I have read about people putting all LED lighting in their saltwater tanks......has anyone did this, and is it a good route to go? How do they compare to say t 5s and MH. I have the stock lighting in my tank, and am looking to upgrade the lighting. I am looking to keep the hood on, and don't want anything to hot that is going to raise the temp of the water to much.

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Chris

Hey, i've installed a DIY LED system on my 20 gallon. They seem to be doing really well and i'm getting some good growth so far even out of my LPS and SPS that i have right now... nothing much to go on but just to help you out. I have 24 3 watt LEDs running at about 650mA which is about 2/3 the max output of the LEDs. So rougly, its about 2.3 watts per gallon for LEDs. thats only 46 watts (ish) compared to a 150-200W MH that i would have put on if I went that direction. So they keep things cooler and use less power. For reference, I calculated the costs of using a t5 setup over the lifespan of the LED (10 years) for my 20 gallon and it came out to be about $1400 in savings (and that was if i were driving them at the full output so my current numbers would be even better). They do cost a bit more in the beginning but will save you tons over their lifetime. They're easy to build and even easier to buy a pre-built set up.

Thanks for the info guys. Can either of you tell me the best options for my 29 gal biocube. Not sure if you are familiar with the bc. Right now it has the stock lighting which is the florescent bulbs (16 in I think). Can you give me some ideas on what to do? Thanks again.

Chris

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Chris

29 gal is a small tank, i f you choose LED,you just need about 18w power that 's enough, and you can choose the light bar so that the lights would deliver more even, hang the light bar on the top of your tank , you don'g have to dismantle your previous light in this way.
you can give me email for more infro.

I put two Ecoxotic Panorama strips over my 16G bowfront to replace a 96w Powerquad PC and am very happy with the results.

I would say 16-20 1 watt led's should work for you. so look around and either build on yourself (cheaper) or buy one that has about that may. Good thing is, you can always upgrade because LEDs take up so little space. I got my stuff at Aquarium Lighting | LED Aquarium Lighting Reef Aquarium Lighting Aquarium Lighting | LED Aquarium Lighting. But defintely look around and see what you like, can afford, and seems workable for you.