Budget Led Lighting

[rob_cool1]

Hello all, I've had me marine tank set up for a good 4-5 months now and its going really well
I currently have the 2 compact t5's that you get with the aqua style 620T and its starting to bug me that i have a daylight bulb one side and a moonlight the other.
 
I've been looking at LED's to replace the hood the T5's sit in and probably the separate unused filtration compartment that sits on top too but i am on a tight budget, the finnex ray2's look really good and have good reviews (I'd have the 24" ones)
http/www.amazon.com/Finnex-Aquarium-Actinic-Light-48-Inch/dp/B008K3ATXM/ref=pd_sbs_petsupplies_9
 
But im not sure if there good or not so have any of you had good experience with these or any other LED lights?
 
Any help would be great
 
The corals in the tank are:
various zoas (8-9 types)
Green mushroom
a leather coral 
pulsing xiena 
purple tipped anemone
 
Fish atm are:
x2 Rose Anthias
A white blenny
Cleaner shrimp
 
there will be 2 clowns, a red mandarin and a bi colour angel going in too in the next couple of months
 
Cheers
Rob
 
 

 

[sputnick]

I've heard good things about these lights but honestly your going to what a dimmable LED light if you switching. You risk bleaching your corals and possibly killing them. Honestly I would go with this light here. I will be buying two of these unless I go the DIY route. They have great reviews. You'll only need one of these and its dimmable and has two cords so you can have your blues and whites on and off at different times which you'd have to manually do that on the finex. Its more but well worth it.
 
http/www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0092LXQRM/ref=gno_cart_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2KUZVNQ9LP7N9

 

[rob_cool1]

ah cool thanks for letting me know, i was looking at the finnex ones as they can clip onto the sides of my tank as i dont have anywhere to hang ones like the ones you suggested. Also it will be about a foot before the light starts to touch the coral i thought it would be ok as its not too close, and as theres a lot of zaos i like a lot of light :L
 
what happens when coral gets bleached? 
Cant you get a plug in dimmer and it do the same job effectively?
 
Cheers again
Rob

 

[sputnick]

the corals will lose all of their color and turn white. I'm not sure if you can kill a coral by this but It will just look like dead rock anyways. I don't see why you couldn't use a plug in dimmer but keep in mind that you may never use the full power of the lights

 

[Donya]

the corals will lose all of their color and turn white. I'm not sure if you can kill a coral by this but It will just look like dead rock anyways.

 
Bleaching is expulsion of the symbiotic algae. Other pigments can be retained depending on the animal. With anemones, bleached individuals can unfortunately look quite stunning because of this. Although it can be hard to tell with some SPS, bleached corals do not all look like dead rock unless there is something else going on causing tissue necrosis or stopping the coral from expanding. Sometimes rapid tissue necrosis is called "bleaching" with SPS, but sudden loss of tissue exposing the skeleton is not the same thing as just loss of algae. When the algae is expelled, soft tissue will usually still inflate as normal and the coral will just start to look translucent or, for very brown corals, clear/white since there is not much other color. There are many things that can trigger bleaching:
- corals not getting enough light (symbiotic algae starves & dies, probably the most common with average lighting) 
- corals being hit with too much light (stress on the coral). 
- other environmental stresses on the coral, such as chemical warfare from other animals.
 
Corals that do not feed can absolutely be killed by bleaching. With corals that do feed, such as mushrooms and many LPS, they can survive being bleached for a long time with enough food. Many bleached corals can recover their symbiotic algae slowly over time as well, although it takes pretty pristine conditions (and extensive feeding for those that will eat) since the coral will already be under substantial stress.
 
Lower and middle-end LED lights do not risk bleaching corals in the absence of a dimmer. The common cheaper strips with switches are just fine being switched. The big, box-style LED fixtures that have to be suspended, have fans, and are meant to be super high-output are more a risk for that as far as placement of corals relative to the light. However, with less powerful strips like the finnex one linked, that is not going to be a bleaching risk unless a very low-light coral is shoved right up against the light. 

 

[rob_cool1]

cheers donya, im sure i wont have to worry about that with my lighting haha! Yeah i cant really afford the high output box LED's and cant hang them so the cheaper ones will have to do ha! 
Are Breamswork a good brand of lighting? I've read mixed reviews about them, i would like something that would compare and better the brightness of the 2 t5 compacts but just an even spread of white and blue
 
this is the breamswork one on ebay, really cheap lol http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Beamswork-aquarium-Power-LED-400-light-lamp-60-80-cm-24-30-tank-bright-/270971161121?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item3f1723ca21
Everywhere else its about £100 but this one including postage is £48 so its well in my price range haha!
 
If i had enough money i would obviously get a better one but im on minimum wage so i struggle through the month at the best of times :L
 
Thanks again
Rob 

 

[betta fish]

Hi, I don't know if you have got your lights yet only I was in the same boat as you with 2 compact T5s and thought about LEDS too but opted for this unit instead and I am very pleased with it, here: http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181200274273?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 at least the T5s are easily replaceable and there are 8 blue leds in between the tubes as well which give a nice blue ripple effect  

 

[ech0o]

I have been running a cheap beamswork with 3w LED's in it, have had great coral growth, the PAR is insane out of them.   Only problem is the beam angle, its a pretty fine angle, probably like 40 degrees, but I have a tall tank so it disperses nice by the time it hits the bottom.

 

[plectastic]

Can you mount any of these on the underside of a canopy rather than hanging? Probably 6"+ clearance before water.

 

[ech0o]

I suppose you could find a way LOL, it certainly is slim enough, probably about 1" thick

 

[plectastic]

The problem I see with many of them are the fan units stuck on the top. I'd need to mount it to the underside of a big wooden lid. Hmmm. Ideas?