~LadyBug~ Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 i'm trying to figure out what options there are for lighting a 12in cube. there's the LED screw-in bulbs, but other than that, for some reason i'm drawing a blank. most of the stuff i'm seeing is at least 20 inches, how would that work out?? my price range is maxed out at around $100+/- Link to comment
Mustang Boy Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 what do you plan on keeping? i would get either a pair of BoostLED PAR30 bulbs if you want to keep SPS everywhere or a single nanotuners PAR38 bulb and you will be able to keep anything you want depending on where you place the corals Link to comment
bulldogpet Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Go with a rapidled 7 led PAR bulb it will be the best money you have spent Link to comment
ermartin Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Any of the LED bulbs will work for you or you could try to get a used 70w sunpod Link to comment
~LadyBug~ Posted February 17, 2011 Author Share Posted February 17, 2011 what do you plan on keeping? i would get either a pair of BoostLED PAR30 bulbs if you want to keep SPS everywhere or a single nanotuners PAR38 bulb and you will be able to keep anything you want depending on where you place the corals i want to try sps Link to comment
Mustang Boy Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 if you want to try SPS i would get one of the PAR38 bulbs and you will be able to place SPS directly under the bulb. Link to comment
Klink67 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 par38 ^This is the best bulb i found for the money. I am still looking around for people who own it but the fact that I can dim it and adjust the color temp is amazing plus its slightly cheaper than the other bulbs. I think one member had one of there bulbs on his ten gallon tank but it was the cool white version. I will try and find the thread. tank thread Here it is. it looks very bright and I think this was the $30 par38, the aquarium one probably looks much better. Link to comment
Mustang Boy Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 i don't know if i would use that bulb, each of those LEDs is only being driven at around .8w if not lower depending on the efficiency of the driver, then once you start dimming one color or the other the output becomes even less. for a few bucks more you could have one of evils PAR38 bulbs or one of the new rapidLED PAR38s with the new colored LEDs which is right around $100 plus shipping Link to comment
Klink67 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Maybe but for a 3g tank it should still put out enough light. Also the ten gallon tank seemed to have plenty of light. If I was going to do a larger tank I would consider getting something else. It should be fine for the 12in. cube. Also that remote is really cool! Link to comment
ermartin Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 I think most posters myself included confused a 12inch cube with a 12gallon cube but my answer is the same any of the PAR3x bulbs will work although i know nothing of the dimmable one listed and haven't seen anything positive or negative on it other than it seems bright... bright don't make it right though so would need more info Link to comment
Klink67 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Yeah but I figure for a 3g pico how can I go wrong. Besides being able to adjust color is the main thing. It also draws more wattage than a boost par30. I will most likely get it next week and post a review of it. If it is really bad I could always return it. Link to comment
gulfsurfer101 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Besides being able to adjust color is the main thing. I think, and this is only my opinion here, but the main thing your looking for out of whatever light scource your going to use is par and pur. Granted that leds including the screw type bulbs will be you best. There are other light scources but this would be the most practical. Look at a few web pages and take a look at the par charts and decide from there. I went with boostled because at the time it was budget freindly and achieved what I needed, and that was light a 12" cube with sps in mind. After looking over the diagrams it seemed like a pretty damn good deal on reef lighting which is not cheap. I paid around 200 dollars for a 70w sunpod before these were ever an option. Link to comment
paneubert Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 That thing has 30 degree optics on it. I am sure that makes up for any issues with it being powered at .8 watts or whatever I just think it is cool that it has a remote! Link to comment
Klink67 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 I am not saying boostled is a bad deal but for a 3g pico I dont need that much light. I am planning on some sps and maybe a crocea which this light should be able to handle. The way I look at it in this hobby sometimes you have to just test things out. Also I can get it for 58 shipped on ebay. If no one ever tried out the boostled lamps nobody would know what they were capable of. Link to comment
~LadyBug~ Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 thanks guys. i'll probably end up going with the PAR38 Link to comment
Tarbot Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Here is my par38 lamp My Tank Link to comment
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