Lighting your reef... Best bang for your buck.

[bkushy]

http://www.eshinesystems.com/aqua/4g-40x3w-led-aquarium-light.html
These were what I was originally going to get, what does everyone think of these. 280 US for two units shipped to Canada. I don't like the idea of three cords per unit but it may be the way I have to go to keep costs down and stick with a decent light. My son uses the cree classic on his tank and they do fine. Is there a huge difference between the cree led and the bridgelux? Thanks again for all your advice.

 

[bkushy]

E.shine Systems - AquaSun 36x6W LED Aquarium Light
ok last post, promise. Thinking maybe just go with two of these. Cree leds then in the fixture. Comes with mounting brackets. Two of these should be plenty for my 90 gallon right? It is 48 wide 18 deep and 26 high I believe. Do you think one fixture would be enough?? I don't have any sps right now and honestly not sure I ever will.

 

[Animal-Chin]

We'll 10 months in and one of my Taos broke today. My whites are totally dead leaving only the blues working. Any advice n how to fix?

 

[dragonfisher33]

We'll 10 months in and one of my Taos broke today. My whites are totally dead leaving only the blues working. Any advice n how to fix?

don't they have 1yr warranty?

 

[dmolavi]

Was it an actual "TaoTronics" branded panel, or one of the knock-offs? I don't know if there's a difference, but when it comes to servicing, it might be easier if was a "genuine" Tao. How was it mounted, how high above the water, any salt creep or splash getting into it?

Re: Warranty...Depends on where you bought them. Some have one, some have two. Either way, it should be covered. The logistics of getting it back and repaired could be a nightmare if it has to be shipped to China, and how do you handle lighting the tank in the interim?

This is my #1 concern with these units, as I have a small tank and will only need one set, if it dies, I'm "attached to another object by an inclined plane wrapped helically around an axis".* Buying a spare set is an option, but then I might as well plunk down the cash on a name-brand set....decisions, decisions.

The lighting decision is the only thing keeping me from going FOWLR to reef on my nano.

* "screwed"

 

[Animal-Chin]

I don't see a brand on it anywhere. I just happened to have another unit on my other tank that doesn't have sps so I've moved it but now I have a tank set up with no lights. I'll have to now decide if I want to contact the eBay seller or just purchase new lights somewhere...

Either way I'm not happy...

 

[Holygral]

I don't see a brand on it anywhere. I just happened to have another unit on my other tank that doesn't have sps so I've moved it but now I have a tank set up with no lights. I'll have to now decide if I want to contact the eBay seller or just purchase new lights somewhere...

Either way I'm not happy...

Thats the biggest issue when buying Ebay stuff or Chinese stuff, is where do you go when they need service

 

[Animal-Chin]

I've contacted the seller, we'll see what he says...

 

[dmolavi]

My fingers are crossed for you.

 

[Animal-Chin]

Seller is totally cool, I do have to ship it back to him so that'll cost me but he's going to fix it and return in 1 day. No questions asked.

 

[dmolavi]

That's good to hear. Is the seller in CA or US?

 

[Animal-Chin]

Southern US. Cant remember the state right now. Gonna cost me a few bucks to ship but its better than dropping $200 on another light...

 

[Jmkb02]

Mine was from SoCal too (which is where I live) and said if I ever had any probs I had the option to mail it or drive it over to him and he would fix it in the spot if he could. Was pretty stoked and happy about that. Well worth the extra 25 bucks for shipping I paid.

 

[Blenny]

I started thinking about upgrading my 4 24w t5 (2 actinic and 2 10k) with leds.

I read today that many led fixtures lack around 420nm.

Than it hit me : I could just run 4xt5 actinics and buy 2 x 20-30w cool white LED flood light to complement?

Could this grow sps corals well?

This would certainly qualifiy for best bang for your bucks if you already own a 2 or 4 bulbs t5 fixture.

 

[mr_X]

It may. It's hard to say. I think the white spotters will drown out the blues though, and you'll lose some shimmer.
As far as the 420mn, either, you don't need it to grow healthy corals, or that statement is inaccurate, or most LED sellers misrepresent their fixtures because in fact they do put off that frequency.

 

[Blenny]

Violet/UV LED emit at 420nm but are significantly less efficient than blue or royal blue leds.

I got from this source that 420nm might be relevant for corals:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/10/aafeature

How is shimmer affecting the light reaching the coral ?

 

[mr_X]

Shimmer effects the light reaching the coral to a point, but it's not significant enough to worry about. I use LED fixtures with allegedly no 420nm light and they grow corals just fine. I've grown tiny 1" sps frags into volleyball sized colonies with them.

 

[Blenny]

Reading the comments in the article it seems that some people using a lot of 420nm have bleaching problems. Also the math used in the article seems bogus.

Regarding adding 60 to 80 watts of flood led lights it might not fly as the cost will be over 120$ with the extra actinics and I still have to DIY some fixturing so they fit on top of the tank.

Might as well just get the taotronics or DIY led kit. But somehow I still like the idea of mixing actinic t5 and led.

Anyway I'm a bit putting the cart before the horse as I first need to get my nitrates under control before of thinking growing basketball size corals.

Thanks

 

[dmolavi]

Read the post from "StillWet" here: My Personal TaoTronics Review - Page 19 - 3reef Reef Aquarium Forum

Has anyone here had problems with rust, or, FSM forbid, fire? It also sounds like he bought from a crappy reseller (read the posts on the page after the one above).

 

[Hondatek]

When mine went out it puffed out a decent flame and some smoke. Took it apart and found rust pretty much everywhere . I just attributed it to my canopy not being vented enough .