I'm in the throws of planning a small 46x24x24 reef tank, although this size is not set in concrete I would like to keep it around this. I am keen on an LED setup but need some help in selecting the best product for such a small setup.

Any help offered would be super. If anyone has a good reason to not use LED I'm all ears as well. Really what I'd like to know is an exact product I can just 'buy now' and it's ready to go in a nice neat and tidy package.

Couple of kits I've looked at so far:

http://www.guppysaquariumproducts.com.au/lighting/led-lights-moon-lights/weipro-led-lights/40cm-f-led-light-fitting-14k/prod_1529.html

http://www.guppysaquariumproducts.com.au/lighting/led-lights-moon-lights/moon-led-aquarium-light/auto-blue-moon-led-20cm/prod_1325.html

thats only 13w id go with something like this http://www.aliexpress.com/product-fm/454324180-Freeshipping-45W-LED-Aquarium-light-white-blue-color-benefit-to-coral-and-marine-life-wholesalers.html

Awesome, thanks mate. Gotta love those export sites!

I'm just doing this myself on a Fluval Edge.

I ended up replacing the halogens with these in cool white (6500K): http://briteledtech.co.nz/led-replacement-bulbs/led-globes/mr11-21-smd-12v-dc-globe-warm-white

I'm also getting some violet 420nm lighting: http://www.ledsales.com.au/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=148_188&products_id=801

And some royal blue 450nm: http://www.ledsales.com.au/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=148_160_162&products_id=522

However, these aren't kits. It's a bit DIY.

Thanks for the input,

I looked at some similar options but wasn't sure about colour separation. ie, would you have to angle the bulbs to a central point to avoid the different coloured beams being distinguishable? If you get what I mean :dunno: And, would it even matter? It could look quite cool!

Do you have any plans for the hood?

I was planning on a fairly simple wooden hood, seems there is plenty of scrap timber in Chch at the mo, heh :thup:

I'd love to see some pics once you get the ball rolling. I can't start mine for about another month and want to make sure I've got everything I need and a few extras just to be sure

Mines a fluval edge so there is a pretty limited area to work with. Couldn't get any of the pre made LED kits for that really apart from one in the UK. It's just white light though.

I'm not sure about the colour blending. I'm just going to try it and see how it goes. I made sure that all my LED lights are wide angle (minimum 120 degree beam) so that the light is reasonably even. You can see what I mean from the pictures below.

So far I've recieved 2 x 6500K white lights. These were drop in replacements for the existing halogen lights. I'm expecting my blue and violet any day now along with power supplies and controllers. I'm actually going to see if I can rig it up to a PC that can control the 3 different colours so the light changes with time. These white lights combined are 1.4W replacing 20W worth of halogen lighting.

Halogen lights (20W):

White 6500K LED's (1.4W):

Wow, what a difference! I love those comparison shots.

What are your plans re: filtration? I'm keen to experiment with a canister untill I can come up with a funky fuge idea.

I've been talking to John at Organism. He's got a nano marine set up there.

I'm just going to run the standard HOB filter that came with the tank. Inside it I'll use Purigen and SeaGel.

I'm adding a water pump on one side to add additional flow.

I am in the process of making a seal to go over the opening in the tank so that I can avoid evaporation etc. I'm just using some polycarb and made a wooden jig to mould it into. I'll put a flap in it for feeding etc and also have a hood that covers over the HOB filter.

The wide angle of the LEDs makes quite an even distribution of light, so it looks far better now. I'm hoping for the same when I add violet and royal blue.

Mines a fluval edge so there is a pretty limited area to work with. Couldn't get any of the pre made LED kits for that really apart from one in the UK. It's just white light though.

I'm not sure about the colour blending. I'm just going to try it and see how it goes. I made sure that all my LED lights are wide angle (minimum 120 degree beam) so that the light is reasonably even. You can see what I mean from the pictures below.

So far I've recieved 2 x 6500K white lights. These were drop in replacements for the existing halogen lights. I'm expecting my blue and violet any day now along with power supplies and controllers. I'm actually going to see if I can rig it up to a PC that can control the 3 different colours so the light changes with time. These white lights combined are 1.4W replacing 20W worth of halogen lighting.

Halogens are far less efficient than fluoros or metal halides so I'd expect more brightness from a similar wattage. But the lighter background in the LED pic makes me suspicious. What was your shutter speed, iso and aperature settings for both? Comparing the brightness using photos is worse than useless without those all being identical.

on my tank you saw im just using a hob with purigen as i have a large skimmer and the tank is only temporary and too small to house the skimmer but an additional option could be a small skimmer like http://www.trademe.co.nz/Pets-animals/Fish/Pumps-filters/auction-385259428.htm from organism or a bubble magus one like the bm-qq. also if you want to look at leds have a look at lee tak neon and sign on blenheim road he has high power leds in different colours even a 10w one he sells mr16 and gu10 led bulbs in various wattages and colours also. a diy fuge could be a container that is higher than the tank and sits on the stand behind the tank, with a sort of spout made so that the water overflows gently into the tank(think HOB style filter) then a samll powerhead pumping from the tank to the container , slap a light on it and your done nice and simple

Halogens are far less efficient than fluoros or metal halides so I'd expect more brightness from a similar wattage. But the lighter background in the LED pic makes me suspicious. What was your shutter speed, iso and aperature settings for both? Comparing the brightness using photos is worse than useless without those all being identical.

OK I'll make sure I set my camera to manual settings and do it again tonight. However, it really is a lot better than it was. What you see so far is only 1/5th of the lighting I'm putting into that tank. The others haven't arrived yet.

a diy fuge could be a container that is higher than the tank and sits on the stand behind the tank, with a sort of spout made so that the water overflows gently into the tank(think HOB style filter) then a samll powerhead pumping from the tank to the container , slap a light on it and your done nice and simple

That's the lines I'm thinking of, I just want it nice and stylised. Sounds like you can end up with quite a bit of interesting life in the fuge so could even treat it like a separate little tank on display.

Halogens are far less efficient than fluoros or metal halides so I'd expect more brightness from a similar wattage.

Those lights are just Halogen fittings with LED 'implants' though yeah? Good call on the camera settings, but i suspect the white paper in the middle would give the sensor a nice big blob to balance on. I would pick that a manual comparison will still be similar. Man I wish I had something to take a photo of!! The tank I'm planning on using is now temporary housing for two Lionheads and a Celestial, dang earthquakes! Oh well at least my lounge has finally dried out

ISO 100

Shutter 1/15

Aperature 5

AWB off

Dark room

Halogens (20W):

LEDs (1.4W):

I just received my 6W of violet 420nm LEDs and my 3W of royal blue 450nm LEDs along with another 5W of cool white. I'll get that going tomorrow hopefully.

It looks dull in the photos because of the lower settings .. lower ISO and shutter speed. I did that so that you could clearly see the shape of the halogen beams.

Awesome, gonna make a huge difference with a bunch more in there.

I've got one of those LED arrays on its way from China. Also got a refractometer and a nano wavemaker (http://www.fish-street.com/resun_nano_wave_maker_for_300_litres_tank_wm-015)

would this be a good skimmer for a tank

what litre tank?

is it good ?

http://www.fish-street.com/boyu_wg-201_protein_skimmer?category_id=93

would this be a good skimmer for a tank

what litre tank?

is it good ?

http://www.fish-street.com/boyu_wg-201_protein_skimmer?category_id=93/quote:2ssbuvcz

dont buy those skimmers they are rubbish ive tried one here is a review of one and i totally agree

http://reefreflections.co.nz/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=244

(note branded as jad in uk)

also cod king the wave maker you ordered is quite large its the same as the one i had in my african tank in belfast if you remember.

the one i have on my tank at the moment is http://www.fish-street.com/resun_mini_wave_maker_pump?category_id=35

Dang. I saw a pic of it with someone handling it, maybe they had tiny hands heh.

How big is big, got an idea of measurements? I went purely on the pic I saw.

For $30 shipped I'll prolly get one of those too! Gotta love the exchange rate at the mo

Love that skimmer review, ha ha great laugh

Yeah that wave maker is for 300L tanks. I'm guessing it's at least 10x that in flow.

I decided not to hijack your thread any more for my tank. You can see my progress here instead: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=53458

Ah well, another $20 component that will collect dust in the garage! Gotta love impulse buying :-?

Heh, it'll look something like this http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=191046

yep thats it my lil one in my tank i trimmed the impellor down to reduce the flow i probably wouldnt bother if i were to buy a new one id just aim it more at the surface