Setting Up a 90g and Need Some Recommendations

[Austin Lee]

Hey R2R!

I am in the process of setting up my 90g reef tank. I currently have everything I need (equipment wise) besides a light and a heater.

What types of lighting do you recommend for a 90g reef? I am looking into probably doing a T5 and LED combo. I have a 20g setup now and use Current Orbit USA LEDs and they work great. However, I think the T5 will be valuable on my large tank. Thoughts? Recommendations?

As far as heaters, I really like the Cobalt Aquatics Heaters and will most likely end up buying these. Anyone have any other recommendations?

Thanks in advance for all of your help!

PS - I will have a tank build thread up soon so be on the look out for that :)

~Austin

 

[Salty1962]

I use a LED/T5 hybrid and love it! I'd watch Cobalt heaters, heard many issues with. Eheim is very reliable. Just me.

 

[pooliap]

Eheim is great heater out there , there just long just measure it your sump space . Combo t5 is a great light , but they produce a lot of heat though , I used to have t5 combo from current USA brand . And I switched to AI hydra . Is so much better . Good luck

 

[spartanman22]

Are you doing a canopy or rimless? If looking for a fixture you're best bets are going to be the ATI Powermodules or the Giesemann Auroras. Those are probably the top choices in LED/T5 combo fixtures at the moment. If you're doing a canopy you can do a DIY setup for much cheaper. Decide on what LED fixtures you want to run (Radions, AI's, Kessils, OceanRevives, etc.) and then add a couple retrofit T5 kits.

I was originally planning a canopy on my 80 gallon (have since decided not to) and was going to run 4 T5's, two OR-T247s and a Kessil A350.

 

[kromar]

I got the current orbit on my 90. My soft corals started to respond but didn't seem bright enough. Bought a 50/50 reef bar pro from 21ledusa. Now I have enough for my softies and an LPS I put in has been doing fine. Good luck.