Hello, I’m downsizing from my 110 gal. to a 38 gal. breeder tank. I really hate to do it but my wife says she wants her living room back:( In my few years of experience all I’ve ever ran were T-5’s and I’m wanting to upgrade for this tank. I wanted to see if anyone has any thoughts on this light for that size tank, to much?, not enough? Maybe some recomendations on other lights that would be better? Any thoughts you guys might have would be helpfull. Thanks in advance, Tim
Will you be using just LED or in conjunction with T5? Some people who don’t use T5 with the LED (if the led is not full spectrum) complain the color of the corals are not as good as using just T5. I’m sure other members can weigh in on this.
I was planning on using just the LED’s.
Tim get ahold of mike from asr.he is a sponsor of this site and is using the same light in his store over almost all of his coral tanks. He has several pictures of the setup if you look back a page or two in his section. I’m sorry it’s almost the same light,he is using the Tao technogies led which is the same price on amazon and has 2 yr warranty.
A couple of us have an “all in one” led fixture that would work good for your tank. i think they’re about 170 bucks
http://delreefclub.org/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=28&topic=6660.0;topicseen
Thats a nice looking light, I like the fact that it has 3 fans compared to the one I was looking at that has none for only a few dollars more. From what I read in the thread you posted it should be more than enough light for anything I want to grow, Great advice, Thanks
Only has 1 yr warranty but I like the programmable version
Tim i have this light (well 2 of them actually) over my tank. Mine is made by taotronics but they are more or less the same.
They get the job done as far as sustaining corals, and have decent coloration. Greens look excellent under these lights, but you lose alot on darker corals (purples, blues). Reds look ok, pinks ok.
Part of it could be water quality, but i know my green corals look brighter than the tanks I got them from.
Thanks jt, Do you have the multi color led’s or just the white/blue? Just wondering if that would have anything to do with the coral coloration?
it says, “Great Lights with Upgraded Lenses which allow for better par Value and Less Glare” is there any way to actually see what the real par value is?
Theres alot of info in the thread that Saltcreep posted a link to about the par readings they got. He seemed to like them more without the upgraded optics, I think thats the way I’m going to go.
I only have the white blue. The “upgraded optics” are really just lenses that will focus the light narrower if you want to mount the lights farther away from the water.
I don’t have lenses on mine because they sit ~4" from the water surface.
Dimmable is 100% necessary cuz otherwise these lights will cook your corals.
+1 on the dimmable comment
I’d say def go dimmable… and the par readings with the light mounted at least 10’’ over my 30g, with no optics was around 1000 midway down the tank. i think the color looks real nice, and the blues/ whites and colors are on 2 separate dimmers so its easy to get the more/less blue look.
I ordered the AJM dimmable multi color unit, without the optics. I should have it by Sat. at the latest. My tank is 23" deep so I really have no idea how high to hang it off of the tank. All I have at the moment are mushrooms, frogspawn, star polyps, a blasto and a duncan. Are there any corals in particular that this light wont support? I’ve never had any acro’s and I’d really like to give those a shot. And I want to thank you guys for pointing me in the right direction, I’m sure I’ll be happy with this unit.
Think I may give these a try too. I would hang it at the height where you think it looks the best. Just raise and lower it until it covers the tank. What are the dimensions of your tank? It will be plenty for the corals you listed probably too much and sps wouldn’t be a problem just start with them dimmed. Nm saw your first post a 38g plenty of light for whatever you want
I just measured mine, its 8 1/2 inches from the surface of the water. the spread visually covers the 30g (36’’ wide) nicely. The par drops off towards the sides, but thats perfect for a mixed reef.
My tank is only 30" wide, so I may need to be a tad lower I guess. Can I ask what setting you have them at? I’m not sure exactly how to go about acclimating my corals to this much light, thier already unhappy about the move from the 110g. to this smaller tank.
If i remember right, having the power set at half was giving normal par readings… 600 high…200 low in the center. The club has a Par meter for use. do you get out to any meetings? i’ve only caught 30mins worth this year myself :BB)