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

[ivan_dalmatia]

Do you think these are ok???http://www.ebay.ca/itm/300W-Led-Aqu...n_0&hash=item1e7a884c15&_uhb=1#ht_7744wt_1002

 

[Breakthecycle2]

I would get Kessil's at that price. You can get the a150 for that, although I prefer the a350

 

[BenPadelski]

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.

Yes the taotronics, and his water parameters are perfect. Ive asked him about it before and he said his nitrates hang out around 5-10. And thats about it.

 

[Gregcoyote]

I'm using similar fixtures on my reef. I don't think anyone would claim I'm not growing lots of coral with them. The advice given is solid.

 

[Wolfsblood]

I have had my Taotronics TT-AL09 fixture for about a week now. I absolutely love it. It is quiet and runs extremely cool. Dual dimmer nobs give plenty of control. I was surprised by the quality too, this is a solid and clean looking fixture. My corals are happy(as much as I can see after only a week)

 

[Robert_ellis]

Yes the taotronics, and his water parameters are perfect. Ive asked him about it before and he said his nitrates hang out around 5-10. And thats about it.

He needs to figure out where his nitrates are coming from. If he feed 2-3 times a week with regular water changes it should be no problem keeping them around 0-2. 5-10 isn't crazy high but the lower the better. Check the skimmer also an make sure its the right size and doing its job correctly.

 

[Gregcoyote]

With any real amount of livestock keeping nitrogen by products down by just doing PWC's can be a challenge. Even without a sump or refugium, I would start a small ball of chaeto on a lettuce clip in the back of the tank and prune it as needed. Fish enjoy it and I think it is the easiest macro algae to keep under control.

 

[Robert_ellis]

With any real amount of livestock keeping nitrogen by products down by just doing PWC's can be a challenge. Even without a sump or refugium, I would start a small ball of chaeto on a lettuce clip in the back of the tank and prune it as needed. Fish enjoy it and I think it is the easiest macro algae to keep under control.

I agree. But they need to figure it out as that is part of having a large reef.

 

[mr_X]

Yes the taotronics, and his water parameters are perfect. Ive asked him about it before and he said his nitrates hang out around 5-10. And thats about it.

Something isn't right, and it's not the lighting.

 

[Gti_Leo]

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.

the dimmables are nice, they allow you to dim the light to accomidate all sorts of corals, like Mr X said, but it also can give you a nice sunrise sunset effect for less stress on the fish an corals, its not a sudden lights out effect its a gradual dimming. some controllers also offer a daylight ability where blues and whites are at different intensities during the day the same way the sun is

 

[Gti_Leo]

Something isn't right, and it's not the lighting.

yeah whats his/her substrate? is it crushed coral or sand?

 

[JJ-MIK]

Can you program them to slowly get brighter thru out the day? And dim down in the evening? That would be cool!

 

[Gti_Leo]

Can you program them to slowly get brighter thru out the day? And dim down in the evening? That would be cool!

yes you can different aqua controllers allow this, my reef angel comes programmed like this already and you can creat custom programs.


youi have to be carful though, some aquacontrollers use different types of dimming modules though, some use an analog 1-10v dimming loop like what the taotronics drivers use, and some like the drivers i have use a digital pulse wave loop. the rapid LED daylight controller uses pulse wave signals and requires a pulse wave driver, while i believe the apex controller uses an analog style. my reef angle can be ordered to have one or the other but there are some controllers that cannot do this so be careful if this is a route you choose to go

 

[BenPadelski]

yeah whats his/her substrate? is it crushed coral or sand?

Its sand.

 

[BenPadelski]

He needs to figure out where his nitrates are coming from. If he feed 2-3 times a week with regular water changes it should be no problem keeping them around 0-2. 5-10 isn't crazy high but the lower the better. Check the skimmer also an make sure its the right size and doing its job correctly.

Swc 160 cone skimmer. Model below mine. He has a 90 gallon.

 

[JonathanG]

There was a request for some time lapse photos under LED's. Here are a few. The lights from the beginning of my setup until late April were a 27" Maxspect Razor 16k, after that I replaced it with 2 16" Reefbreeders Photon LED's.

Got This Acro in Jan,2013 - the second pic is from today

 

[JonathanG]

These are from Feb, 2013 till today

 

[BenPadelski]

And these are under the reef breeders? They look pretty sweet. Im still deciding. I have about $800 to go with for a 120 gallon.

 

[Robert_ellis]

That's a good budget to have for a 120 light setup. Go with reefbreeders. USA warranties!

 

[JonathanG]

And these are under the reef breeders? They look pretty sweet. Im still deciding. I have about $800 to go with for a 120 gallon.

Yes they are under reefbreeders for a little over a month now, Maxspect Razor LED's before that