I know I've been asking a lot of questions but I still have more lol also this is a long read so thanks in advance.
I'm still in the process of getting my basement ready for my 225 gallon future reef tank but since I like to put my cart before my horse I've started getting all the things I will need to get it going as soon as the basement is ready.
And here's the question since the 225 is obviously big and I do want it to be a reef tank with lots of corals I need a good source of light I've looked into metal halides and decided against them for reasons of heat and cost of electricity and I also decided against fluorescent again for not only power consumption but also the amount of bulbs I'd need and the cost of replacing them every 6-8 months.
This leaves me with one choice LEDs they are the best option and frankly I like everything about LEDs but the cost of buying pre made fixtures is staggering and I can't even find one that would cover the whole tank which means I would need two or three large fixtures and after looking at that option no matter where I've looked at them it would run me up into the thousands of dollars and that's not in the budget.
What I want to do is try to make a DIY LED fixture from what I've researched so far it will still cost me a pretty penny but not any where near what buying them would.
So what I'd like to know is-
1. have any of you guys tried this even on a smaller scale and how did you do it?
2. What dose everyone on here think of LEDs for overall coral growth is it good or bad?
3. What do you like about LEDs and what do you not like about them?
4. If there is a place out there that sells cheaper LED units that I don't know about?
Well thanks again for reading and any answers would be great even if you can't answer them all
I'm still in the process of getting my basement ready for my 225 gallon future reef tank but since I like to put my cart before my horse I've started getting all the things I will need to get it going as soon as the basement is ready.
And here's the question since the 225 is obviously big and I do want it to be a reef tank with lots of corals I need a good source of light I've looked into metal halides and decided against them for reasons of heat and cost of electricity and I also decided against fluorescent again for not only power consumption but also the amount of bulbs I'd need and the cost of replacing them every 6-8 months.
This leaves me with one choice LEDs they are the best option and frankly I like everything about LEDs but the cost of buying pre made fixtures is staggering and I can't even find one that would cover the whole tank which means I would need two or three large fixtures and after looking at that option no matter where I've looked at them it would run me up into the thousands of dollars and that's not in the budget.
What I want to do is try to make a DIY LED fixture from what I've researched so far it will still cost me a pretty penny but not any where near what buying them would.
So what I'd like to know is-
1. have any of you guys tried this even on a smaller scale and how did you do it?
2. What dose everyone on here think of LEDs for overall coral growth is it good or bad?
3. What do you like about LEDs and what do you not like about them?
4. If there is a place out there that sells cheaper LED units that I don't know about?
Well thanks again for reading and any answers would be great even if you can't answer them all
