Just got my LED's!!!

[carey]

So i ordered two panels of LED's for my upcoming 60g rimless build and they finally came today!! So excited! They are only 1 watter's with 120 total watts. They are blue and white with an equal mix. I put one panel over my 20g tank and the blues are beyond awesome!!

I'll be bringing them to my LFS in a little bit and want to try them out over the 60g he has to see if there will be enough coverage.

If they do good and work well over that tank I might order 2-3 more panels and put them over my 125g!!!

Just so excited, my first LED's and I had to post!! LOL

The only thing I don't like is they are white and they weigh like 5 lbs a piece! Not sure if thats normal or not but they seem awful heavy to me. lol

 

[carey]

Just got back from the LFS. We measured up the LED light to the 60g cube and it looks like one unit will be enough. woot!

For now I jimmy rigged one up on the 20g rimless, just to see how the corals I have in there respond. I have to say the blue leds' are beyond words. All my corals glow under them. lol

Here is the ghetto rig job I did for now lol

 

[redsea]

They look fantastic! Your corals look great!

And as always, I am very excited for your 60g build. You said it would probably happen in February, right?

 

[carey]

Yep, I think February sounds good. or sooner if I sell of some fish tanks and stuff on CL. lol

I LOVE these lights so far and guess what? I am gonna order 2 more panels and put the mover the 125g!!!

The spread on this LED is excellent so i plan on going with just one for the 60g rimless and three for the 125g. I am gonna make a thread tonight about mounting options since I have no idea how to put them over the 125g. LOL

 

[Everett Adams]

what lights are these? look great!

 

[spkehl]

what lights are these? look great!

Also where did you get them? The do look great!

 

[carey]

they are cheapo chinese made ones most likely. here is the link for them, you may find something similar elsewhere cheaper but I have a credit card with this online store LOL

Newegg.com - 3 Modes Optional Aquarium Coral Reef Tank White Blue LED Grow Light 120W

 

[Everett Adams]

Hmmm they really look nice I might have to get three of these to put over my 120 gallon

 

[ccCapt]

They look very similar to the LED's I have, except mine are 3w LED's. I'm not sure the 1w has the punch to penetrate to the bottom of your 125g tank.

 

[mr_X]

here's another cheapo fixture-
Amazon.com: TaoTronics Hot!/Aquarium Coral Reef Tank White Blue LED Lamb Grow Light 120W-provide light that have the same effect as natural sunlight and hence offers plants a very good growing habitat: Patio, Lawn & Garden

 

[carey]

Yeah, I'm not sure how much gusto they have for penetration. I took downb the lights off the 125g last night and kinda placed one panel over the tank.

I am in LOVE with how the corals look under the blue lights. Just can't tell if the light is penetrating the tank to the bottom enough.

here is what i was thinking, tell me what you think PLEASE lol.

I was going to make my upcoming 60g cube my high light coral tank and was thinking of just keeping LPS and softies in the 125g. No clams or anemones in either tank, I've had my fill if them already. Do you guys think the leds would work if that was the stocking?

I have a store credit for $400 so I can buy 2 more of these fixtures, there's nothing else in the online store that i really want or need so I'm really wanting these lights. lol

Also, would it be possible to add a led strip to the actual light fixture? Maybe that will help there be enough light. lol I am so just hoping I can keep these lights, very excited for the look of them.

Thanks everyone for the input so far, keep it coming. I will have to spend the credit soon so i have my finger on the trigger just waiting for responses from you experts.

 

[Everett Adams]

Would be nice to have specs to see if they would penetrate the bottom of a large tank. I would love to have some of these fixtures over my 120 g tank

 

[carey]

Yeah, I know, no specs though, it's just a basic 120w fixture with no real optics. But it looks awesome.

I am still on the fence if I should get 2 more fixtures though....maybe I'll mess with them on the 125g again later tonight. It looked like the light got to the bottom but not sure at what intensity...

 

[mr_X]

the one i posted uses 3 watt led. just a FYI...

 

[carey]

Yep, I like those and if I had the money I would have gotten them BUT I'm just using up store credit so I figured these 1 watters might be good. I had them up over the 60g cube and it appears one or two will be perfect for that tank which was my main concern. It's just the corals look so darn good under theme I was thinking of upgrading the 125g.

 

[Everett Adams]

Just noticed the fixture Mr X posted uses 3w led thanks for the post!

 

[ccCapt]

Here's my PAR readings using a Quantum Apogee PAR meter with the 3w LED's I have. My LED's look to be the same as the ones on the link Doug posted.
LED
6" below fixture (just above water line) - 1350 ppfd
1" below water - 830 ppfd
12" under water - 310 ppfd
24" under water (sand bed) - 160 ppfd

For a comparison, here's my PAR reading for some different MH's I used on my tank.
175w Iwasaki 15k MH
6" below fixture (just above water line) - 1575 ppfd
1" below water - 625 ppfd
12" under water - 325 ppfd
24" under water (sand bed) - 200 ppfd

175w XM 15k MH
6" below fixture (just above water line) - 500 ppfd
1" below water - 225 ppfd
12" under water - 110 ppfd
24" under water (sand bed) - 80 ppfd

250w XM 20k MH
6" below fixture (just above water line) - 1280 ppfd
1" below water - 375 ppfd
12" under water - 220 ppfd
24" under water (sand bed) - 155 ppfd

 

[carey]

Those numbers look to be very good. Do you think a single fixture like the one X linked would be enough for a 24 X 24 X 24 cube tank? or would I need 2 of them?

Thanks very much for taking the time to post those numbers, I appreciate it. I'm trying to get a feel for what figures would be good for different depths and that helped alot.

 

[ccCapt]

I have 3 over my 6' 125, so I would think 1 over a 2' tank would be fine.

 

[carey]

Ok. I may go that route instead. I have two of these units so I suppose i can sell them off and use that money for the one 3w light.

Thanks so much everyone for the information and input.