I'm drowning in all the lighting options

[Alabamareef]

I had the 8 lamp and it did a good job. I have noticed with a new light system, LED's much better color and growth. I think if it were me and I thought later I'd plan on upgrading I'd do the 8 lamp. If you go with the 12 lamp you'll really not have to upgrade and should be able to get the max from any coral, invert.... In the marine hobby whats another $300.00, lol. :wink:

My vote would be the 8 lamp.

 

[pickupman66]

But i will say u should get the lighting you want first time instead of thinking ill buy better lights later its better to buy good stuff first time around i know many here can tell you that. Ive spent a total of $400 on my diy setup for my 180 t5 included and only have a $60/ year bulb cost.

This! Do it right now. Upgrading down the road is hard. I had mh on this ttank prior but it came that wway.

And to anyone, load up the car and take a road trip and come see me aand my tank. I'm an hour 15 from murfreesboro and 45 from Huntsville. You may even leave with a frag or two in your bag.


Sent from my Galaxy S 3 with Tapatalk.

 

[AirAngel]

Well, I have corals in my tank now that look awfull and a couple I am concerned about. I appreciate all the feedback and information that has been shared.
I am going to order the 8 lamp AquaticLife fixture on Monday. Cost and instant gratification has steered me in this direction. :-)
In a year or two I can move up to LED's. The technology will be advanced further and maybe the cost will be lower.
THANKS again for the advice and the schooling. No pun intended.

Mike

 

[Dana]

What about the beamswork fixtures....

 

[Dana]

I just bought a led fixture from them. I'm happy with it and it was very affordable.

 

[gmoney243]

Well, I have corals in my tank now that look awfull and a couple I am concerned about. I appreciate all the feedback and information that has been shared.
I am going to order the 8 lamp AquaticLife fixture on Monday. Cost and instant gratification has steered me in this direction. :-)
In a year or two I can move up to LED's. The technology will be advanced further and maybe the cost will be lower.
THANKS again for the advice and the schooling. No pun intended.

Mike

Keep in mind what Chris said about the stock bulbs is totally true. They suck and will not make ur corals look like these other guys tanks who are running ati T5 bulbs. Stock bulbs are much to white and corals will look drab trust me ive done the same thing and couldn't believe the difference ati blue+ bulbs make.

If ur spending $500 now for fixture then need to spend $160+ just to get bulbs that will make corals pop. You can buy some decently cheap led prefab units for about the same if ur planning to go led later. Not to mention the yearly $160+ bulb replacement cost

Sent from my VS930 4G using Tapatalk 2

 

[gmoney243]

check these out. they get high reviews and are well priced. theres a huge thread on RC people showing off their tanks with them and discussing the units and how much they all seem to like them.

reefbreeders

you would need 3 units at $179 each = $537

just saying since you keep saying you want LEDs later you could get them now and they will look much better than those stock bulbs

 

[AirAngel]

check these out. they get high reviews and are well priced. theres a huge thread on RC people showing off their tanks with them and discussing the units and how much they all seem to like them.

reefbreeders

you would need 3 units at $179 each = $537

just saying since you keep saying you want LEDs later you could get them now and they will look much better than those stock bulbs

No one had pointed out an decent LED fixture at this price point. What angle lens would you recommend?
The contollable fixtures come in 24" length. Would 2 of these be adequate??

The Aquatic life fixture is made in the USA. Do you know where these are made? Not a great concern but a little. The Chinese own us now.

Mike

 

[AirAngel]

He answered the phone and spent some time explaining. Will share some details later when I have time.
Gotta run to Nasteyville right now.

 

[fragmatic]

My advice is to hook up with some people in your area and view their tanks, in their homes. You will gain much more than seeing what lights they have and how their tanks look.

Secondly, If you are looking at AquaticLife lamps sets, don't fail to look at their LED sets. You can do very well with them. I use one on my 90 and LOVE it! It is the 54 watt 36" unit. Everyone keeps saying that isn't enough LED wattage.. but they are WRONG! Wattage in LEDs is not the same and is a poor judgement for LED effectiveness. Wattage is a measure of power usage and has NOTHING to do with light production. PAR from LEDs is not all that accurate either, there are plenty of health and growing aspects that even PAR doesn't measure. LED's are getting it done in ways we do not fully understand yet.

There is one thing I suggest you do consider no matter what you do. Technology in LED manufacturing is on the move, the best is yet to come. So, think about the fact we may all soon wish we had waited to buy the newer LEDs in a few months no matter what we use for lights presently. I expect some very efficient, high growth rates, and wowing color enhancements soon. Too many companies are doing expensive R&D and there are too many $$$$ of market share for this not to happen. We will all benefit from it, we are destined for some great advances in lighting for our tanks!

 

[AirAngel]

Technology in LED manufacturing is on the move, the best is yet to come. So, think about the fact we may all soon wish we had waited to buy the newer LEDs in a few months no matter what we use for lights presently. I expect some very efficient, high growth rates, and wowing color enhancements soon. Too many companies are doing expensive R&D and there are too many $$$$ of market share for this not to happen. We will all benefit from it, we are destined for some great advances in lighting for our tanks!

I completely agree. In the past I have collected flashlights. The LED's suct in the begining. There are LED flashlights on the market with outstanding performance. I dont know about market shares, but the military has been a big driver in this technology. They keep the newer performers off the market as well as other technology (think GPS). The advances we all seek may allready be there! I still have LED flashlights that only the military had @ onetime.
I have one running on a single CR123 that will illuminate a treeline 50 yrds away like daylight, well almost.

 

[fragmatic]

I completely agree. In the past I have collected flashlights. The LED's suct in the begining. There are LED flashlights on the market with outstanding performance. I dont know about market shares, but the military has been a big driver in this technology. They keep the newer performers off the market as well as other technology (think GPS). The advances we all seek may allready be there! I still have LED flashlights that only the military had @ onetime.
I have one running on a single CR123 that will illuminate a treeline 50 yrds away like daylight, well almost.

I have a flash light in my hands, well I put it down to type this, that I left on last Monday evening, and left it at a remote setting. I had used it off and on last July while we did an extensive camping/hiking trip in Colorado for a whole month and had not replaced the batteries. I retrieved it Thursday evening, and the LEDs were still firing. They weren't very bright but they were still on. This thing runs on three AAA batteries. Now granted, it is not powered by three 3 watt crees, but it gets the job done. Talk about the right flash light to have in your backpack while hiking, this is the one. It uses 16 LEDs and no reflector, old technology, by current specs.

 

[Alabamareef]

Whatever you choose post some photos of now and a few months down the road. Personally with the 8 bulb fixture I think you do fine with LPS and some SPS. The higher light SPS I'd be careful with. Maybe try a frag from a friend and see how it does. I think you'll enjoy that light. Good luck.

 

[AirAngel]

Can I change my mind??

I looked into Reefbreeders. I couldn't find a negative post on several sites.
2 year warranty with US support. He'll fix them his self if needed. He answered the phone on Sat. Has perfect Ebay feedback.That impressed me and lends credit to support. Is a site supporter.
About 2 week delivery (waiting on shipment).
I'm gonna order and eagerly anticipate!! :bigsmile:

 

[solar]

I was thinking the same route as you. Even about the reefbreeder led! but my tank is alot smaller 40 breeder.

Tank looks good!
Always good to take it slow.

 

[bknapp]

Don't feel too badly about it, I couldn't figure out what I wanted either. So now inside of my canopy I have LED's, T5's and, MH's....

 

[Dowtish]

Don't feel too badly about it, I couldn't figure out what I wanted either. So now inside of my canopy I have LED's, T5's and, MH's....

How are the LED's looking?

 

[bknapp]

They look good, I need to find a way to get them closer to the water they are kind of blocked by the halide reflectors, but the added shimmer is evident. I am considering adding a ReefBrite strip as well.... Need more power (Tim Allen voice.)

Light set-up:
2-250 watt XM 15K DE MH
1-Giesmann Blue+
1-ATI Purple Plus
12-1 watt Blue LED's (unsure of nano-meters)

 

[scoobysnack77]

I have had LEDS and metal halides so far and the LEDS (aqua illumination VEGA) were spotty and left a lot of dead spots in the tank. nice control over the spectrums of light but it seemed to me that the lights were creating the colors on the corals instead of highlighting the pigments the corals have naturally. but they are energy efficient and give off very little heat which is a plus if you don't wanna run a chiller. as for metal halide, I've had 2 250 watt radiums over my 75 gallon tank for a few months and i like it a lot. colors pop and the growth rate is VERY nice. i had to add a chiller though. i did go with a reef brite ballast wise because the newer ones run cooler and more energy efficient than metal halides of the past did . but metal halide restricts you from playing around with different spectrums of light so now I'm going to try t5's because if you look at MOST tanks of the month and a lot of the prettiest tanks on youtube , they are mostly t5 fixtures over them. t5 bulb combos are your choice but i went with 4blue + ,1 coral plus and 1 aqua blue special in the order i made today with bulk reef supply. lets see how it goes :)