Reasons to change lights?

RRTV-Cody · May 5, 2020

There are many reasons we keep or change out our lighting on our reefs, I'm curious as to why others out there might decide its the right time to swap out fixtures.

lapin · May 5, 2020

Boredom and too much extra money maybe

andrewkw · May 5, 2020

When the old ones stop working. I will sometimes add lighting but rarely replace all together unless it needs to be.

RRTV-Cody · May 5, 2020

lapin said:
Boredom and too much extra money maybe

never my issue lol

RRTV-Cody · May 5, 2020

andrewkw said:
When the old ones stop working. I will sometimes add lighting but rarely replace all together unless it needs to be.

what do you have now?

X-37B · May 5, 2020

Yea, if corals are growing I would be hard pressed to change.
I run T5's and am thinking of adding a orphek light bar or 2.
Have 2 full new MH setups but went with a used T5 system so go figure.

andrewkw · May 5, 2020

RRTV_Cody said:
what do you have now?

My main tank has a kessil a350 purchased in 2012, an a360we and a brand new a360x - the x replaced an a360 purchased in either 2013 or 2014 that has been giving me issues. I can no longer change the spectrum and it blinks when first turned on. Still it's been repurposed to use as a coral qt light. I'll still use it until it completely burns out. The kessils are old but they are still growing corals. I have added 2 black boxes over the years to decrease shadowing, as well as repurposed an old dual T5 fixture for additional light.

Originally I bought that a350 as a test as led's were largely unproven. The 250w metal halide which was lighting the other side of my tank is now in use on my 90g (36x24 footprint). It's got a couple of led strips for additional light.

I have a cheapo T5 fixture over my frag tank, and a micmol led over my name - just wanted to try something different then a black box and it's a softy only tank.

RRTV-Cody · May 5, 2020

90's reefer said:
Yea, if corals are growing I would be hard pressed to change.
I run T5's and am thinking of adding a orphek light bar or 2.
Have 2 full new MH setups but went with a used T5 system so go figure.

very true, you shouldnt fix what isnt broken.. and WHAAA no LED? lol

RRTV-Cody · May 5, 2020

andrewkw said:
My main tank has a kessil a350 purchased in 2012, an a360we and a brand new a360x - the x replaced an a360 purchased in either 2013 or 2014 that has been giving me issues. I can no longer change the spectrum and it blinks when first turned on. Still it's been repurposed to use as a coral qt light. I'll still use it until it completely burns out. The kessils are old but they are still growing corals. I have added 2 black boxes over the years to decrease shadowing, as well as repurposed an old dual T5 fixture for additional light.

Originally I bought that a350 as a test as led's were largely unproven. The 250w metal halide which was lighting the other side of my tank is now in use on my 90g (36x24 footprint). It's got a couple of led strips for additional light.

I have a cheapo T5 fixture over my frag tank, and a micmol led over my name - just wanted to try something different then a black box and it's a softy only tank.

personally not a huge fan of Kessils just because they have a hard time getting light into the nooks and crannies. I know they grow coral just not a fan of shadows.

X-37B · May 5, 2020

RRTV_Cody said:
very true, you shouldnt fix what isnt broken.. and WHAAA no LED? lol

Yea I know all my reefing friends say the same about leds but cant argue with 8 T5's and the growth I get in a 10 month old tank.

tehmadreefer · May 5, 2020

BRS recommends X lighting of the month.

RRTV-Cody · May 5, 2020

tehmadreefer said:
BRS recommends X lighting of the month.

Lol

Bpb · May 5, 2020

I firmly believe a solid majority of people change from boredom alone. I changed from 8x54 watt t5ho to 2x250 watt mh because it was basically a free switch. Par is higher. I actually have LESS heat, and bulb changes are cheaper. Only way I’d consider changing at this point is if whatever I changed to was free. See no point in spending money on a lateral move

RRTV-Cody · May 5, 2020

90's reefer said:
Yea I know all my reefing friends say the same about leds but cant argue with 8 T5's and the growth I get in a 10 month old tank.

You can definitely tell that's a T5 tank... Zero shadows.

RRTV-Cody · May 5, 2020

Bpb said:
I firmly believe a solid majority of people change from boredom alone. I changed from 8x54 watt t5ho to 2x250 watt mh because it was basically a free switch. Par is higher. I actually have LESS heat, and bulb changes are cheaper. Only way I’d consider changing at this point is if whatever I changed to was free. See no point in spending money on a lateral move

What about the energy cost or the ability to view corals with the blues and violet spectrums? Or having a ramp up ramp down period? I know it's not necessary but makes for a nicer view don't you think?

Fourstars · May 5, 2020

Pick a lighting method that grows coral and stick with it. You can set a tank back by changing your lighting.

Bpb · May 5, 2020

RRTV_Cody said:
What about the energy cost or the ability to view corals with the blues and violet spectrums? Or having a ramp up ramp down period? I know it's not necessary but makes for a nicer view don't you think?

Here’s the thing. I have an sps dominant tank with some old and large colonies at this point. I’m not a gear head. I value coral health and and growth above all. So the ramping thing? Doesn’t interest me. I like the tank to look how I like it to look. Never felt the personal need to have a color gradient shifting through the day. Just not a feature I value.

Now....I’m not saying it’s wrong to value that. If that brings a person joy and fulfillment with their overall reef experience, by all means indulge. It’s just not a valuable feature for me personally. I do have some blue led strips but just to extend the viewing period. I actually strongly prefer the tank under full spectrum and if these led strips weren’t basically free, I’d have opted to full spectrum supplemental lighting for morning and evening viewing at low intensity. I like to be able to see my tank for a long period, but 12 hours of 500+’par is overkill.

Not overly concerned with energy cost. The difference is negligible. It’s either run 500 watts of lighting and no heater, or run 300 or so watts of lighting with intermittent use of the 300 watt heater. Not interested in spending thousands on new lighting to save $10 a month in energy use.

Again. At the end of the day. There are no bad light choices. Just bad application. I’ve settled on what I believe to be the most economical means of lighting the tank at the highest value for what is important to me

RRTV-Cody · May 5, 2020

Fourstars said:
Pick a lighting method that grows coral and stick with it. You can set a tank back by changing your lighting.

Just about any light on the market grows coral. The question is what would make you say, "now that's a value add that I would pay for"? All phones make calls, all iPhones have apps etc but people still will buy the new iPhone when it comes out... Why buy new lights? Boredom seems to be the only answer I'm s ring here but isn't there any other reasons? Quieter? More efficient like covering a larger area? Space saver? Outlet saver? Or non functional like just to have the new flashy thing? Etc.

codycolina707 · May 5, 2020

I just got a photon v2+ for my tank switched from Mars aqua and they worked but I didn't like the no programming and the spectrum was hard to dial in as for the photon it looks way better over the tank and has a lot more options with adjusting each channel

RRTV-Cody · May 5, 2020

codycolina707 said:
I just got a photon v2+ for my tank switched from Mars aqua and they worked but I didn't like the no programming and the spectrum was hard to dial in as for the photon it looks way better over the tank and has a lot more options with adjusting each channel

Nice, congrats on the upgrade!