I'm sick of my cheapie T5HO setup. The bulbs and reflectors just aren't very good, and they'd be a giant pain to replace (mainly the reflectors).
So, I'm contemplating doing an LED setup, but I refuse to spend $250 for the crazy Marineland 36" strips. That's just not in my budget.
$150 -- maybe, but I'd like to do it cheaper than that, if possible.
The Ray2 setup looks like it puts out a lot of light, and I'm looking for light at the substrate to be nearing "high light" PAR values (under 80 is okay, but 45 would be too low, I think). Looking for good coloration out of my L. aromatica and L. glandulosa.
Would that be my best option, in terms of simplicity, or should I look at something like a RapidLED setup? If so, how many LEDs would I need to get the PAR values I'm looking for? I'm assuming that I'll be using something like CREE 1w LEDs.
So, I'm contemplating doing an LED setup, but I refuse to spend $250 for the crazy Marineland 36" strips. That's just not in my budget.
$150 -- maybe, but I'd like to do it cheaper than that, if possible.
The Ray2 setup looks like it puts out a lot of light, and I'm looking for light at the substrate to be nearing "high light" PAR values (under 80 is okay, but 45 would be too low, I think). Looking for good coloration out of my L. aromatica and L. glandulosa.
Would that be my best option, in terms of simplicity, or should I look at something like a RapidLED setup? If so, how many LEDs would I need to get the PAR values I'm looking for? I'm assuming that I'll be using something like CREE 1w LEDs.