I'm brand new to lighting, what should I know before starting out?

[Punchy]

Hi,
I'm brand new to this hobby and this is my first post, so I'm starting from zero here. I have a question about lighting. What should I learn about and how do I figure out which kind of lighting is best suited to my needs? What kind of lighting options are currently available in early 2019 and what kinds are coming soon? I'm thinking about starting out with LED's but I'm not certain it's going to be the best choice for whatever I end up doing overall. Anyway, what are the different kind of LED lighting options available now days?
Thanks for any help

 

[HotRocks]

Welcome to R2R!

There are several options for lighting. Halide, T5, and of course LED. It really depends on your budget and what kind of coral you desire to keep. You can spend as little as $100 on an LED fixture all the way up to $1,000.

 

[Gareth elliott]

Welcome!
If you go on youtube bulk reef supply has tested most of the popular led options available.
They also give tips on how many, height settings. Also gives you a good starting point to ask on particular models and setting your own budget .

 

[Rjukan]

Hello and welcome to R2R!

What size tank are you looking at or have already? The depth is important when considering what lights to use.

 

[jda]

Look at hobbyist tanks, and not vendors... a hobbyist has the same goals as you and a vendor does things differently and people oft do damage by taking parts and pieces from a vendor technique and not all of it. Don't believe much that a manufacturer tells you - they usually do not lie, but they do mislead A LOT. What you want to keep will matter a lot. The size of your tank will matter a lot. Watch this video which can help you see through some of the claims and claims that people make that are untrue.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Lighting choice depends on a few factors. Do you plan to keep coral if so what type? What is your budget for the lighting? What are the dimensions of the tank you are setting up? Answer these 3 questions and giving you some lighting options becomes much easier.

 

[Vahanyos]

Here’s a few questions that will help you narrow down what you want... and what you’ll be happy with at the end of the day. Not in order...

1. What corals do you want to keep?
2. Consider the way it mounts! (Very important if you have your tank in the living room like me)
3. What’s your budget?
4. What look you want to achieve? (Blended T5, disco ball effect LED, etc..)

 

[Punchy]

I'm no where near on deciding on a tank size just yet. I'll probably end up with a relatively smaller tank (i.e. not hundred or hundreds of gallons)

 

[Punchy]

As per suggestions here, I watched several video's on YouTube about lighting by BulkReefsupply. They were pretty good. They mentioned metal halides and T5 still being an option these days too. The guy in the video said that some reefer's are even going back to the older halide lights. I'm familiar with fluorescent tube bulbs, but not metal halide light bulbs. I'm wondering which came out first: metal halides or T5 fluorescent tube bulbs? (i.e. which is the oldest technology: T5 or Halides?). I already know that LED's are a relatively new and recent technology. But new or recent doesn't always automatically mean best. Especially for certain applications or under certain conditions or scenarios.

 

[Punchy]

Speaking of metal halide lighting, what are some of the most common, abundant and widespread metal halide light bulb types, styles, makes and models out there to chose from? I know the guy in the YouTube video said that supply is dwindling, that's why I'm asking.

 

[Gareth elliott]

As per suggestions here, I watched several video's on YouTube about lighting by BulkReefsupply. They were pretty good. They mentioned metal halides and T5 still being an option these days too. The guy in the video said that some reefer's are even going back to the older halide lights. I'm familiar with fluorescent tube bulbs, but not metal halide light bulbs. I'm wondering which came out first: metal halides or T5 fluorescent tube bulbs? (i.e. which is the oldest technology: T5 or Halides?). I already know that LED's are a relatively new and recent technology. But new or recent doesn't always automatically mean best. Especially for certain applications or under certain conditions or scenarios.

Both use very similar principles in operation, as both are gas discharge lamps. Both have similar lifetimes in horticulture use. Where most reef lighting was originally borrowed from. T5’s in general existed commercially for about 20 years before MH HID lighting did.

 

[rkpetersen]

As per suggestions here, I watched several video's on YouTube about lighting by BulkReefsupply. They were pretty good. They mentioned metal halides and T5 still being an option these days too. The guy in the video said that some reefer's are even going back to the older halide lights. I'm familiar with fluorescent tube bulbs, but not metal halide light bulbs. I'm wondering which came out first: metal halides or T5 fluorescent tube bulbs? (i.e. which is the oldest technology: T5 or Halides?). I already know that LED's are a relatively new and recent technology. But new or recent doesn't always automatically mean best. Especially for certain applications or under certain conditions or scenarios.

Welcome to R2R! I hope you enjoy your time here.


Metal halides for aquarium use have been around many decades and are proven to grow corals. I used them in the late 80s.
They use the most energy and generate the most heat. Also expensive to replace bulbs. (At least they no longer need a huge noisy ballast like they used to.)
Aquarium flourescents with various spectra have been around a long time too. They've gotten thinner and more powerful, with T5HOs the current standard.
MH and T5 give entirely different lighting effects, as one is a point source (like the sun), and the other is diffuse.
LEDs are the newest but have been around for quite a while now, and there are many awesome tanks running only LED lighting.
There are also different kinds of LED fixtures, which affects how the light rays enter your tank, and how much shimmer and shadowing you get.
Combo fixtures, with MH/T5 or LED/T5, are also popular.

 

[Gareth elliott]

Also where are you located?

For me the main draw back in Metal halides is the heat. I live where storms are common and my tank is on a generator my ac is not. I would not do this if i used mh lighting, i would require a controller and probably a chiller to use them. As my house during a blackout in the summer easily gets into the 80’s.

 

[rkpetersen]

Also where are you located?

For me the main draw back in Metal halides is the heat. I live where storms are common and my tank is on a generator my ac is not. I would not do this if i used mh lighting, i would require a controller and probably a chiller to use them. As my house during a blackout in the summer easily gets into the 80’s.

It's not even that hot where I live and we keep our house fairly cool with AC, but I would still need a chiller on each tank if I were to switch to MH.
And I actually had a whole home standby generator installed specifically because I got back into the hobby.
Ridiculously expensive, but our electrical utility service is so untrustworthy, no way I would go without.

 

[jda]

Did you watch the Del Aquilla video that I posted? There is no efficiency between lighting types, so you need a 150w LED panel to replace a 150w Halide, or whatever. Heat can be an issue, but it is easy to solve if you want to with just simple fans. I run many halides and do not need a chiller even in August when the temps get to 100.

There are many different reasons for choosing a light, but take heat and electrical costs out of it since these end up being red herrings. Bulb replacements are real. $800 fixtures for some LEDs are real. Factor in a 4-5 year usage for just about any LED - while there are some people who use them longer (and I am sure that they will chime in), they are the outliers. You can get good deals on quality used lights, but these mostly end up being T5 or MH since people don't really want to spend too much to run a LED out of warranty.

What this comes down to for most folks is "coolness" and "performance." If you want cool, then get some LED that you can control with an app on your phone - your corals won't care and can be harmed by constant tinkering, but they are cool. If you want just plain out performance, then you sometimes have to sacrifice features like couch apps and thunderstorms. You can have both, depending on what you keep.

If you knew a tank size, this would help. There are huge differences between a 150w Halide, for example, and needing 3x 400w halides... or a single Hydra 26 and needing 4x Hydra 52s... or a 4 bulb T5 vs a 10-12 bulb T5. What you want to keep would help too... for easy stuff, you can have the best performance with nearly any light out there (even a PetCo light), but for some more advanced stuff, you need higher intensity and wider spectrum lighting.

 

[jda]

BTW - I like the BRS videos, but in the end, they are still a supplier and have some of their own best interests in mind. They do a good job, but still verify and check what you are seeing with another source, and preferably not a fanboy of that light (or whatever). They have led some people the wrong way over the years and while they have apologized and made corrections, it still happens when you put out as many videos as they do. Lots of people think that their videos on black boxes were unfair and wanted to lead you to buying a more expensive light from them - some didn't. Their video on chaeto lighting led to a very expensive LED that they sold when a cheap Home Depot light took all N and P out of the water too. All that I am saying is to watch with care.

The speakers at various MACNA are usually good too.

 

[Stigigemla]

I have a 410 gallon tank of almost 10 foot. Over that I first had 5 x 250w MH + 4x54w and 4x 80w T5. Thats 1786w + ballasts.
I changed it to 10 x 54w and 10 x 80w T5. Thats 1340w. I had to increase the three part because the corals were growing faster. I was near to crash the tank in less than a week because kH decreased so much. I was totally unprepared for that.

Some years later I changed to 640w total in Leds. No change in growth.

My experience is clear. MH takes a lot of power. T5 bulbs less and led much less.

 

[Punchy]

What kinds of tank lighting analyzing meters and tools should I get as a beginner to aquarium lighting?

 

[vetteguy53081]

First is to determine type of specimens in your tank plans and their light requirements. Price and budget and also tank size.
LED has come a long way as Metal halide still proven and T5 productive always.

 

[hawkeye792001]

From what I have seen, LED is the way to go if you like gadgets and wifi and spectrum adjustments, timers, etc. You pay a premium for them.

T5 is much cheaper, and it is plug and play. They put out perfect spectrum. Even factoring in bulb replacement, they are cheaper IMO.

LED does give a shimmer to the water that some people like too. Personally I am not a fan, but everyone has there own preference.