New LED lights for Christmas what do you guys think!?

doublereefer69 · 12/25/2013, 06:16 PM

Well happy holidays to everyone! My parents just blessed me with a set of lights for my new tank. its currently just live rock and fish but looking to add coral in the future (near future now that i have acquired these awesome lights!) they are made for a LFS here on the island. not the top line lights they sell but seem to be very high quality. they don't seem to be dim-able and don't have built in timers (coralife power center will handle that any way) just looking to find out if anyone has any experience with these lights and if you guys think i will have any restrictions as to which type of corals i will be able to keep with this lighting set up. I have two 18 inch lights. 36 LEDs in each light at 3 watts each. tank is 4ft 150 gallon..2 ft deep and like 30 inches high i think

Ron Reefman · 12/26/2013, 03:53 AM

Yes , no and a question. Yes 72 leds at 3 watts should be plenty of light to keep most any corals. If they have 120 watt drivers they may even be over driven and even brighter. No, they aren't the best, almost nobody makes led fixtures anymore that don't have dimmers which cost so little extra to include and are a huge advantage to making the light easier to use. So you'll have to control how much light you get in the tank by controlling how high you hang them above the tank or what kind of screen you use to 'shade' the tank.

You didn't say anything about what color leds are in this fixture? If it's less than a 2:1 ratio of blue to white leds (48 blue and 24 white) I'd sell them and look for better fixtures. There are a lot of good quality fixtures out there with 2:1 and even 3:1 ratios and built in dimmers for $140 and up.

doublereefer69 · 12/27/2013, 12:13 AM

yea having dimmers and timers and all that would be nice, the more expensive model hooks up to your computer and does all sorts of crazy things. only my second year in the hobby and dont have a crazy budget (lucky i even have these lights lol) so no need for the absolute best. the lights are split 1:1 with blue and white i believe..when the blue lights are the only lights on its SUPER blue..almost hard to look at..

tank is currently covered with eggcrate. the power bar i got has 2 different timers one for blues and one for daytime. also can be used as a wave maker. my plans are to have the blues come on one hour earlier and stay on one hour later then the whites.

Aqualund · 12/27/2013, 08:39 AM

The lights will work great to keep lps and zooanthid corals...which is just perfect for beginners. later on, when you want to keep more difficult coral...you will need to figure out a way to supplement more of the violet, green and red spectrums...most likely with some t5 bulbs since that would be the easiest.

12/26/2013, 03:53 AM	#2
Ron Reefman Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Cape Coral, FL Posts: 10,431	Yes , no and a question. Yes 72 leds at 3 watts should be plenty of light to keep most any corals. If they have 120 watt drivers they may even be over driven and even brighter. No, they aren't the best, almost nobody makes led fixtures anymore that don't have dimmers which cost so little extra to include and are a huge advantage to making the light easier to use. So you'll have to control how much light you get in the tank by controlling how high you hang them above the tank or what kind of screen you use to 'shade' the tank. You didn't say anything about what color leds are in this fixture? If it's less than a 2:1 ratio of blue to white leds (48 blue and 24 white) I'd sell them and look for better fixtures. There are a lot of good quality fixtures out there with 2:1 and even 3:1 ratios and built in dimmers for $140 and up. __________________ The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it. (Neil deGrasse Tyson) Visit my build thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2593017

12/27/2013, 12:13 AM	#3
doublereefer69 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Long Island N.Y. Posts: 14	yea having dimmers and timers and all that would be nice, the more expensive model hooks up to your computer and does all sorts of crazy things. only my second year in the hobby and dont have a crazy budget (lucky i even have these lights lol) so no need for the absolute best. the lights are split 1:1 with blue and white i believe..when the blue lights are the only lights on its SUPER blue..almost hard to look at.. tank is currently covered with eggcrate. the power bar i got has 2 different timers one for blues and one for daytime. also can be used as a wave maker. my plans are to have the blues come on one hour earlier and stay on one hour later then the whites.

12/27/2013, 08:39 AM	#4
Aqualund Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Appleton, WI Posts: 879	The lights will work great to keep lps and zooanthid corals...which is just perfect for beginners. later on, when you want to keep more difficult coral...you will need to figure out a way to supplement more of the violet, green and red spectrums...most likely with some t5 bulbs since that would be the easiest.