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

[Gregcoyote]

A 120 watt panel is overkill for 20 gallons, you would have to keep it dimmed down. A 60-80 watt would be more than enough. But the price might be better on the 120 watt.

 

[dmolavi]

And WTH is up with the prices? supermart168 has the 'full spectrum' units for $135, but the straight blue/whites for almost double. Other blue/white Taotronics are available for $170-ish.

Just when I was getting ready to pull the trigger, dangnabbit.

 

[Gregcoyote]

I've seen the dimmable panels for $129 delivered.

 

[dmolavi]

Any suggestions on affordable 60-80 watt panels? I don't see any made by Taotronics (or clones). There are "big name" units that have corresponding big prices. I'm only a few minutes into my search, so hopefully I'll come across something.

 

[Gregcoyote]

I use to sell smaller panels, but don't anymore as the market got flooded with inexpensive LEDs.

The Taotronics units are cheap, but seem reliable. And they can sure grow coral, in fact they are over powered for some folks, but the dimmers make them usable.

 

[AquaRick]

I would be concerned with the 165. It's probably really a 120. They are just multiplying 55x 3watts. When they are usually 3watt LEDs that are actually driven a little over 2 watts ea. I don't believe anyone pushes a full 3 watts through a 3 watt led.

As for full spectrum or not that is up to you. I'm quite happy with just the blue/white panels. Colors still pop(thanks to the blues). If you go blue/white I would recommend the 30blue/25white panels.

Right. I understand the 165w are run at 2 watts and some change...but I should have clarified my earlier question as I was looking to see if anyone had these "165w" fixtures. These panels have an led color configuration that is a bit different from the "120w" fixtures. Just looking to see if the violet/"uv" leds at 420nm in the 165w panels are making any noticeable difference in the color of the tank/corals.

 

[dmolavi]

Mr_X can chime in, but, no, the "UV" diodes make no difference.

 

[Gregcoyote]

I have some RapidLED Onyx fixtures with a few red, green and "UV" LEDs. The colors are a bit warmer than my tank with the Taotronics type panels, both look good and both grow coral. Earlier in this thread we had a exhausting discussion on the differences and it came down to a matter of preference, the corals don't care.

 

[Dav3]

And WTH is up with the prices? supermart168 has the 'full spectrum' units for $135, but the straight blue/whites for almost double. Other blue/white Taotronics are available for $170-ish. Just when I was getting ready to pull the trigger, dangnabbit.

Strange. I knew he raised the price of the black case units but now the white ones too. Glad I got them when I did.

 

[AquaRick]

I have some RapidLED Onyx fixtures with a few red, green and "UV" LEDs. The colors are a bit warmer than my tank with the Taotronics type panels, both look good and both grow coral. Earlier in this thread we had a exhausting discussion on the differences and it came down to a matter of preference, the corals don't care.

Right exactly. I was just wondering if anyone had pics to show what color the "UV" LEDs create.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Right exactly. I was just wondering if anyone had pics to show what color the "UV" LEDs create.

That is really debatable. A true UV led is a dangerous piece of electronics to work with without eye protection. These LEDs we are discussing work in 380-420nm, on the high end of UV and don't seem to make much if any difference in my corals, but I have no way to test that other than observance. The added violet might make some corals fluoresce more. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2135914[/url]

 

[Jake337]

And WTH is up with the prices? supermart168 has the 'full spectrum' units for $135, but the straight blue/whites for almost double. Other blue/white Taotronics are available for $170-ish.

Just when I was getting ready to pull the trigger, dangnabbit.

I would wait until the bidding/purchase time has ended. He did this last time, idk if it was a mistake of putting in the wrong price but after a couple of weeks, he put the blues and whites back to the same price.

 

[Gregcoyote]

These fixtures cost from $50-$60 each in China, shipping almost doubles the cost unless you ship hundreds in a container. Any distributor has to balance how he handles shipping from China. The smart ones have their shipments bundled in with other stuff to bring the price way down. But at $129, there wasn't much room for error.

In small quantities, you can buy a 120 watt panel for well under $100 directly from a Chinese distributor, but shipping would add $50 at least.

 

[Dav3]

That's true. I managed to get a two pack for $230

 

[mr_X]

Just wait...they go up and back down again very shortly. I don't care for the violet leds, but I do like a mixture of blue and royal blue.

 

[Jonnypro]

I got my dimmable full spectrums for 140 each shipped. I love them. The only thing I don't like is when you dimm them down past 20% they turn off. So there is no real 0-like 15%. Only when you turn them off do they go on at like 15%. Makes all the colors pop in the tank. In have a 135g. I also did a review a few weeks ago and will be doing another one soon. My next son will born this Monday.

 

[audifusion]

I picked up 8 of the ones with 98 x3 w LEDs , white and blue , they are about 10" x 24" each, and each have 4 heatsink fans.

Just installed them on the weekend, looks awesome!

 

[TheTodd]

How big are these and how much space do they light? I'm thinking of possibly adding some basic corals or anemones next summer after my 240g is more established.

 

[Robert_ellis]

10 footers? Nothing that's 8 dollars is going to grow coral.

think he was talking about new power cords.

 

[mr_X]

think he was talking about new power cords.

Yes, he was.