Marineland reef capable LED lighting feedback

[Tureefik87]

Maybe around Christmas time I am looking into purchasing a Marineland reef capable LED lighting. Currently my tank is not up but looking to run three halides with reflectors with the LED's on my 135 gal tank dimensions 64.5Lx19Hx24.5W. I would like to start off with FO and then work myself up to LPS or SPS. If you have any experience with these LED's please let me know. Would three halides and LED's be too much, only use the LED's?? How long do I run my halides and LED's for during a 24 hour period? Thank you

 

[senji]

Go buy the led oceans by design has available better unit for less. Only 369.99 plus tax u will need 2 6POD AND 1 4 POD WHICH IS 269.99 PLUS TAX

 

[Tureefik87]

So total for the system it will be close to high 700s?

 

[colin779]

Not to sure about the Marineland lights, I haven't seen them in action or researched them to much. When i was looking for led lighting for my 90 i discovered that the plug and play fixtures were way out of my price range. If you are more the DIY type there are companies around that sell kits for led lighting, that's what i ended up going with. Either way i think you'd be more than happy, it just depends on your skill set and budget =)

 

[Tureefik87]

Not to sure about the Marineland lights, I haven't seen them in action or researched them to much. When i was looking for led lighting for my 90 i discovered that the plug and play fixtures were way out of my price range. If you are more the DIY type there are companies around that sell kits for led lighting, that's what i ended up going with. Either way i think you'd be more than happy, it just depends on your skill set and budget =)

Well I will be willing to do it myself just need the specifics of what i need. My budget is like 200-400 i would say, anything less is always a bonus!

 

[senji]

Et ahold of them i dont want to quote a final price i only know what the units sell for.

 

[senji]

I do know ther lights are better and cheaper than diy as i have a diy light i build for my 20g that cost as much as 2 of ther lights.

 

[Tureefik87]

I do know ther lights are better and cheaper than diy as i have a diy light i build for my 20g that cost as much as 2 of ther lights.

I'll do some research on those lights! Thanks!

 

[colin779]

The DIY kit i purchased was 48 leds, with shipping it was $512, that included everything i needed (mine was dimmable, and i purchased the dimming kit from them so you could do it for less without those options). Yours you be a little more as you would need a 3rd heat sink and another 24 leds. Do get a hold of the Oceans By Design people though, they were very helpful in answering all of my questions and knew what they were talking about. The new store looks like its going to be awesome too!

 

[Tureefik87]

The DIY kit i purchased was 48 leds, with shipping it was $512, that included everything i needed (mine was dimmable, and i purchased the dimming kit from them so you could do it for less without those options). Yours you be a little more as you would need a 3rd heat sink and another 24 leds. Do get a hold of the Oceans By Design people though, they were very helpful in answering all of my questions and knew what they were talking about. The new store looks like its going to be awesome too!

Yeah sucks that the LED's are going to be very pricey, but could they support SPS or LPS?

 

[Chichas01]

If your budget is a max of $400 to light a 135 gallon tank, then I'd suggest looking for used halide lighting to meet your needs. You will need at least 3 250W halides if you want to do SPS and LPS. LED is just out of your budget to light a tank that size. Halide lighting will work great and you can always save up for the LED's later.
I ran my halides about 7 hours a day and I'm at about the same time at max intensity for the LED's that I run now.

 

[senji]

48 leds for 500$!! see at obd u get a 72 led unit that is daisychainable, in a case and hanging gear, dual channed dimming and can hook up to a controller. for 369.99 + tax

 

[Peppie]

Do yourself a favor and save your money, until you can afford the LEDs. Why would you spend $400 on a used HQI setup and then 6-12 mos. down the road you decide that the HQIs are adding way to much heat to the tank, tiered of buying new bulbs @ approx. $50 a pop. And your power bill has gone to high. Then you have to go out and spend another (approx) $700 on the lights you wanted to begin with.
The LEDs will pay for themselves in less than 2 years.

IMO it is a no brainer.

 

[colin779]

I used two 175w metal halides over my 90 for the last 3 years, worked awesome and never really had heat issues. I agree you may want to just keep saving for a while.

The Oceans By Design setups were really nice, but all the additional leds weren't necessary for me, 48 is more intense than the 175w halides I had, never any issues with sps or any kind of coral for that matter. And I just couldn't justify having to spend $750 when I didn't want to spend the $500. Only upgraded my lighting because I had my icecap ballast fail and didn't want to put the money back into halides =(.

Believe me though, if I had the extra cash I would have jumped all over that deal, the fixtures looked awesome and from the pictures I've seen, especially yours senji, they look incredible! The DIY experience was cool but can't beat plug and play =)

 

[Aquanaut]

Mike @ OBD is setting me up for 3 six puck and 1 four puck for total 18 pucks! When he held the long 6 puck unit @ 36" above sand bed it covered 18" x 36" BRILLIANTLY. You could plan the canopy to phase in each add'tl fixture and pick up a used t-5 bank. That way you can phase in demanding corals. But you may only need two long panels initially. I say save up for the Helios 180w.

 

[pandora32]

I run a 72" light fixture with t-5 actinic and 3 250w hqi bulbs. Lots of light. Lots of heat. Lots of money for power and replacement bulbs. I have 2 pumps running my skimmer, a mag 3 pump submerged running my uv, a 1400 1050 and 750 evo pumps along with 1 mp-40. I dont have a single heater hooked up to my tank...ever. If the power goes out, or the tank gets moved, then ill use a heater. What im getting at is save your money to get a led setup, be it diy or prebuilt, so you dont have to deal with heat like i do. I wish everyday i went to leds instead of replacing my hqi fixture!