best bang for a buck LEDs,?

I hope it's not too late to toss in my two cents. A couple of months ago a picked up this light to replace an aging HO T5 system. Current USA Orbit Marine LED Saltwater Reef Lighting System: Aquarium LED Light Fixtures In my opinion it's a great value for the money. This is the only light system that I have found that has the features and controls in this price range. One will definitely support good growth for LPS. At this price point, you can add another before you add any SPS.
The options are outstanding. It's beautiful to watch clouds roll through your tank and then lightning storms. It looks like you have a bunch of great low cost choices, good luck.

 

wow those are stupid cheap! Any par readings on these? Very interesting

 

Just speculating, but I imagine relatively low. They are by no means powerful, though likely would be fine for softies and lower light LPS.

 

These good? 2pcs 165W Full Spectrum LED Aquarium Light Dimmable Grow Fish Reef Coral Marine | eBay

 

Yes those are the lights I believe that we were talking about earlier in this thread. Todd_Sails has those and they seem to do quite well on his tank. I think he has 3 of those on his tank and they seem to be able to handle SPS and the PAR values are quite good.

 

Great. I ordered those. Now I can't wait to get everything going. Building the stand soon.

 

I think that you will be quite happy with those lights and they should meet your needs

 

For a new tank how long and how high should I run them to try and avoid a huge diatom bloom?

 

My best guess would be to start out at no lower than 12". From what I have read on here the PAR values are still pretty good at the height. Maybe Todd_Sails will chime in on how high his are mounted on his tank but that's what I would start out at. I think that height will be appropriate but I would be more concerned about at what power you run the light at. I certainly don't think you will be needing to run at 100% with two of those lights (at least the whites for that matter).

 

it's kinda hard to avoid not getting a diatom blood in a new tank regardless of light position or timing. once there's light, there's algae. you're better off letting your tank go through the bloom. It shouldn't last terribly long....and my two fixtures over my 90 are about a foot off the top of the water. I run my blues 100% and whites about 65%