smilestr Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Hello! I'm cycling a new 20g long and I'm looking for budget lighting options, around $100 or less.I want this to be a reef tank with mostly soft and LPS corals. If I can afford a light which would allow me to have SPS later on, that's great but not essential.I've read a lot about lighting a 20g already and I'm still unclear about how much light I actually need for this tank. At first I was looking at quad T5HO fixtures, but the inefficiency and cost of bulb replacements makes me think LED would be more bang for my buck.Also, has anyone had any luck with the cheap LED fixtures floating around eBay? I've linked a few different fixtures I've found. Would they work, or would any be overkill for a 20 gallon?T5HOLED #1LED #2LED #3 What do you guys think? Link to comment
rnmike Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 I spent $$$ on my light and I love it. But for a lower budget, check out stevesleds.com. I got my moonlight from him for only $24 and it's amazing. It even came with a wireless controller. Link to comment
VW_TDI_02 Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 I'm just about done cycling my new 20 gallon long and I'm using the Current Orbit Marine. It's right around $120 on Amazon I think and does a great job for me. Lots of control which is nice. The pendant ones are a great option but unfortunately I can't hang stuff from the ceiling in my current place. This is going to be a soft coral tank so I won't need too much light. Not sure how well it would do with SPS though. [Edit] Oh, and I also have the EVO over my ten gallon freshwater tank. I got bored one day and put it over my 20 gallon and the current is substantially brighter. Link to comment
reeferinbama Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 I love the look of the evo but I don't think the colors would pop enough with the led mix. If the leds weren't flowed onto the board, I would buy one and throw in some neutral whites, reds, greens and UVs. It would add to the cost but for the price the fixture itself is worth it, IMO. Steven Link to comment
smilestr Posted January 25, 2015 Author Share Posted January 25, 2015 I really like the Current Orbit Marine LED. Would a single light be enough for most coral types in my 20 long? I would consider a DIY project from Steves LEDs, but considering I'm confused about how bright of an LED fixture I need to begin with, it would take a lot more research. Their kits are out of the question budget wise. Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 I really like the Current Orbit Marine LED. Would a single light be enough for most coral types in my 20 long? No, you'd need a minimum of two. Link to comment
VW_TDI_02 Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 I have the Current Orbit Marine but I really like the Current Orbit Marine LED. Would a single light be enough for most coral types in my 20 long? I would consider a DIY project from Steves LEDs, but considering I'm confused about how bright of an LED fixture I need to begin with, it would take a lot more research. Their kits are out of the question budget wise. I have that fixture but I haven't gotten any corals under it yet as I just finished cycling the tank. For most corals, one will not be enough. The fixture will be fine for soft corals but no SPS and most likely not LPS either. As stated earlier, two would be needed for pretty much anything past soft corals. The issue with getting two is that by then you're spending $250 at least and at that point you might as well get something else. Link to comment
smilestr Posted January 25, 2015 Author Share Posted January 25, 2015 ... The issue with getting two is that by then you're spending $250 at least and at that point you might as well get something else. Agreed.. It looks like I'm back to choosing between the cheap Chinese LEDs on eBay. Although I'm concerned about their longevity, the key is probably not letting them over heat. I've read in other threads that the 165 watt LED is complete overkill for a 20 gallon long. The other two I found are 60 watt, the EVO and the "MR 30" one. Does anyone have experience with them? What if I decide to look into designing a custom fixture using Steves LEDs, how many watts should I shoot for? Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 What if I decide to look into designing a custom fixture using Steves LEDs, how many watts should I shoot for? A million. lol The smallest LED clusters I would make would be seven LEDs - one 2700K white, one lime, two royal blue, one blue, one cyan, and one violet. You'd want to have four of those clusters over a 20g long, so a total of 28x LEDs. Link to comment
VW_TDI_02 Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Agreed.. It looks like I'm back to choosing between the cheap Chinese LEDs on eBay. Although I'm concerned about their longevity, the key is probably not letting them over heat. I've read in other threads that the 165 watt LED is complete overkill for a 20 gallon long. The other two I found are 60 watt, the EVO and the "MR 30" one. Does anyone have experience with them? What if I decide to look into designing a custom fixture using Steves LEDs, how many watts should I shoot for? I would not get the EVOs. While they say 3 watts, they are not very bright at all. I have one over my 10 gallon planted freshwater and my Current Marine is far brighter. Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Any passively cooled LED strip will not use LEDs over one watt each. They would very quickly overheat and kill the LEDs otherwise. Link to comment
CaribbeanOceans Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 Is your tank 30" long? Link to comment
lkoechle Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 You can look on craigslist or your local reef club for AI SOLs. I purchased a second one for my 85 gallon at $75. Link to comment
Halo_003 Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Check out some older generation used lights perhaps. As someone who skimped on lighting initially, I would recommend against it lol. Otherwise you spend more replacing it later on. Otherwise, consider a buildmyled custom one. Link to comment
smilestr Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 Is your tank 30" long? Yep, my tank is 30x12x12 inches. I am still considering the 165w fixture, but I'm concerned about dark corners and/or half the light overshooting the sides of the tank. What if I got three PAR38 LED bulbs to hang over the tank, such as these ones?? Link to comment
VW_TDI_02 Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Those would work. Only bad part is that you have to make some sort of canopy/fixture to hold the bulbs. If you have a canopy then you can easily mount the bulbs to that. Link to comment
Horerczy Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Fun fact the 165W unit will only be about 100W of real power consumed. Somewhere on the forum is a write up i did on evergrows. Still I'd go with the 165w unit if it must be one of the ones you linked. Link to comment
smilestr Posted January 29, 2015 Author Share Posted January 29, 2015 The cheap par38's would be more trouble than they're worth, and I can't bring myself to trust the 165w fixture.. If I can manage it, I want to make a DIY system with two or three LED clusters, 30~33 total LEDs 2x (3x) each cyan, red, blue 12x royal blue, 6x violet 6x 5000k white About control, I'm going to use at least two drivers. One for whites, one for royal blue and violet. Do the other colors (red, cyan, blue) each need separate drivers, can they be lumped together on a third driver, or lumped in with whites or royal blues? What would work best? Link to comment
Horerczy Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 5000K white kinda suck. 4000K Min 80CRI wire would be better and eliminate the need for red. Link to comment
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