need Help on putting leds on my 155 gallon bowfront aquarium

[eric6carlsoc]

I have a 155 gallon bowfront aquarium and i need to know the best way to put leds on the whole tank to grow my sps corals I currently have halides but want to get ride of them I dont want to spend more then 400 dollars to cover the tank and all and i would want the hang on the back hanging kit that goes over the water of the tank. I was kinda thinking about Chinese  leds but don't know which ones to get.  Any help well appreciated Thanks

 

[bhodges82]

First off I have to admit I am jealous, I really want the  155 bow front tank. Second, Chinese leds are junk, plain and simple. Watch the bulk reef supply review on one of them on YouTube,it does horrible. I do think that for a decent price the ocean revive t247 led fixtures are good and they have proven to be a good light for growing coral. Good luck.

 

[danh]

I like the T247 alright and at your budget is probably what you'd need to go with. 2 of them. It is pretty much just a decent Chinese black box though..

 

[bhodges82]

I've seen many successful reefers use the t247. I wish there was more control ability with it, if like to get one for my frag tank.

 

[terry]

Saying the Chinese black box is junk kinda blankets the led light industry. Most leds are made in China. Maybe it’s the shape your talking about.

I had The XR30w G3 pros on my tank and was happy enough with them until I dropped one in the tank and fried it. I bought a WiFi black box that I am very happy with. Side by side the radion looks better, but not by much. I can’t tell by growth either.

Lighting is a preference depending on the application.  Top of the line lights work better if you can afford them. I used to buy from a Facebook site that had great coral Frags that was grown under cheap black box leds. Check the grow sites and see what they use, I think it might surprise you. Most use led and t5

just my 2 cents worth

 

[bhodges82]

Actually more expensive brands do not source Chinese parrs. The color of your tank may be visibly similar to the color of a radion, but the par values, actual spectrum and life span of a Chinese black box are not equal or even comparable to values a radion. You get what you pay for in this hobby, bottom dollar gets bottom quality; top dollar is not necessarily the best. Get what ever lights you want but don't be fooled into thinking that you are getting a $800 fixture for $150 just because it came from China, if budget is really the issue go with  t5.

 

[terry]

While the less expensive led reef lights do not have the bin quality the big names do and the board components for sure are cheaply made and of course the research and development is copied has been reverse engineered the basics are still the same. By the way, this is a quote from Cree “More than half of Cree's employees work in China, mostly at the current Huizhou factory.“

In my opinion Cree makes the finest leds on the market.

 

[bhodges82]

I'm not saying Chinese copanies produce junk, I'm saying you get what you pay for. I think mostly companies that have factories in China but have products designed in other countries are ok, products designed in China are crap and always will be.

 

[terry]

My dad told me years ago “buy the best, you will never be disappointed”.

I agree mostly with you.  It's true my budget didn't allow me to buy top of the line as I would of if I could, that way I cover all my bases on lighting. Like I said though, if you buy good leds in your fixture chances are you will be happy with the outcome of the lights.

I have heard people on ARC that say they like the sunrise and sunset features on some lights (I’m one of those people), then someone says the corals don’t care they just want light. If you read the studies they say anything you want them to. I like the one that says strong white light works the best. So just like that it’s the amount of light and not the type. That is a real study with real experts, I don’t think they have a reef tank though. People in the hobby can never agree either. If they could we would only buy one type of light for each application. I like my black box leds they have the same led brand and colors as the nicer lights including amber. I’m not at all saying they are the same quality.

However, the XR30w G4 pro line of leds broken down into parts doesn't come close to the price they ask for it. 4 things drive their price up, R&D, the name brand, customer support and style. (I didn't include bragging rights)

My car although nice would not compete on a race track or be as comfortable as a top of the line luxury car. It will get me to the same place as the other cars but I may not need to get there at 200 mph or have a chauffeur drive me. We all have different needs and goals. My lighting needs are very different than a fish only tank or a commercial grower/seller setup.

In my humble opinion do your research. Every year lights get better and cheaper. As led  technology advances the top of the line from 2-3 years ago are now standard in new cheaper lighting.

 

[danh]

I have bought them best and been disappointed... lol... I paid how much for this??????

 

[terry]

That's just what my dad said.  LOL  He always bought the best, he had no idea about the other.

 

[adrian912]

I saw that video and really wished they would have applied a frosted glass film on the lights to see how the dispersed light would affect the PAR values. They did the same thing on those expensive lights with the diffuser pucks and they saw more even par distribution. I'm pretty sure the same level of benefit could be then seen on the Chinese boxes that saw dramatic heat spots. They won't do that though because if they did it would ruin their ability to sell those expensive lights. In my opinion, there is no way they would have released that video in the first place unless the results where awful.  What would have been there message then? Hey these lights work well but please still buy $800 lights from us.

 

[adrian912]

Also,  I am not saying that in doing so that it  would have the same nice even blanket of Par values across  the tank, as an $800 light,  but that it would be much more acceptable.

 

[bhodges82]

A diffuser would make a more even par distribution but it also lowers the already low past numbers even further.  What is like to see is a comparison video that has brands like zetlight and coral box fixtures. Not the cheapest or the most expensive fixtures but still have great controllability.

 

[adrian912]

I understand that, but wouldn't it not take the really high par numbers from directly under the light and lower it in the middle while improving the outer numbers because of the diffusion? Otherwise what is the point of diffusing if all its going to do is make the already low numbers on the edges any worse. I mean that last statement to include ALL lights. Why buy a diffuser to make your $800 light's outer par numbers worse?