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

[Gti_Leo]

ahh i would have figured they would have used a standard meanwell driver liek they give with their DIY kits

 

[Gregcoyote]

You know, I didn't open it up so don't know whats inside.

 

[JJ-MIK]

So what are some product numbers to look up? Taotronics. Or any other decent light . Dimmable or not. I see quite a few fixtures on eBay. But not sure which to consider.. I'm going to need 3 to go over my 150.. Unless there close to 3' long.. And need to b reasonable in price.

 

[Gregcoyote]

So what are some product numbers to look up? Taotronics. Or any other decent light . Dimmable or not. I see quite a few fixtures on eBay. But not sure which to consider.. I'm going to need 3 to go over my 150.. Unless there close to 3' long.. And need to b reasonable in price.

I don't think you will regret the Taotronics dimmable lights. Chinese LED drivers are notoriously cheap and can fail. Easy enough to change out and I suggest having a spare down the road. even with a guarantee, sending a fixture in for repair can be a real problem for your reef. The Rapid LED Onyx fixture is a solid unit, but priced higher. I think a DIY kit from Rapid is pretty cheap and it puts you in the position to make your own repairs if needed.

In my tests, the 90 watt Onyx fixture produced as much PAR as a 120 watt standard Chinese fixture identical to the Taotronics unit. And with lenses on the Onyx, a deep tank can be properly lite. I use both and am happy with both.

 

[JJ-MIK]

So the taotrinics Tt-al09. Will work for a 150g tank? I would be getting 3 of these.. I looked at the rapid LEDs. And I think that's out of my price range..

 

[mr_X]

Yes. I have 4 of these over my 8' three hundred gallon tank and can grow sps on the sand bed.

 

[JJ-MIK]

Very nice!!! Yeah . Ill most likely go with those then. My flood lights are nice. Just not working under my canopy. Getting hot and burning out.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Very nice!!! Yeah . Ill most likely go with those then. My flood lights are nice. Just not working under my canopy. Getting hot and burning out.

Yeah, I only used 20 watt floodlights and I ended up putting high quality thermal paste and a fan on it to keep it cooler. That won't be an issue with the TaoTronics. Hopefully they'll have better floodlights eventually but they don't hold a candle (a pun!) to real aquarium LEDs, except for refugium or maybe pico tank use. The 10 watt floods are great for sumps.

 

[JJ-MIK]

I've got 3 50w floods. And up high there is nice growth.. Middle to bottom not much happens. But I put an enclosed canopy on the tank with vent holes. But there still burning out.. In going to buy fans to out in there even after the taotronics are in

 

[Gti_Leo]

no kiddign a 50 watt is burning out, the heat sink is dinky tiny on the PAR lamps and 50 watts of LEDs would generate alot of heat on them

 

[JJ-MIK]

I has them running for 6 months . But constricted them in the canopy.. I'm repairing them and 2 are going over my 55 that I'm turning into an anemone tank

 

[Gti_Leo]

i have a friend that just bought one for over his 12g nanocube, but his is open and nothing constricting heat dicipation

 

[JJ-MIK]

There very nice and sleek looking!! I would just keep them. But since I have to order from china. Mine as well just update.. Plus I'm gaining some funds since I'm selling out on my RC cars.

 

[BenPadelski]

Im iffy on these lights. I want to pull the trigger and buy them. But in a month or two I dont want to regret it and see my corals not growing. My buddy has them and loves them. But again, he has trouble growing zoas near the sandbed. Nothing is less than halfway up the tank and his corals dont grow! Ive seen the tank over a period of 6 months and it seems like the lights are just keeping the corals alive, not growing them.

 

[mr_X]

Im iffy on these lights. I want to pull the trigger and buy them. But in a month or two I dont want to regret it and see my corals not growing. My buddy has them and loves them. But again, he has trouble growing zoas near the sandbed. Nothing is less than halfway up the tank and his corals dont grow! Ive seen the tank over a period of 6 months and it seems like the lights are just keeping the corals alive, not growing them.

Which lights are you speaking of exactly? Are we still talking about the Taotronics? If so, everything in my tank is growing like weeds. I would look to his water parameters.

 

[JJ-MIK]

My 50w floods are exactly like that in my 150.. I had a monti cap sitting midway in my tank for 3 months and no growth at all. Placed it 6 inches from the surface and within 3 weeks now its grown an inch.. Everything is sitting on top now and it's growing like crazy. I hope the taotronics will allow me to put corals back thru out the tank.

 

[mr_X]

I have clams and sps on the sand bed that have doubled in size since their additions. No worries.

 

[JJ-MIK]

Good deal! Ill be buying 3 of the taotronics .. Does it really make that big of a difference if I go dimmable or non dimmable? There non dimmable model is just as powerful isn't it? Or is it old enough it's out dates?

 

[JJ-MIK]

Out dated .. Sorry

 

[mr_X]

I am using mostly non-dimmable units over my tank, since the dimmables weren't available back then, and yes, they are just as powerful, however the color is the color. In other words, you can adjust the amount of white and blue to make your tank look exactly the way you want, whereas I cannot. Luckily, I like the color as it is. Also, I can't keep some LPS happy under the fixtures at full strength, and I can't turn them down to accommodate.
Get the dimmable units.