs do with coral growth)

So with my 4 t5 bulbs are 2 marine glo and 2 power glo bulbs and I've been able to keep (coral wise)

Frogspawn
Hammer
Montis (purple haze, grape, orange, red, and tyree flower petal (all which are less then a month old so can't really say I've kept them under these bulbs but they are doing good and have shown growth))
Mushrooms (red, purple, green, and green fuzzy)
Kenya tree
Duncan
Brain
Doughnut coral
Zoas and palys
And a rose bubble tip anemone

My tank is a 55 gallon reef and has been up for 14 to 15 months and this is my first saltwater and first LEDs so my review is kind of what u take it for since I'm still new but thought I could show how it affects coral growth and just overall look of the aquarium! Thanks guys and any advice and help is greatly appreciated!
 
Hey aco, did you get the dimmable ones ? I'll be following cause I'm tired of paying for bulbs, and am looking into 3 dimmable units for my 180. Will be down the road as I just changed bulbs recently, but yearly expense on 20 3 ft. T5's is killin me. Love the light, but just too expensive.
Tank is 6 by 2 by 2, and from what I've read, 3 of these units would be perfect.
Anyway, good luck and I'll be following to see how it goes for you!
 
No just the regular ones I couldn't wait the month for the shipping lol but I'll add a pic once I get home in the morning tomorrow of my tank currently
 
I know theres alot of good reviews on this sight about these lights. I was even about to buy them myself but though some reading of reviews about how the light actually works I changed my mind real quick. The light is extreamlly low quality and for 580$ you can build your own Cree LED fixtures from rapid led at least thats what I spent on both of mine that I ordered. I got two of them and they will have 4 different bulb colors the fixtures will have 3 dimmers. LMK how they work out I was just to scared myself to purchase them.

I read that the non dimmable ones often bleach all the corals in the tank because they are at 100% from the start. So keep a very close eye on your corals. If you are going to hang it I would start them high and move them down slowly over weeks.
 
Your situation sounds exactly like mine. First saltwater tank, 16 months old, first LEDs, switching from 4x54W t5 to this taotronics fixture.

Subscribed!
 
heres some pics
 

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and some more lol
 

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And this is my brain coral i bought it as a rescue coral and it has shown some growth but still needs a lot more lol but bought it for $20 so it was a steal in my eyes and it has been growing a good amount back i think just takes time!
 

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CleverBs said:
I know theres alot of good reviews on this sight about these lights. I was even about to buy them myself but though some reading of reviews about how the light actually works I changed my mind real quick. The light is extreamlly low quality and for 580$ you can build your own Cree LED fixtures from rapid led at least thats what I spent on both of mine that I ordered. I got two of them and they will have 4 different bulb colors the fixtures will have 3 dimmers. LMK how they work out I was just to scared myself to purchase them.

I read that the non dimmable ones often bleach all the corals in the tank because they are at 100% from the start. So keep a very close eye on your corals. If you are going to hang it I would start them high and move them down slowly over weeks.

Yea idk I have heard enough good reviews on multiple site to give them a try...I am buying egg crates to make a light barrier to lower the light but I am not really worried about that because I don't even have a controller anyways so would have to do the same thing anyways...these lights are rated at same as 400 metal halides I am excited to get my bang for the buck
 
I import units just like the Taotronic ones, but bigger in most cases. I warranty them here in the US. The new dimmable panels are very nice. I have had mine up for over two years now. You can see my tank on YouTube and I don't think I have anything to hide...these fixtures work.
Unless you want the fancy stuff, these panels are just fine for growing all types of corals. I don't know what was inferred by the "low quality" statement as there are dozens of LED manufacturers in China. Most of the DYI parts listed for CREE projects also come from China, such as drivers. PAR is PAR, your corals won't care if you didn't spend $750 per fixture. Yes, start out slowly using some diffuser material at first and adjust your corals to the much stronger PAR, then you will have no bleaching.
 
The light is extreamlly low quality and for 580$ you can build your own Cree LED fixtures from rapid led
Umm..These are $160.00 shipped. I don't get the comparison.
For $750.00 you can buy an orphek fixture. Why stop at $580.00, and have to put it together?
Nothing in my tank is bleached. You just need to be conscious of acclimation and placement. It's the same as if you were going from power compacts to halides.
 
There you have it. When Mr_X and I agree on something, I would bet on it, because we don't agree much of the time... ;-)
It keeps things interesting.
 
Thank you mr x and Greg thoughts how I felt...it's not like I'm just going to put in my tank full blast haha I am going to have egg crate under there I don't know how much yet but I'll have a month to ask questions and get advice for that since I won't have the second light til may. I plan on putting several sheets of a diffuser and removing one every week or so
 
It's 580 for two that don't need to be solderd. Theres no need to get defensive what so ever I was just saying that I have read many many bad things about these lights every place other then these lights. To me it just wasnt worth the money to buy something that was obviously low end. The bleaching happens even if it didn't happen in your tank mr x does have a very deep tank compared to a 55g that's why I was saying he should be carful. Just trying to help him out by letting him know thngs that I learned from reading. He can do what ever he wants like I said I seriously considered these lights for my tank until I found other solutions and I was just sharing those with him. The low quality comment was pointed to the fact that they are a low quality led it has nothing to do with the fact they are from china truly but there's no arguing they are low quality or else they wouldn't be 175$ and I'm not suggesting the Cree fixtures are high quality but they will be higher quality. The thing that concerned me the most is that I read the fixture is daisy chained and if one bulb goes out the whole panel goes out.
 
I'm considering buying 4 of these led panels but the previous comment states that if One led bulb fails they all go out that would be really tough to figure out which one failed so u can replace it but they are guaranteed for 2 years so I don't know... Also ebay says it only ships those lights to the usa does anyone have a link to somewhere I can but these in ontario canada
 
Sniperhank said:
I don't know about shipping to canada, but if an LED light goes out you can test each individual one to see which is creating the issue.

It would still b a PITA
 
Anyone know if I can even get these lights in canada they are the only reason I'm selling my 50 gallon so I can upgrade the lights on my 70 gallon
 
Maybe amazon? And check the dimmable ones on eBay they ship from china so they might be able to
 
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