Coralife BioCube 29 LED Bars

Steve Jones · May 9, 2016

Anyone used the Coralife "Snap in" LED bars in the 4 open slots in the BioCube 29 canopy? Thoughts? What combination of white and blue bars did you use? I see where there are 3rd party DIY retrofit LED light kits - but that's $200 I'd rather save toward the next, bigger aquarium than "tricking out" the BioCube.

recess62 · May 9, 2016

I put in the blues. Did not notice much effect

Steve Jones · May 9, 2016

recess62 said:
I put in the blues. Did not notice much effect

Yeah - I was probably leaning more toward adding mostly whites to see if that might help the corals. I'm just not sure how much more the whites add as I can't see any info on lumens, etc. The materials I found on the Coralife sight make them seem they are more for "accent color" than anything else. But I figure more light can't hurt.

Steve Jones · May 9, 2016

recess62 said:
I put in the blues. Did not notice much effect

Also, how are they controlled? Do they tie into the existing switches on the top of the canopy?

Joel B in FL · May 9, 2016

Before I removed my hood I had two whites and three blues in the five slots. However it still was not enough light to grow anything coughed than some softies. Most LPS and SPS will struggle with the standard biocube lighting.

I removed the hood and added a radion x15. That also had the side benefit of helping cool off the water temp some.

Joel B in FL · May 9, 2016

Steve Jones said:
Also, how are they controlled? Do they tie into the existing switches on the top of the canopy?

Yes they just are incorporate into the existing switches.

Steve Jones · May 9, 2016

Joel B in FL said:
Before I removed my hood I had two whites and three blues in the five slots. However it still was not enough light to grow anything coughed than some softies. Most LPS and SPS will struggle with the standard biocube lighting.

I removed the hood and added a radion x15. That also had the side benefit of helping cool off the water temp some.

Yes - but that $300 - more than the whole cube cost. I don't really want to invest that much $ on this tank just for lighting. This is a "learning" tank for me. In a year or two, I'll be ready to upgrade to a bigger tank and spend $ on it. For now, I need "bang for my buck". LOL

The other problem for me with removing the hood is that our house creates lots of dust (whole other issue) - with no top I would be adding dust as fast as I am filtering it out.

The corals I have seem to be doing fine (all LPS).

recess62 · May 10, 2016

I have a steve led conversion sitting in the box that I will sell cheep. Decided not to install and get a larger tank

ScottMyers123 · May 10, 2016

Your best bet would be to go with something like recess62 is offering. The extra snap in leds that coralife makes will not help with the growth or color of your corals.