Help me decide on lighting!?

[Drummerguydw]

Hi, so currently setting up a 150 gallon SPS dominant tank (70 gallon sump). Trying to decide on lighting and I'm getting so many conflicting ideas on which route to go. I don't mind spending a little more due to this being a showpiece in our living room.

Idea 1: Aquatic Life T5 Hybrid w/ 3 xr15 radions
Idea 2: 4 ReefBrite Strips w/ 3/ xr15 radions
Idea 3: 3 xr30 radions
Possibly kessils for visual appeal.

What are everyone's thoughts? Prefer LED or T5/LED Hybrid, I also do need spacing on top due to hood design so I can reach in to feed/maintance, so a bank of t5's or something similar is out of the question, which would block the top.

 

[blaxsun]

I have two XR30’s and a XR15 (all blues) on my 160-gallon mixed reef (maybe a dozen SPS), and it does give me enough room to easily maneuver around for cleaning, maintenance, etc. Some of the SPS experts can probably weigh-in better on the LED vs. LED/hybrid options.

 

[ForTheLoveOfCoral21]

I love the Combo of T5s and LEDS. ITs a really great combo and gets you lots of coverage and plenty of room to adjust colors and the look on your tank.

Would be able to keep anything and everything you want.

 

[Rollman]

T5/G5

 

[Drummerguydw]

T5/G5

What size tank is that? And does that spacing help get more even coverage?

 

[guylaga]

This topic always gets lots of debate, and I will give my opinion based on my experience.

Up untill a month or so I exclusively ran LEDs on my tank since 2013, and loved the look / shimmer ect...

However I had an opportunity to get an ATI SunPower fixture for a steal of a deal and decided to try it out. I still have LEDs running but they are now just for ascetics.

I can say without a doubt that the while the T5 is just blah to look at, my growth has noticeably improved.

So if given the opportunity go with a Hybrid fixture and get the look of LED with the effectiveness of T5.

 

[Drummerguydw]

This topic always gets lots of debate, and I will give my opinion based on my experience.

Up untill a month or so I exclusively ran LEDs on my tank since 2013, and loved the look / shimmer ect...

However I had an opportunity to get an ATI SunPower fixture for a steal of a deal and decided to try it out. I still have LEDs running but they are now just for ascetics.

I can say without a doubt that the while the T5 is just blah to look at, my growth has noticeably improved.

So if given the opportunity go with a Hybrid fixture and get the look of LED with the effectiveness of T5.

Interesting, I’m really leaning toward the xr 15/t5 hybrid, this was actually super helpful

 

[BillyW]

Up until about a week ago I exclusively ran LED also, on my current tank and previous tanks. I just switched to T5 as well, basically out of curiosity because I had never ran them before. The coverage is amazing but I haven’t figured out how to get my LEDs incorporated onto the fixture yet.
A week into it and my alk consumption has gone up a lot, if I had a tank big enough tank I would for sure run both! T5 and LEDs

 

[Drummerguydw]

Up until about a week ago I exclusively ran LED also, on my current tank and previous tanks. I just switched to T5 as well, basically out of curiosity because I had never ran them before. The coverage is amazing but I haven’t figured out how to get my LEDs incorporated onto the fixture yet.
A week into it and my alk consumption has gone up a lot, if I had a tank big enough tank I would for sure run both! T5 and LEDs

Ya it’s. 5x2x2, 150 gallon, I could easily set up one of those aquatic life hybrid fixtures, and conceal it with a hood, I would do retro t5s but I have no idea how to set them up, a fixture would just be easier id think

 

[MNFish]

There are many lights that will grow coral but if you like the shimmer nothing beats Kessil.

 

[Kjames]

There are many lights that will grow coral but if you like the shimmer nothing beats Kessil.

I’ve enjoyed my aquatic life 48” with 3 Kessils. Great shimmer, full coverage and virtually impossible to screw up. My fixture is white - I’d like to pull the shells off the Kessils and paint them white also for a cleaner look. Also, reroute the cords so they all come out in one spot. Never understood why that T5 fixture had cords coming out of both sides.

 

[Drummerguydw]

I’ve enjoyed my aquatic life 48” with 3 Kessils. Great shimmer, full coverage and virtually impossible to screw up. My fixture is white - I’d like to pull the shells off the Kessils and paint them white also for a cleaner look. Also, reroute the cords so they all come out in one spot. Never understood why that T5 fixture had cords coming out of both sides.

Ya I noticed that, it won’t be a huge issue since it’ll be under a hood but cable management is definitely a priority on this one

 

[acropora4u]

I am running all 3. T5 halides and led.

 

[Rollman]

What size tank is that? And does that spacing help get more even coverage?

It’s a 180, I have brackets so that’s how I deal good par tho