LED lighting

[sphelps]

hows the hubby in the DIY area?

[cordeiro]

Originally Posted by sphelps

hows the hubby in the DIY area?

He's a carpenter but not too sure if I would trust him to do lighting on my tank

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by cordeiro

He's a carpenter but not too sure if I would trust him to do lighting on my tank

Really cause it's easier than carpentry and for the tank size with a canopy I honestly think it's your best option.

[cordeiro]

Originally Posted by sphelps

Really cause it's easier than carpentry and for the tank size with a canopy I honestly think it's your best option.

We both wouldn't know where to start in a DIY led task

[MarkoD]

Glad to see you guys back. I went from that huge metal halide fixture i got from you guys to 3 sols and so far I'm happy. But I assume as my corals start to grow out I'll probably need one more sol

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by cordeiro

We both wouldn't know where to start in a DIY led task

Fair enough if it's something you're not comfortable with then just get a fixture for sure. But you might want to discuss as an option. In the DIY world you could do 100W of cree (enough for that size tank) in white, blue and royal blue for around $400 including everything you need except the controller. You can again use the savings for a controller like profilux which can control DIY LEDs the same way as any fixture. For red effects and lightning you can add profilux SIM sticks which do a better job of effect type things anyway. The main reason however is distribution, cube tanks are difficult to evenly light, DIY allows uniform distribution of LEDs over the area.

[sphelps]

I'd also put the sols back in the race, if you ordered a single sol with all 70 degree optics (70/70 version) I think it would be plenty light for the tank. You'd probably want to mount it around 8" rather than 12" from the water but the spread should be fine for 24" x 24" area. Most people run these things at like 60% anyway so why not make the most of it and run one at closer to full power.

[Nano]

+1 also if your concerned about suspending it over a cube, or looking for an Idea check out my cube build thread, Greg (the Grizz) and I came up with this neat little mount for about 1/2 the cost of a factory mount