High Tide Aquatics

10g led lighting advice needed

Hondo

Hondo

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Hi Everyone,

My 10g office tank currently has a 36w Coralife power compact 50/50 bulb which sadly does not make any of my corals show their beautiful colors. The corals seem happy and healthy and are growing, but their colors are bland.

http://www.bareefers.org/forum/index.php?threads/sams-10g-work-tank.16551/

So I am thinking of buying an led fixture from buildmyled.com. They show 3 standard light spectrums 12000K, 14000K, and 20000K. They also have 2 series of light fixtures, Original Series (High Output) and XB Series.

I am leaning towards an 18" Original Series (High Output) light fixture. However, I'm not sure if I can use the tank mounts since my tank is 20" long.

http://www.buildmyled.com/saltwater-products/

I am hoping that someone can help me navigate the many choices.

1) I want the lighting in my tank to be able to allow the viewer to see all the amazing colors of the corals without it looking purple or really blue.

2) I also don't need it to have super strong light intensity since the the tank is 12" tall and with the sand it is actually less than that.

Any advice would be helpful. Please let me know what you would choose and why.

Thanks for your help,

Sam
 
Kessil A150. 'Sky Blue' will give a nice 12k look, very icy looking. 'Ocean Blue' will give more of a 20k look which is too blue for some people but I liked it.

Sleek, easy to use, quiet, etc. DIY units are typically eye sores...At least the ones that I have seen :D
 
iCon said:
Kessil A150. 'Sky Blue' will give a nice 12k look, very icy looking. 'Ocean Blue' will give more of a 20k look which is too blue for some people but I liked it.

Sleek, easy to use, quiet, etc. DIY units are typically eye sores...At least the ones that I have seen :D
Click to expand...

I tend to agree with thoughts along these lines. Kessil is very clean and sleek, especially when compared to DIY units. The 150 can be had cheap, and the 350 you can find brand new in box on eBay for $249.

I've seen guys do the DIY thing, takes a lot of time, and cost savings isn't like you're saving 80% or even 30% some of the time.

Admittedly, I wouldn't warrantee my own work. So that goes out the window too. ;)
 
iCon said:
Kessil A150. 'Sky Blue' will give a nice 12k look, very icy looking. 'Ocean Blue' will give more of a 20k look
Click to expand...

Just for clarification Sky Blue is 10k Ocean Blue "Special Blend" is 15k and Deep Ocean Blue is 20k.

lwg08uW.jpg
 
I typically run RapidLED lighting on the smaller tanks and plan on running two RapidLED Onyx fixtures on my upcoming tank build.
 
I placed my order today with buildmyled.com

I spoke with Nick, the owner, and he guided me on a custom build that was used by Jake from reefbuilders.com. I was glad that he gave me the time and help I needed. I am getting an 18" fixture with a manual dimmer switch. I was told that visually speaking it looked like their standard 14000k spectrum.

Once I receive the fixture, I need to figure out how dim I need to keeps the lights at initially. I'm not a lighting expert so I don't know how a 36W power compact 50/50 compares to the fixture I will be receiving. What percentage should I dim the led light fixture?

I hope the fixture I bought works out. I wanted a simple strip light that would be tank mounted using feet. The kessil is really nice, but I thought it would be over-kill for my 10g tank.

Below is the estimated performance link.

http://www.bmlcustom.com/custom-report-details/?partNo=PS1875S101LMALMFLMALMFLMA
 
bayview said:
I think you made a great choice but why no 405 or 420nm uv leds?
Click to expand...

I don't know. I never asked Nick.

The spectrum that I got was designed by Jake from reefbuilders.com for his personal aquarium. Nick told me I would like the spectrum.

I guess we will see.
 
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