I said I wasn't going to set up a frag tank. The talk about LED's got me thinking though. I needed the frag tank. Some of my stuff gets a little out of control and it's nice having a place to keep it until I get rid of it. I wanted to do this spending the least possible amount of money. So I used my old sump which is 16L X 12W X 16H. It's tee'd in off of my main pump, so no electricity increase. I was going to run an old 175 watt MH but I really didn't want to deal with the heat and electricity. So I decided to try the LED thing.
I could have waited until these things are being made for the aquarium, but I have a feeling when the technology is out there that they will be charging hobbyists an arm and a leg for this stuff. Keep in mind that LED's will last up to 11 years if ran 24/7. I went through a regular company who sells LED's and really know nothing about fish tanks. This costed me very little. I spent around half of what I would have spent if I bought a 150 watt MH set up. They said each bulb I purchased would be equal to about 25 watts of MH. The LED's put out very little heat and currently, the lights are unnoticible on my electric bill. The company said that each bulb costs between 6 to 12 cents a month if ran for 24/7.
This is all a project at the moment, testing different corals and light arrangements. Results are looking good so far. With only 2 bulbs, I had no problem with zoos, mushrooms, and Keny Trees placed 3 inches off of the bottom. I added 2 more bulbs and I'm keeping Montipora Digitata in there. Polyp extension looks great and color has darkened. I'm going to add 2 to 4 more bulbs and try keeping a couple of pieces of acropora I fragged in there. I'll keep everyone posted on how well these do.
I could have waited until these things are being made for the aquarium, but I have a feeling when the technology is out there that they will be charging hobbyists an arm and a leg for this stuff. Keep in mind that LED's will last up to 11 years if ran 24/7. I went through a regular company who sells LED's and really know nothing about fish tanks. This costed me very little. I spent around half of what I would have spent if I bought a 150 watt MH set up. They said each bulb I purchased would be equal to about 25 watts of MH. The LED's put out very little heat and currently, the lights are unnoticible on my electric bill. The company said that each bulb costs between 6 to 12 cents a month if ran for 24/7.
This is all a project at the moment, testing different corals and light arrangements. Results are looking good so far. With only 2 bulbs, I had no problem with zoos, mushrooms, and Keny Trees placed 3 inches off of the bottom. I added 2 more bulbs and I'm keeping Montipora Digitata in there. Polyp extension looks great and color has darkened. I'm going to add 2 to 4 more bulbs and try keeping a couple of pieces of acropora I fragged in there. I'll keep everyone posted on how well these do.
