Mitras Lightbar 2 Selection

ingchr1 · Oct 27, 2018

Hi,

I'm in the planning process of setting up a tank. I'm fairly certain I'm going with a IM Fusion Lagoon 50. For lighting I'm leaning towards the Lightbar 2. With my other consideration being the Aquatic Life T5 Hybrid with a Kessil A360. What is leading me to the Lightbar is the elimination of the recurring cost of replacing T5 bulbs and that the fixture is fully controllable. I already have a Profilux 4.

My question comes down to which Lightbars should I choose? I was thinking one actinic and one deep actinic of the Model 70 (43W). I will also get a 150W power supply, splitter and controller cable.

The dimensions of the tank are 30" x 19" x 16" (76x48x41). I'm guessing on the width as the tank has a rear sump that I'm estimating to take up 4" to 5". The total width of the tank is 24".

Thanks

Ditto · Oct 28, 2018

What do you plan to grow inside the tank?

ingchr1 · Oct 28, 2018

Ditto said:
What do you plan to grow inside the tank?

I actually haven't given it a ton of thought yet. Been kind of focusing on equipment and what tank will maximize the space I have available. This will be my first reef tank, I had fish only about 20 years ago.

With that, I think I'll be looking at LPS and softies.

Ditto · Oct 28, 2018

@Lasse is great for input on Lightbars also and @Tristren also uses them.

I have two on my 18 inch wide tank by 72 inches and have added third to increase light in the middle of the tank.

I went with 1 antic and 2 deep antics and like the spreed I have 1oo on the sand bed to 400 to the top of the tank but dropped off a bit more then I wanted in the middle if the tank so adding a 3rd one. I could go higher by turning up the intensity but have had no reason to.

I could have stayed with two but went with 3 so that I could lower the intensity on all of them and increase them as the tank matures.

Lasse · Oct 29, 2018

I use 300 wats on my 80 gallon tanks - 120 x 50 x 50 cm (47" x 20" x 20"). I have 1 actinic, 2 deep actinic and 1 ocean blue.
With your tank I think your thoughts is resonable, however I would put the extra $30 into a 200 W power supply - that leave you with the option to max your Led Bars to 4 if you want in the future.

If you go with three - @Ditto ´s setup is good IMO. The reason why I have one Ocean Blue in my setup was that I want some 4500 K white during a part of the lighting period (I want more red than normal people). I run my RGB LEDs on 100 % for most of the day - RGB + all blue for around 8 hours and all LEDs for around 4 hours. I have a mixed tank with 4 Deresa clams on the bottom - growing like nothing I seen before.

Sincerely Lasse

ingchr1 · Oct 29, 2018

Thank you for the replies.

Sizing the power supply to accommodate 4 makes sense. The cost difference isn't much. I was sizing for 3.

I must have missed it, but how wide is each Lightbar?

Lasse · Oct 29, 2018

8.6 cm -> 3.39 "

Sincerely Lasse

Lasse · Oct 29, 2018

Clams

The one to the left comes to me in the early summer of 2017, the one to the right early this summer. Length when they come to me - around 5-6 cm The length of the large - around 14 cm today

This comes to me early spring this year 10/4 - 2018. 5-6 cm at that time - today 11 cm in length

I got my mitras late June this year and the growth has been better with this light compared with before IMO.

Sincerely Lasse

Tristren · Nov 1, 2018

I'm very happy with mine so far. I will be adding another one though. I started with one and a half (a 140cm and an 80cm) and I'm going to add another 140.

I got two ocean blues but am going with a deep actinic for the next one.

Your plan looks good. I definitely agree with getting a "one size up" power supply.

Cheers, Tony

ingchr1 · Nov 1, 2018

Does anyone have any photos of how they look aesthetically sitting on top of the tank? I did a bunch of searching but couldn't find anything. Since the tank will be a lagoon I'm thinking I may want to be able to look down into the tank from the top. These may limit that too much.

I was over on the GHL site and saw that they are going to be the exclusive European distributor for the Aquatic Life T5HO hybrid. So that got me thinking. Maybe I should go with the Aquatic Life T5 hybrid, but use a Lightbar instead of the A360 I was considering.

Tristren · Nov 2, 2018

Mine are under a canopy. These do have a big footprint, by design. But if you're looking at T5s it's a similar thing I think.

The Mitras LX may be something to look at as well.

Lasse · Nov 2, 2018

Bad photo - salt on the bars

There is a possibility to hang them too

Sincerely Lasse

ingchr1 · Nov 2, 2018

That helps a lot, thank you.

Without a canopy I think a hanging fixture is going to be the way to go. This is the Aquatic Life T5HO Hybrid Fixture, Fixture on GHL Site. I could place Lightbars across the middle. It's 7" between the T5's, so it could accommodate two Lightbars. I'd probably start with just one.

The LX7 would also be an option. It looks like one would provide enough coverage for the tank.

Ditto · Nov 3, 2018

You can also mount them inside a canopy depending on the height of your canopy also. Just turn around the braces on the end and you can easily attach them to the top. I have also hung them from the ceiling the same way.