Light Question

[clatong]

My T5 HO light fixture decided to die last night. I'd like to take the opportunity to upgrade, at least slightly, into the low/mid LED range.

There are two options that seem decent based on my very limited knowledge that are available to me locally. My tank is just 36 gallons, and contains seahorses, cardinals, and some zoas. As far as future corals go, I probably won't branch out much beyond zoas in this tank, and anything else that does make it in will have to be seahorse-friendly. Because of this, I don't think the high-end LEDs are necessary for me.

The two that I'm looking at are the Fluval Sea LED and the eLive Led systems. Does anyone have any feedback or advice on these two? I'm providing links below to the product information, hopefully not a violation of the site since they don't lead to competitive sellers.

http://www.fluvalaquatics.com/ca/product/A3983-marine-reef-full-spectrum-performance-led-strip-light/#.VICtyjHF-So

http://elivepet.com/fish/lighting/led-module-track-light/

I already have a separate "night light" for the tank with blue leds. I don't think they support growth of any kind, but provide great light for the 16 hours a day that my main lights aren't on. That said, a fixture that allowed for automatic timing of both day and night would be a good bonus, though it doesn't seem like either of these would do that for me.

Thanks in advance!

 

[silverado61]

The second one seems to be the better of the two but neither one offers programing or timing schedules.
I use the "Current USA Marine" light on my tank. Its not strong enough for extreme light hungry corals but you said you weren't looking for that anyway. With mine I can program sun up and sun down duration (up to 30min each), ramp the lights up or down for intensity, has blue actinics and you can simulate different effects (light or heavy cloud cover, cloudy night or storm effects). Plus its got a remote. You can do coral or fish acclimation timing and 10 or 12 hour timing schedules. Or you can customize your own timing program.

 

[clatong]

Thank you for the response! Can you let me know which of the numbers I should be looking at, so I can understand why you're suggesting the second is better than the first?

I'll check out the Current USA Marine as well.

 

[clatong]

The Current USA Marine looks great, has comparable pricing, and I was able to get next day shipping. I'll try that one out, thanks again!

Sorry if I seem hasty, but I don't want the corals I have to go without light for long, and need to pull the trigger now!

 

[silverado61]

Awesome. When it comes in, use one of the coral acclimation modes for a few days. That way you won't bleach anything out.

 

[clatong]

Light is up and running! I did the acclimation mode Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and then changed it this morning.

While I am really impressed with the slim profile, I find that it sits so close to the water that I get a lot of salt splash on it. I'm wiping it off daily.

With my old setup, I ran my T5s for 9 hours a day, and then just some cheap (~$10) blue LEDs for the other 15 hours, just for some light. The tank is in my TV room, with no windows and no other light unless someone is in there. I was surprised to see that I can't have the "moonlight" setting for more than 6 hours on these lights, unless I flip the schedule and run low light for 18 hours and high light for just 6 hours a day.

My question is, do you think there is any issue with the fish being in total darkness for 9-11 hours a day? I assume not, but it seems odd to me.

Overall, very excited about this light. The multiple modes are fun, and the light it puts out makes my tank look much better than the T5 light did! I'll have to watch to see if I get any more algae growth than before though.

 

[Wet Pet]

I use clear 1/4" plexy glass to keep the salt from hitting the light. My light on my reef and fish only tank are off from 7pm to about 11:00am every day.

 

[silverado61]

No light at all for a few hours a night won't hurt anything. And fish really don't care. I find my fish sleep better during total lights out than with moon light. On my 36g I used a few blocks of egg crate to raise the light higher off the tank and solved the problem about the salt splash. It won't hurt your LEDs because they are sealed against damage.