Whats a good beginner coral reef

[carey]

I just bought and sold 2 led panels, 120watt with 1 watt leds. I got them from online and they were chinese made. BUT in the proper tank I think they wouldnt have been too bad. I bought them for my 60g cube build but put one over my 20g tank and it was burning out my corals. lol So I sold them off and purchased a single 120watt 3 watt led fixture. This one also is from china but from discussions with others on the forum I feel will be enough light for a 24" deep tank.

The AI sol's are good lights as far as penetration from what I hear but the spread may be a bit narrow. They come with great reviews MOSTLY, cause there are some that don't like them but overall they seem like a good option.

 

[FDshoes]

LEDs are the present and future as long as u buy the proper ones. The AI sol's are good, the custom crew units are awesome if u can have someone build one for you or do it yourself if u are VERY proficient on electrical wiring and figuring out amps and wattage. I have the coral maxx II very strong lights just wish they had a dimmer.
Right now the radions are prb the best fixtures out there but abt 700$ a piece. There are also a couple very high end units out of europe that are completly customizable.

 

[Gti_Leo]

anything using a Cree LED with proper configuration will get the job done well.

i'm a big fan of DIY (i'm a tradesman what can i say) so i personally want to buy a DIY kit from rapidled.com for my own LED hood. its not only cheaper buy i get my jollies out of doing it and i can build a fixture to my own specs with a good RGB spectrum of light

to light a whole 220g reef that i want to build requires 108 LEDs for sps and clams and will cost me less the $1000 with all required LEDs drivers and heatsinks even with the plywood to build the canopy it will still be under that mark

 

[Leighton79]

This is all good and well if you are proficient in electronics.

I feel most people are not and are more likely to set the house alight, something I'm not willing to risk undertaking.

I'll leave it to AI, by the way Rick, that Vega fixture looks SUPERB!!

Balls to halides, I'll have one of those!!

 

[mr_X]

I hear the Orphek LED fixtures are the best to date. I'll build my own first.

 

[FDshoes]

The orpex's are also awesome that was one of the names I couldn't think of. I haven't personally seen them yet but I have seen the radions and they really are stellar. And im with u leighton wouldn't trust my electrical ability and I consider myself pretty proficient with my hands and building things.

 

[Gti_Leo]

well i am an electrician but rapid led also sells the plug and play stuff with quick connects so all you have to do is plug in each LED, pretty simple

 

[mr_X]

LED Group Buy | CREE LEDs for DIY Aquarium Lighting

 

[Leighton79]

They may as well do that bit for you, plain lazy.

It's not worth the agro for us Europeans.

Id sooner just pay for one that works when I put the plug in the wall, straight out the box.

 

[mr_X]

But at least for my tank, your talking a difference of thousands of dollars.

 

[needmorecowbell]

well i am an electrician but rapid led also sells the plug and play stuff with quick connects so all you have to do is plug in each LED, pretty simple

Oh lol, that's why you know all that stuff haha. I felt very uneducated when I was talking about an aquarium controller or something. Mostly because I'm 15 lol. Got a lot more to learn.

 

[Leighton79]

Yes I understand that, however mine will only be going on a 55g, just to see how they go.

As I say, if you have the know how, it's a great out, however I wouldn't know where to start and the other half would be quite cross if I started a fire.

 

[Gti_Leo]

But at least for my tank, your talking a difference of thousands of dollars.

i thought you weren't lookign into doign a DIY hood.

its really the best option when you go for a tank the size of what you're looking to build but good find on that group buy, those XML are crees latest and greatest. you should see their specs and complare them to the already proven XP-Gs

edit: further looked into it and the prices are comparable to what rapid LED sells them for so wherever you buy them from its more or less the same

 

[Gti_Leo]

Oh lol, that's why you know all that stuff haha. I felt very uneducated when I was talking about an aquarium controller or something. Mostly because I'm 15 lol. Got a lot more to learn.

i also do alot of research on this subject, since lighting is the most confusing and the most important aspect to reef keeping.

youtube has good videos on how to assemble these kits if you opt tp getting the basic kits, and there are some good videos on how to solder.

i watched my dad soldering when i was like 8 and thats how i learned, he is also an electrician so i've really been around this stuff all my 26 almost 27 years

 

[needmorecowbell]

Oh wow that's a while to learn. I agree that it's the most complicated. I guess I'll check out YouTube to see some stuff, I kinda want a DIY canopy with ballasts and moonlights in it.

 

[Gti_Leo]

those you can buy from rapidLED for next to nothing and they are simple plug and play, but a moonlight would be good to learn on

look up rickets reef DIY LEDs on youtube, he has 4 parts to his build and even shows you how to adjust the drivers to the right amperage

 

[needmorecowbell]

Oh alright I'll check them out, thanks.

 

[Gti_Leo]

no problem

 

[KAhner]

LED Group Buy | CREE LEDs for DIY Aquarium Lighting

Dang.... Didn't know you could get them chips for that price. Time to bust out the flux pen and iron.

 

[El_fishman616]

Thanks for the advice and options on lights but I really never had my questions answer which was what type of corals would you say a good for first time reefs like myself