Help with new lights

[godzilla3063]

I currently have a 200 gallon reef with mostly soft corrals. I have a Marineland 72" light with 3 Halogens, 8 fluorescent, bulbs and the moon bulbs for night time viewing. The middle halogen has died and the moon bulbs are gone. The light is on its last legs and I need a replacement.

What should I get? Open to LED's even though my electric company will be mad......

What should I get? I value all opinions.

thanks

 

[Shep]

LEDs are what I use and I love them. They cost less in upkeep, use less power, no bulb repacement and do not get as hot. Reef Breeders and Ocean revive both make really nice lights for a good price as does Kessil, the question is how much do you want to spend?

 

[godzilla3063]

I spent about $1,500 on the original. With the amount of coral i have and the fact that it is growing all over the tank, I would rather do it right. Do you have any links of the products that you are referring to that i can look at?

thanks for your help. Lighting is the toughest part of the tank to get right. You can replace filters/pumps, etc, but Lighting you need to do right once....

 

[ReefLEDLights]

Spectrum matters.

The best SPS LED Tanks I've seen use the latest Cree X Series LEDs.

Avoid 3 watt Bridgelux fixtures if you can afford a Cree Fixture. Bridgelux no longer manufactures those dated LEDs. Most imports use 3 watt knockoffs which some times works but without knowing the spectrum its hard to tell what the overall look will be.

The good news is some of these fixtures are dominant in the 420-450nm which will grow coral. You just might have that overall windex look

Bill

 

[NanaReefer]

I run Reef Radiance LumenTek Pro 180 (3w Bridgelux fixture) this budget reefer can't afford the 10x more expensive Cree Fixture. But my coral growth is awesome, colors are popping and I'm happy [emoji2]

 

[ReefLEDLights]

I run Reef Radiance LumenTek Pro 180 (3w Bridgelux fixture) this budget reefer can't afford the 10x more expensive Cree Fixture. But my coral growth is awesome, colors are popping and I'm happy [emoji2]

The quality lights are not 10X more.

If it works well...Cheers

Please post some grow pics

Bill

 

[NanaReefer]

6/11/14

4/10/15

 

[hart24601]

I used reefbreeders and was happy, but the blue LEDs burnt out after 2 years. I did run them 100% though. Since growth shots where asked for here is 4 months of growth with the reefbreeders, good enough to win the growout challenge although growth is more about feeding imo:

And here is 2 months after the contest. I swapped to hydra 26's right after the contest was over.

 

[Reefing Madness]

The quality lights are not 10X more.

If it works well...Cheers

Please post some grow pics

Bill

$100 for a unit compared to $400, I'd say thats a ton of difference though. And I use BridgeLux LEDs, and used Halides before. Absolutely nothing wrong with Bridgelux.

 

[Reefing Madness]

$100 for a unit compared to $400, I'd say thats a ton of difference though. And I use BridgeLux LEDs, and used Halides before. Absolutely nothing wrong with Bridgelux.

9 months growth comparison

 

[ReefLEDLights]

Nice Grow Pics.

For me I have had the best growth with Cree and or Luxeon LEDs.

A few months ago our team had the pleasure to compete in a frag growing contest which we won.

About 1mm growth per day

https://www.facebook.com/SIRIUSxTcL...931211557500/1019187178098570/?type=1&theater

Water quality was important, along with a new Cree LED Fixture, we used Reef Grow Supplements.

We all know that a 420-450nm only LED can grow coral especially less light demanding ones.

Spectrum matters and Bridgelux no longer produces the dated 3 watt Bridgelux LEDs...Who does??? Whats their Spectrum/Binning???

Looks also matters as no one likes a yellow looking coral reef

Whats Driving them??? Will the driver last? or will I have to have Plan B like a backup generator when the EBay Fixture Fails???

That said quality importers specify upgrades to their import fixtures which gives them a much needed value option.

Personally if I cannot verify the spectrum I dont want it over my corals.

Do you really thing these LEDs are authentic produced by Bridgelux? Best selling Freeshipping 120w programmable led aquarium light 55pcs Bridgelux 3w LEDs for coral reef growing tank-in LED Grow Lights from Lights & Lighting on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

How many times have you seen this same graph?

Is it a copy or actual? Who verified this spectrum and at what settings?

Just some food for thought

Bill