Taotronics or BuildMyLED

[Jolee0722]

I have been researching for a future saltwater tank, most likely a DIY 48" by 20" by 18" which is about 75 gallons and I came to the big question; which lights to get. I really like the look and dimming of LED lights as well as the fact that they run pretty cool. I don't want to spend too much and my budget is around $600 , so taking out all the name brand items, I came to two options. Taotronics LEDs or BuildMyLED. For the taotronics, I would either get the dimmable ones or the other ones with timers which are slightly more expensive. For BuildMyLED, I would be getting the 12000k reef spectrum and the actinic blue, both 48" long with dimmers. Would that be good enough for sps coral? Which one would you recommend and if the taotronics, which fixture for them would you recommend.

 

[Jolee0722]

No one?

 

[dmolavi]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f11/lighting-your-reef-best-bang-for-your-buck-239661.html

It's long but will answer your question

 

[Jolee0722]

Yes I have read parts of that forum and it seems to go towards the taotronics side. My budget is around 600, so it fits right into it. However, do you know any other fixtures that will cover 48 inches under 600 dollars. I would like to be able to customize the lights with sunrise and sunset a little more.

 

[mr_X]

I was looking at that BuildMyLed site and it's quite vague. It says they use 1 and 3 watt LEDs made by "Phillips and other top manufacturers". So, which is it? What LEDs? Who manufactured them?
It also says they use "ultraviolet" LEDs, which we all know is untrue.
You should just go to rapidLED and build your own if you want all the extras without the massive price tag. the only downside is it will be harder to sell the DIY fixture if you want to change it out, or get out of the hobby...

 

[Jolee0722]

Ok, so I was thinking of getting the taotronics with built in timers and dimmable. They are $220 each on amazon. Do you think these lights are good?

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

If you go with the TaoTronics, it seems like the ones without the timers are better. You can just get timers for $7 at home depot. The reviews for the Taos with the built in timers made it seem like they are very difficult to program, and don't last very long. Save some money and get non electronic timers.

 

[mr_X]

The downside of the manual dimming tao's is that you can't do the sunrise/sunset thing.
I don't have any experience with the programmable taos. I only use the manual ones.

 

[Jolee0722]

Ok. I think I will try the programmable taotronics then. If they don't work i can always just hook them up with timers and they have dimmers on top like the manual ones. I have heard good reviews about the intelligent ones, but they cost $400 each. Does anyone know if the euphotica LEDs sold n eBay are any good? They are exactly the same as the taotronics intelligent LEDs but cheaper and a different name on them.

 

[Jolee0722]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/190924758617

This is the link.