Getting preped

[Etunes]

I am wanting to start my new SW tank soon and i am wanting to hard corals in the tank. I really like LPS and hammers and such. The one aspect with SW that confuses me is lights. I would like LED but idk were to even start too look to be honest. So i was wondering if i could get some advice on were too go direction wise. I am most likely gonna start with a 40 breeder and upgrade later on most likely.

SOOOOOOOOOOO

for the help ahead of time

 

[nelix10]

Powerful and cheep! Blue and white is all that is needed! eBay is a great source for cheep LEDs! They must be dimmable! I will say take a lot of time to find exactly what you need! I did not and I am on my 4th set of lights!

 

[Bectan01]

When looking at led you must get ones that are 3w per diode. There are a lot of LEDs out there that will not support corals. The taotronics ones are cheap and popular...

 

[Etunes]

Let me ask you do you guys find LED's worth the money and the time to find? I was hoping they were i like the way they look and how they feel with my elctric bill but is it worth it? Or am i jumping ahead of myself and should just go the MH route? And i will look into the taotronics LED lights today and see what i find. Does anyone here have experience making there own and would they reccomend it?

 

[Ravden]

It's the difference of maybe an extra $50 and not having to replace for minimum of 7 years and saving hundreds of dollars over life of led vs. Cheaper initial investment more $ per month and replacing bulbs once a year, less are getting cheaper now as well

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[bribo12]

Yep I'm with ravden. Leds save money, put out great shimmer and no $50-60 bulb changes every 8 months.

 

[Ravden]

Just throwing it out I have been researching a lot over last year or so when I got interested In doing a salty. I have even seen price drops at lfs's over this time as the led fixtures are coming along the price is coming down. As long as you have 3w per and 10000 lumens your corals will have all they need for photosynthesis and look great

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[Etunes]

So that is what i should shoot for for what LED fixture to buy? 3 Watts per gallon? I am gonna get some actnics to accent the LED because i love having them wiht coral but i am just figuring out how much light i actually need. Anyone have any brands they have tried and suggest? Remember i wasnt LPS and hard coral so i need the good light.

 

[Bectan01]

No it's 3w per led - look at the taotronics units off eBay - they are 120w total. Don't quote me but I think you only need one on a 40 breeder. Try and get the dimmable one. They can be programmed so they have the blue in them already

 

[NanoNewb]

DIY LED is a fun little project. A little savings but not a ton. The benefit is you can get exactly what you want. I just did my lights and love the look of them. Still cycling so I cant tell you how they are working out yet!

For DIY definitely check out LED Supply and Rapid LED. Check out the kits and you can price by that. They even have solderless LED's now that make it super easy and clean for a newbie with LED's (Like me) HAHA!

If you go for a led light definetly check out Nano Box Home I have heard nothing but good things about all of there lights. I was going to get the Duo if I didn't want to give the DIY a try!

 

[Etunes]

Well, i guess that it is going to come down to testing. I am gonna go ahead and buy one soon that way i can get the aquarium under way. Hopefully i can get some SPS and some hard corals in the tank. I aam hoping to have atleast 3 watts per gallon which for a 40B is 120W which is one of those lights. I do want to do a DIY project eventually wiht a LED light set up but for now i am just gonna purchase one as my time is literally non existant. Time to do a ebay hunt when i get home from work. Let me ask you a question? How often do you have to replace the LED units?

 

[Etunes]

For DIY definitely check out LED Supply and Rapid LED. Check out the kits and you can price by that. They even have solderless LED's now that make it super easy and clean for a newbie with LED's (Like me) HAHA!

Holy crap that is cool. Definatly gonna have to look into those.

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

The watts per gallon thing is more for t5 or halides, not so much LEDs

 

[Bectan01]

Is this your first salt water tank? There is a lot more to keeping sps than lighting. I am nearly 3 years in the hobby and try and stay clear of hard corals because they are more difficult to keep...

 

[bribo12]

I agree with bectan. Acros are a pain in the butt. Lighting is needed but keeping stable alk/calc/mag is much more crucial ime. Same goes for keeping phosphates and nitrates low.

 

[Etunes]

It is not my first round with SW tanks. I dont have much experience with hard corals. I want to do this to get that experience. Just one of those things i have always wanted to do. The keeping stable alk/calc/mag is something ive dealt with before. Were i do not have experience is lighting for high light corals. I think i have decided that i am gonna go on ebay and buy a unit to see how it works out. The pricing isnt bad at all and i want to try them out. The hard corals are gonna be down the road anyways. I am just gonna instead of wasting money go ahead and buy the right light i want right away. I was just trying to get some info on what people thoughts were on LEDs. I think i have decided on taotonics LED lights and i am gonna supplement it with some actnic T5HO lights just for the effect it gives.

 

[Dav3]

If you get the blue/white dimmable panel then you should be able to dim the blues and whites independently. More blue than white to give you the look you're looking for without the need to supplement more blue.

 

[Etunes]

now coming from someone who dosent know a ton about lighting and coral (hence why i am here) is it the blue that gives the effect actnics give to corals, that glow? I thought it was a specific kind of lighting.

 

[Dav3]

It's the blue that causes them to radiate/glow. Some corals don't glow at all though.

There is more science involved that I won't get into but that is the basics.

 

[Etunes]

Really, i never realized. And plz, science away. Ilike knowing the specifics about it. I love this stuff. Got any good articales i can read?