Tautronics on 150 gal tall tank?

I have a tall 150 gal reef tank and am wanting to switch over to LED lights. Would the tautroncs dim able lights be able to work? My tank is 30" tall. I have a 2" sand bed and some corals on the bottom. They've been doing great on the bottom under my MH but could I make the switch? I'd be buying 2

 

That's pretty tall... I still hear a lot of flap about LEDs failing at such depths, although you would still have the option of placing low-light corals on the sandbed, and others higher on the rocks.

I believe your best option is to contact Reef Breeders. They can make recommendations, and even build a custom LED fixture for your application. They're also very reasonably priced.

 

If you want to use the Taotronics on a 48X24X30 I'd say you'd probably want 3 to get even spread but I wouldn't recommend them for this application. The LEDs are not using optics and therefore won't likely have enough punch to get sufficient PAR onto the sandbed. I'd look into LED spotlights rather than full fledged fixtures.

Look into the 100 Watt Elliptical Cannon LED from ecoxotic which I've seen used on 150 wide tanks.

Or, you could use something like buildmyled.com and get 3x 48" fixtures with 40-60 degree optics. This would still allow you to dim your fixtures but give you a better spectrum with more punch than the TaoTronics although at a cost of around $800.

Either way, I do not think the TaoTronics fixture will cut it, and if you're worried about spending a lot of money just stick with halides.

 

reefbreeders
This comes in 60, 90, & 120 degree optics. Would these be better?

 

You'd still likely need 3

 

Hmmm. I have a center support brace on the tank that casts an ugly shadow if there is a light over it. It'd be hard to space 3 evenly and avoid that. I'll have to hunt around a little more. I'd like to keep it under $500 (prefer closer to $400)

 

Good luck with the price point, I doubt you'll be able to find something appropriate for that amount.

As for the brace, that was why I recommended spotlight fixtures. You can angle the ecoxotic cannons so the light passes under the brace somewhat.

You could replace one halide with one cannon now, then replace the second later on. That way your corals could acclimate to the LEDs and you could also see how you like the fixture.

See here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nnt26OwdTc

 

I would suggest contacting them about it. They're a 3Reef sponsor and have their own forum here. FWIW, I've not yet seen anyone who was dissatisfied with their lights, be it an off-the-shelf recommendation or custom-built unit.

 

I sent them an email already. I'll look up their forum too

 

1 of the reasons I was looking towards tautronics is that I already have 1 laying around from a different tank system I bought and sold.
Would it be possible to mix it in with reef breeders? Or would the coloring look weird mixing in together?