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

[Jmkb02]

You can get a 10w 6000k floodlight from eBay to light the fuge. They work well and don't need replacement bulbs. I setup my brother's fuge with one 6000k and one royal blue because he wants to use the refugium to grow out frags. When there aren't any frags in the sump he just runs the one daylight for cheato. For about 14 bucks they're hard to beat considering they come with a waterproof housing. You do have to instal the plug yourself but that's a cakewalk.

Could you shoot me a link... Can't seem to find it. Thanks

 

[audifusion]

Just search led flood on eBay , lots of sellers

 

[College fishman]

Quick question dudes!


I got two 120watt dimmable taotronic fixtures on my 90. I feel like my favia and other corals just don't look the same under my lights as they did at the LFS. They are using the same lights. Idk what's up.

 

[oyf709]

Quick question dudes!


I got two 120watt dimmable taotronic fixtures on my 90. I feel like my favia and other corals just don't look the same under my lights as they did at the LFS. They are using the same lights. Idk what's up.

Lighting choice is important but it is not the only factor for your coral's health. The well balance system is a lot more important than your lighting selection. Your LFS might be doing a lot differently comes to skimming, dosing etc. While you are running a 180g skimmer for your 90g tank, they probly running a 3000g commercial skimmer for their entire 1000g water volume. You might be using CA reactor and already feel that is a fancy addition, yet your LFS might run multiple dosing from Mag to CA to iodine. My point is, even with the same setup, coral might comes out differently, and the chance you will have the same set up of your LFS is very unlikely

 

[College fishman]

Ah makes sense. Didnt think of the whole aspect like that

 

[Mrc8858]

If your talking about jerry's corals then they are getting about the same skimming, lighting and maybe less flow. He is however using red sea pro which he's saids given him great results and there is also a good chance that driving what 3 hours will make them look a bit dull for now. Give em a few days and just keep an eye on em and I bet they start looking better.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Could you shoot me a link... Can't seem to find it. Thanks

I can't on my iPod but I'll get it to you on the PC.

Here it is.

 

[mr_X]

Anybody growing corals under these floods successfully?

 

[College fishman]

If your talking about jerry's corals then they are getting about the same skimming, lighting and maybe less flow. He is however using red sea pro which he's saids given him great results and there is also a good chance that driving what 3 hours will make them look a bit dull for now. Give em a few days and just keep an eye on em and I bet they start looking better.

Alright. Your talking about Red Sea pro salt right??

 

[Lunchbox209]

Anybody growing corals under these floods successfully?

+1 I have yet to see a full blown (healthy&growing)reef being lit by these lights and no par numbers either.

 

[Jmkb02]

Yeah I like the price but those aren't gonna really work for what I need em for. Thanks tho

 

[aadair22]

I think the link posted was for fugue light and maybe low light corals.. But mostly as a fuge light to grow chaeto and such

 

[jsmith]

I have a 56 gallon tall its 36 inch long I currently have t5s but I'm tired of buying bulbs. Would I need two of the taotonics fixtures?

 

[CorallineAlgae]

I think the link posted was for fugue light and maybe low light corals.. But mostly as a fuge light to grow chaeto and such

Exactly. He was only going to use it as a refugium light. They actually work surprisingly well for this. Very little heat, waterproof, more than bright enough for cheato, small size (fits in a compact space), has a mounting bracket, and the LED color can be changed out very easily for 3-5 bucks shipped.

I've tried the 6000k, 10000k, 20000k and royal blue emitters just for fun. I also have a super blue chip but I haven't tried it out yet. I wouldn't recommend going all in with them on a display tank but I do plan to check if they can be used in the sump to house frags at some point. I can't say they'll work for corals but for cheato they're doing fine and they grow more coralline on the rock in the sump than the single 22" T5 that was over the sump before switching to these floodlights. For this one application I find they're definitely worth considering.

 

[Jmkb02]

Exactly. He was only going to use it as a refugium light. They actually work surprisingly well for this. Very little heat, waterproof, more than bright enough, and the LED color can be changed out very easily for 3-5 bucks shipped.

I've tried the 6000k, 10000k, 20000k and royal blue emitters just for fun. I also have a super blue chip but I haven't tried it out yet. I wouldn't recommend going all in with them on a display tank but I do plan to check if they can be used in the sump to house frags at some point. I can't say they'll work for corals but for cheato they're doing fine and they grow more coralline on the rock in the sump than the single 22" T5 that was over the sump before switching to these floodlights. For this one application I find they're definitely worth considering.

Yes and they would work great for a bigger Fuge, I don't have enough room on the top for one. Thanks against tho, maybe on another build

 

[mr_X]

I might buy one just to check PAR numbers. Can you get them with 20k diodes already in them?

 

[audifusion]

X you can get them with cree chips if you want. You can even pick the ratio of white to blue,
The problem from my experience with the floods, is the drivers, all of my drivers failed.

 

[mr_X]

Failed? So, they don't last?

 

[Robbiesamp]

Sorry to interrupt but I just ordered my reef breeder LEDs

 

[mwilliams]

Something like this should be fine-

It will produce a little heat, but I don't think it will be a big deal.
If not, you could always get one of these from Home Depot or Lowes-

Doug what wattage is the swirly bulb?