Reefledlights.com any good?

F

felixpaws

AC Members
Jan 10, 2009
212
0
0
49
Pocatello, Idaho
I have been considering going with led lights for my 75 gallon, soon to be, mixed reef. Are these diy kits any good? http://reefledlights.com/aquarium-lighting/led-kits/ I'm on a budget, but still, don't want to get inferior lights. If these are no good, I'll wait for the price to come down, some more. I am considering the 12 led kit, for both sides of the center brace, and maybe get a Marineland reef ready led fixture for over the front part of the aquarium. Perhaps, two of the 24 led kits(the cheaper one), and no reef ready? I'm a little handy, but haven't read up on led kits. Any links to educate me on the basics would be appreciated. So far, I've read a lot of technical jargon, and not a lot of explanation on what it means. If you know of quality kits, that won't break me financially(cost more than a couple hundred a piece. I'll need two, at least, because of the center brace, and the fact that it's a 75.), and will keep Softies, LPS, SPS, and zoas alive, and thriving, let me know. Currently, I have a 4 bulb T5HO 48" fixture, and a 2 bulb T5HO 48" fixture over the tank. I am lost:help:Please, take pity on a poor reefer?
 
Those kits seem fine.. they use Cree LEDs. Seems comparable to RapidLED prices. If you really want to penny pinch and don't mind buying parts from multiple places to do so I would look at www.ledgroupbuy.com for the LEDs and go directly to www.heatsinkusa.com for the heatsink. You still need drivers and other misc items that you can get from www.rapidled.com . If you want a light you will not have to worry about upgrading in the future I would recommend going with 24LED lights on each side of your tank for a total of 48 LEDs.
 
Thanks, Ace. Could you give me an idea of total costs? What all would I need, in total? I can follow directions, but don't know how to do it without them. I watched a video on youtube on how to set one up, but I'm sure each set up is different. With the 24 on each side, would still I need the light on the front of the aquarium, over the lid? How high would I need to have the lights, over the tank? What optics would you use? I figured on half actinic, half 12000K. What drivers would you use, and how many would I need? Like I wrote, I'm on a budget, so, cheaper would be better, but I'd still like them to work properly. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
The area I'm looking to cover is, relatively, small due to the fact that I use a glass cover, and have equipment on the back part of the tank. No sump/underneath 'fuge, so the skimmers, hob 'fuge, and whatnot takes up a little space. It works out, because the rock is piled into a pyramid in the center of the tank. I do need light up front, though. I have a few corals on the sand, and some up nearer to the front. The center brace is a black plastic, also. I've measured the area I'd need to cover, and it's 21"X8 1/2". Does that change anything? The black brace between the front glass cover, and back glass cover makes it, sort of, necessary to have four, separate lights or two that go over the whole thing, like flourescents. I figured I'd just have two or three fixtures. 2 for the back half, and one up front or one up front, one in back. Any ideas on that? I can see the wisdom of planning ahead, and using stronger lights than I need(I'm experiencing a lack of skimming power, due to cheap skimmers, and a boon of light, due to better bulbs that I just bought as replacements for my 9 month old light bulbs.), but I'd rather not have the lights raised too high. The tank is in my bedroom, and I look at my tank from my bed, a lot, so I'd be blinded by them if they were significantly higher. I thought of using a light blocker, of some kind. Wood, black material, black plastic? I don't want to build a big hood, but something hanging off of the fixture might work. Any thoughts? This all would be happening in the next 9 months or so, until I replace my, then, old bulbs. I figured, I'd plan ahead, and maybe have a plan by then.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom