Lighting help

[Coel]

So this is my first of what will probably be many posts, I am looking for a reef capable light for a 38g tank and that is under 150$. If anyone knows if it exists please let know.

The gf has tasked me with building her a reef

 

[obscurereef]

Heard of the odyssea lights working for corals...don't know how good they are though. Aquatraders.com sells them, but only up to 24" I think.
36" Aquarium T5 HO Light 156W LED Coral Reef Fish Odyssea CE | eBay
48" Aquarium T5 HO Light 216W LED Reef Fish Odyssea CE | eBay

 

[DanS180]

I have an 24" odyssea light on my 29G reef... all of my corals are doing great!

Used to have a 60" odyssea light on my freshwater tank for plants and it even did wonders for them as well.

Only thing that stinks about an odyssea is that they get very hot

 

[Saltwaterfish56]

Of your gonna try and go cheap you'll be spend more money on lights bulbs every six months , and it will add up when you can just get a badass kessil a350 led that will last you forever and is super silent and low electricity bill , think about it in the long run , better to spend more now

 

[obscurereef]

I think LEDs are better, but still probably more expensive at first. Yes t5s will prob. be more in the long run, the money spent is spread out. And they don't last forever, but 50,000 hours which for most is 5 years.

 

[nikki_kaiser]

I think LEDs are better, but still probably more expensive at first. Yes t5s will prob. be more in the long run, the money spent is spread out. And they don't last forever, but 50,000 hours which for most is 5 years.

+1 I had looked at lights for over 6 months. I knew I wanted to have a reef tank so I created a list of things I needed to upgrade and additional items along with a budget. My lights were my most expensive item minus any corals I wanted. If you are technically savvy some go with the "Do It Yourself" reef LED's. People on my local forum have used them a while and had great results but I'm lucky to be able to work my iPhone so this wasn't an option for me. I ended up buying two kessil A150W's. It's taken me 8 months to accumulate all the things I wanted just because forking out that much money at once hurts! Your lighting is very important and my advice is to research it and take it slow so you won't end up spending more later.

 

[obscurereef]

yeah definitely agree with Nikki in regards that you got to research what's the best for how much money you're willing to spend and all the factors contributing to it. about the iphone...kind of off topic, but I wish I could do DIY LEDs..could use them and sell them to make money for frags... If you're willing to do extra research and put in more work you could have a really great DIY LED fixture, some youtube videos that would help if you want to go that route.

 

[Coel]

Something to look into as I am DIY savvy, it's just if I can make it display quality...

 

[obscurereef]

No need to, while you're at it, you could make a canopy . Or just buy one to cover up the messy network of LEDs.

 

[Coel]

Though I was thinking about that odyssea fixture to start and maybe a year or two down to road getting a really nice fixture

 

[ezy33]

Odyssea offers no warranty and is not UL listed. Mine lasted 4 months. IMO I would buy a good used fixture over a cheap knock off.

 

[DanS180]

Odyssea offers no warranty and is not UL listed. Mine lasted 4 months. IMO I would buy a good used fixture over a cheap knock off.

You may have had a bad one then, my 60" odyssea that I've had for 2yrs is still going strong.

 

[Coel]

going to the DIY thing, where is a good forum to read more you said a local forum?

 

[nikki_kaiser]

going to the DIY thing, where is a good forum to read more you said a local forum?

There are a few companies that will sell kits. Rapidled is the site I've seen people order from.

www.rapidled.com
You can google DIY Reef tank LED LIGHTS and you should get a few different companies that sell them. Most people will go with 50/50 white and blue. You want the 3 watt CREE lights I believe. Make sure to do some research. There are solderless kits. I also heard people speak highly of the Taotronics LED's on eBay or Amazon and I believe they are decently affordable as well.

 

[Coel]

Not bump but better than a new thread I hope, has anyone used the marineland led fixtures I saw they have a reef bright one but its only using 1w LEDs. Should I avoid it?

 

[greaver83]

I had an odyssea 4 bulb t5 over my old 75 fowlr and i have a 4 bulb metal halide combo on my new tank both work great. As for not being ul aporoved this is something people parrot that know nothing about electricity or ul/ce standards ul does not carry much weight in china were these are manufactured however a ce listing does and these lights are ce approved. I work for a company that ships high volt high amp products all over the world and ce ul and fm are all good it just depends on whats popular in the regeion.

 

[greaver83]

The Difference Between CE & UL Certification | eHow.com here is a link that will explain the difference between ul/ce

 

[Coel]

Thank you I look forward to reading that after work