is this led led lighting good

[greg123123]

i saw this on ebay and i was wondering if it would be any good. i have a 40 g breeder thanks. http://cgi.ebay.com/900-White-LED-Aquarium-Fish-Tank-4xGrow-Light-Panel-56W-/300446262949?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45f3fe26a5

[mike_cmu04]

no those lights will do nothing for your tank you need the 3 watt high power led's those are only .6 watt you i will get no growth and probably everything would die.

[Chris27]

What is it you have in your 40 Breeder?

[greg123123]

i just got is i have live rock with lots of coraline and a mated pair of gold striped maroon clowns, a yellow wrasse and a rabbit fish i have some glasse anenomes i just got done adding fish yesterday and now i am starting to add corals i want to get some frog spawn, hammer head, xenia, lettuce coral, Orange Ricordea Mushroom, stuff like that. i dont need halides but i dont no what i need tell me what would be good.

[blasterman789]

you need the 3 watt high power led's

While the posted fixtures are indeed junk, there are an increasing number of high quality 1watt SMD based lights on the market worth buying.

Again, 3-watt Crees are not the nexus of the solid state universe and the Cree fanboys need to take an engineering class.

[Chris27]

While the posted fixtures are indeed junk, there are an increasing number of high quality 1watt SMD based lights on the market worth buying.

Again, 3-watt Crees are not the nexus of the solid state universe and the Cree fanboys need to take an engineering class.

You mean to say that more then one company is capable of manufacturing a quality LED - I don't believe it :lmao:

To the OP, those light panels are more then suitable for lighting a tank, and would probably be good for a FW planted setup, but for corals I would keep looking for another setup. For a 40 Breeder, a single halide could work, but for the corals you desire, a multi-bulb T-5 Setup would look nice, keep heat and electricity costs down and give you the flexibility to keep anything in there.

Unfortunately, LED lighting isn't where we would like it to be right now, and the stuff that is out there right now is seriously expensive and overly complicated for what most of us want over our tanks.

[Chris27]

no those lights will do nothing for your tank you need the 3 watt high power led's those are only .6 watt you i will get no growth and probably everything would die.

Nice assumption, and what sort of technical data are you using to arrive at your hypothesis?

[jcolletteiii]

Unfortunately, LED lighting isn't where we would like it to be right now, and the stuff that is out there right now is seriously expensive and overly complicated for what most of us want over our tanks.

This is complete misinformation. Do you have/use LEDs to light your tank? If not, don't be giving advice on their implementation. There are SEVERAL good LED lighting systems out there now that will keep anything you want to keep alive (and thriving) in a tank of just about any depth. I'm sich and tired of seeing these posts by people with no experience with LEDs saying rubbish like "LEDs are no there yet - give them another five years...", "LEDs cna't keep SPS corals alive...", "LEDs make corals look brown...". These are all untrue, and are generally posted by people who do not use LEDs.

One thing that IS true - LED fixtures are spendy - however, the initial outlay will more than be covered by savings on electricity, no bulb replacements for up to 10yrs (unless you go with Maxspect with the cheaper emitters), and cooler temps.

Sorry for the rant, but I can't stand these kinds of replies. Chris, if you use a LED fixture, my apologies for teh assumption.

Now, as for the OP, no - that fixture is rubbish. I doubt that thing could grow grass if it was suspended 6" above it.

[Chris27]

This is complete misinformation. Do you have/use LEDs to light your tank? If not, don't be giving advice on their implementation. There are SEVERAL good LED lighting systems out there now that will keep anything you want to keep alive (and thriving) in a tank of just about any depth. I'm sich and tired of seeing these posts by people with no experience with LEDs saying rubbish like "LEDs are no there yet - give them another five years...", "LEDs cna't keep SPS corals alive...", "LEDs make corals look brown...". These are all untrue, and are generally posted by people who do not use LEDs.


To which LED systems are you referring? The market is pretty slim if you're in the market for a high powered system or retro kit....and the one company that finally got a promising product to market got sued over it.

There is a reason I have MH's above my tank, I've done the research, and made my decision. When it comes to electronics, I consider myself a pretty smart guy - so I stand by my above statement.

Just to get things strait, I didn't state they were rubbish and would brown a coral, I said that our options are very limited when it comes to product selection.

Personally, I don't think that a couple LED DIY threads on Reef Central qualify as "several good LED systems". When some other companies start putting out some more fixtures I'll give them another look-see.

[James77]

To which LED systems are you referring? The market is pretty slim if you're in the market for a high powered system or retro kit....and the one company that finally got a promising product to market got sued over it.
Personally, I don't think that a couple LED DIY threads on Reef Central qualify as "several good LED systems". When some other companies start putting out some more fixtures I'll give them another look-see.

There are many other systems out there, very effective and well-reviewed, besides PFO.

Ecoxotic, ReefBrite, AquaIlluminaton, Pacific Sun, Maxspect are some of the more popular ones. There are others by ReefFanatic, Elos, Sfiligoi, and other less known ones as well.

Why don't the DIY systems get your "good LED system" stamp of approval? Yes, they take some know how, but there are several well thought out systems that have been made, with step by step instructions to make your own. Its the cheapest way for LEDs, and the most customizable, even with dimming.

[jcolletteiii]

The market is pretty slim if you're in the market for a high powered system or retro kit....and the one company that finally got a promising product to market got sued over it.

This statement perfectly illustrates your lack of knowledge on this topic. Just don't give advice if you have no first hand knowledge on the subject.

[Chris27]

Again, all those systems are in their infancy, and hardly available in the market. When they mature a bit, I'll give them another try. The good old US allows for healthy competition, and once a few companies realize that some folks don't want the newest and biggest, but reliable and supportable, they will start bringing prices down to entice the regular people to buy.

One major component I feel very strongly about is that they come with a worthless warranty, if the light is capable of providing 10 years of service, then why is the warranty 1-3 years? LED's and Power Supplies may be simple devices, but many of those fixtures incorporate proprietary circuit cards and firmware into their design that is not available to the DIY fixer, so guess what, it's going back to the manufacturer for repair.

Again, my concern wasn't with the quality of light, or the ability to keep livestock healthy and happy with the technology, it was with the selection of properly supported and readily available equipment.

You folks keep buying up the fixtures, use them, write reviews and the like, it will only make it easier for me to select a product in the future.

[James77]

Again, all those systems are in their infancy, and hardly available in the market. When they mature a bit, I'll give them another try. The good old US allows for healthy competition, and once a few companies realize that some folks don't want the newest and biggest, but reliable and supportable, they will start bringing prices down to entice the regular people to buy.

Of course they are in their infancy, but many of these companies have been around for years. There are plenty of companies selling the units manufactured by the companies I listed above, so I don't know what you mean that they are "hardly available in the market". Prices have already come down greatly from the PFO units, but there will be high priced units for a while since better LEDs are coming out all the time.

One major component I feel very strongly about is that they come with a worthless warranty, if the light is capable of providing 10 years of service, then why is the warranty 1-3 years? .

This can be applied to an endless amount of things that are sold, both in this hobby and in general. Electronics, cars, appliances, etc all have short warranty periods and their useful life is generally accepted as long term.