Led lights what brand to buy
 

I'm looking for a led light for my 72gal. I run 2 400watt xm 20k now also blue led for my antic. Found some cheap 120 watt led lights on eBay just some no name brand. Are they worth it or should I just buy new bulbs for my lights? Or if anybody knows a better option any info is good. Thanks

What kind of tank? Mixed reef? Sps? Softies?

Need to know your tank goals? SPS need alot of light and a cheap LED will probably not meet the needs of SPS.

Are you having temperature issues with the 400W metal halides? Are you able to keep up with evaporation? Hydro bills a concern? If you answered no to the above then stay with the MH and maybe buy 400W Radium bulbs (you won't regret it).

It's a mixed reef more lps then sps. Heat is not a prob it's in a basement with a fan on the sump.

vertex illumina - love mine

Might be a bit more than the cheap Ebay lights :)

Of the less expensive fixtures available we have Evergrow and they have been fantastic with both performance and warranty(rather then going with a generic ebay fixture with a questionable warranty/output). As for the popular more commercial fixtures it seems Mitras get best reviews with Radions and sols are usually fighting it out for 2nd and 3rd place.

JMO

Best bang for the buck would be the AquaIllumination Hydra's.

They are full spectrum and at a damn good price too.

IMO you will get better colors out of your corals with MH supplemented with T5s. I switched over to LEDs 2 years ago and would never switch back. I'm happy with my AIs. It was alot of tweaking and playing around with them on the switchover. I run Sol Blues and just recently picked up some Hydras.

You can get cheap 6-8 bulb t5 ho units on eBay, if its mostly lps those would likely be fine. Although I was going to go that route for my 90 I decided on the ever grow it2080. Didn't like it at first because I've only ever had t5 and led is definitely different. But now I love it after some tweaking. My sps are currently booming and i only run my lights at a max of 60% with a sunrise sunset added in. Reviving a bonsai and green monti and getting huge expansion on my candy cane. I obviously can't comment on the more popular brands but for price and performance it's hard to beat.

I bought the Evergrow D120s (the cheap ebay fixtures) from Nick at Reefsupply Canada and I have to say after 6 months of use the corals are doing AMAZING.

Highly Recommend them. I have them growing SPS corals at all depths in my tank no problems, my LPS corals are doing amazing and my Softies are growing faster than ever.

Maxspect Razor LED the 160w would be good there is some on ebay around $530
fits your 72gbf

+ 1000

The new Hydra Fifty Two is coming out real soon at an expected $599*, the competition will be gathering around the conference table more often!

Meh. More opportunity to burn your corals or pay for a fixture you can only run at 30 to 40% power. Too many LEDs in too small a space in my opinion.

If you are currently running two 400w plus blue LED, I would be looking the IT2080 to give you coverage and control.

http://www.reefsupplycanada.com/it20...-led-32-light/

I have the smaller IT2040 and find it a great light over my frag tank.

Im going to +1 for the evergrow lights. Whatever fixture from them would work. I bought mine right from them, rather then some retailer over here. Couldn't be happier about what I paid vs what I'm getting...

Ya I'm thinking the evergrow it2080 would prob work. my concern is the tank brace and how much of a shadow it would cast.

Here is a link to a video i made quite some time ago with a 2080 over my tank. You can see the shadow a bit in the video(the camera does show it a bit darker then in life. But it is there). I have had some people strip off a couple rows of the optics (1 on either side of the brace) to get rid of the shadows. Some have also replaced the brace with acrylic (scares me a bit) or have gone with 2 pendant style for better coverage(but cost is a bit higher).

http://youtu.be/Y24E0WGHLNU

Just for reference, here is a video of tank at same time with 2 x d120 fixtures to show the coverage (the d120s are not programmable but it gets the point across).

http://youtu.be/mDpyHmfYjwM

You can't go wrong with the Evergrow fixture. Radion and Hydra look sexy, but not worth paying more than double the price. I believe it's a 3yr warranty as well.

I am going with the D120 myself or completely DIY over my frag tank as I really don't care what it looks like. Great for the price.