i dont know about trusting ali express, after it rejected my visa and asked for my passport i left..... But I trust Evergrow. Did paypal directly to them, bypassed all the silly sites. Free shipping, all you pay is the customs/import fee when it gets to your front door.

I would work with Nick at Reefsupplycanada He is awesome to deal with and I think it's important to support Canadian when we can...otherwise we can't complain when something is hard to get.

Just my 2 cents though.

Did you guys go with just the white and blue lights or did you do a customer scheme?

Im completely new to LEDs so I wouldnt know where to be with adding my own color scheme

But all that canadian company seems to be doing is buying large amounts of stock coloured lights and marking up the price.
Even with the import fees (that negates what that site charges for shipping) its still cheaper to get it direct from the company that actually makes them.

I went DIY.
I wanted different whites, and darker blues then what the stock colours are, as well as adding red and green.
Ive attached the layout I did for the d120, then decided I wanted the nova and went that way instead.

whyd you decide to go with the nova instead?

Simplicity. I would have needed 2 d120's to get proper coverage on my tank, despite it only being 36". Had I only used 1 d120, it would have shaddowed in the middle, because of the center brace on my tank. So with 2 I would have to try and match the light on both and honestly, I'm lazy, its easier just dealing with 1 light. With the 8 circles it works well with my center brace.

I wouldn't recommend the Nova a8 for anything bigger then 36". If you like the 120 fixture (digital or not) I would get 2 for a 48" tank.


http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l8...ffLight018.jpg

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l8...ffLight019.jpg

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l8...ffLight020.jpg

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l8...ffLight021.jpg

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l8...ffLight022.jpg

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l8...ffLight023.jpg

im dealing with a 4 foot 80 gal. i was thinking two 120s

Im just not sure if I need to pick my own LEDs or go with whatever they send me...

Help plz :redface:

I think 2 is a good idea as well.

I think theres still a large debate about adding reds and greens. For me I went DIY because I wanted 440nm blue as the standard blue used is 450nm. I wanted a really deep blue look. Also allowed me to throw a few 6500k whites in there, which gives me more freedom for filling in that spectrum and getting those higher light corals (in my mind). I also wanted red and green for getting the full spectrum. All I know is I dont see anything wrong with what i've gotten and my corals are loving it!

Really its up to you. What look do YOU like?

so how much was that light if you dont mind me asking

I've also been looking at LED for a 90 gallon I'm planning. Every option is pretty much needing at least 2 fixtures. even a 60 gallon would most likely need 2 due to the center brace. I was wondering though Coasting, you seem to have a lot of uv lights. or are they the 440 blues?

I've been reading about the pros and cons of adding reds and greens. I think I would go with the ratio you have.

Solderless DIY LEDs also look pretty good. They work out around 400 dollars per 16 inch length (based on a 30 second quick calculation inc;uding hanging) but I know 2 would let me keep LPS on my 90 gallon.

Have a look at http://rapidled.com/

And here is Canadian DIY enthusiast urujoey assembling the kit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rLFh3Q_FEA

As of yet I'm still undecided what to do. I've seen various chinese units on ebay, alibaba express which I'm also unsure about. I'll probably end up buying 2 Pharos units from AQ LED in Vancouver because of the customization. Sunrise, remote controll etc. The price is the only offput.


Or maybe I'll just get a 4 foot 10 bulb T5 HO unit from china for 200 bucks :twised: