LED lighting?

the individual reflectors will increase the efficiency of the fixture alot,

I haven't tried the newer version of the oddyseas t5's but I had the last version of them. They weren't great, the light output of them is noticeably less then other more expensive brands.
but you get what you pay for.

 

browse this site usually they have good prices.
T5 Aquarium Light Fixture - T5 Light Fixtures for Fish Tanks at AquaCave.com

 

maybe ill just get the marinelife reef compatible unit, anyone have anything to say about this from personal experience?

 

led's that are powerful enough to keep corals are very expensive, i mean like in the 700-1400 dollar range, and in my experience even those arent as powerful as metal halides or t5's, led's just are not a goood choice for serious reefers. i would for sure reccoment t5's or pc's if not metal halide.

 

Im going to do the DIY LED route. From other peoples project threads, it looks promising

 

please keep us updated on whatever rout you g oI would love to see the leds since im building a 75 in the next couple of months

 

Will do, what do you mean by "building a 75" ?

 

sorry Im in the process of bulding a 75 gallon tank and stand.

 

ohhh okay cool, do you ean you bought a 75 gallon tank and building a stand? Idk of to many people who build fish tanks but I could be wrong

 

How has this thread gone 3 pages without someone addressing the OP's statement "corals that do not need to be fed"? All corals need supplemental feeding! zooxanthellae is a symbiotic adaptation, not the sole dependancy of the coral for nutrition. Imagine eating bacon and eggs every meal, for the rest of your life. It's sustenance, but eventually your lack of a varied diet will catch up with you as you're not getting essential vitamins and nutrients. CORAL magazine recently put out a series of articles about feeding your corals, one specifically dealing with the coral feeding misconception and our "anorexic reefs". Give them a read.

Take a little more time and browse articles and how-to's on the net for a couple of weeks. The worst thing you can do, and this happens much too frequently, is go with the bare minimum (tank size, lighting, filtration, etc.) or not even that, and you're left kicking yourself when you do eventually gain a little more perspective in the hobby. I think a lot of the enjoyment in this hobby is in the learning and building anyways.

Good Luck!