SPS lighting on a budget

Currierfarms14

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Howdy reef family! I have been looking into making the jump into SPS for a long time. I am very familiar with the necessary parameters and filter equipment, but am very torn on the best lighting. I am not looking to spend a fortune on the lights. I have heard very good things about T5’s so I’m leaning toward those, but open to other options. What fixture would you recommend? What bulbs would you recommend? What colored bulbs? Thank you for all of your help!
 

spspirate

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I’ve been through halides (mogul base and double ended) loved them you can’t beat the shimmer effect or even replicate it with any other type of light source except the sun itself...Lol Especially the mogul base Radiums. Ran a couple Radions and loved the versatility. But hands down for me are T-5’s. Just love the different spectrums you can play with and the pastel colors you get from your corals. I’m running an 8 bulb ATI fixture with LED (blue) supplementation. Blue plus, blue plus ,6500k ,blue plus,Giesemann tropic, 6500k, blue plus, blue plus.
 

AdamB

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I ran ati bulbs t5’s on my first reef tank (90 gallon) . They were great but after doing some math on electrical costs and Bulb replacement costs Every 6 months to be pretty expensive so I bought 2 165 watt viper spectras led black boxes and had great results with mixed tank with many sps.
Then bought al hydra 26’s for my second tank I set up . I like the hydras a lot but for the money you can’t beat viper spectras.
 
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Currierfarms14

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I ran ati bulbs t5’s on my first reef tank (90 gallon) . They were great but after doing some math on electrical costs and Bulb replacement costs Every 6 months to be pretty expensive so I bought 2 165 watt viper spectras led black boxes and had great results with mixed tank with many sps.
Then bought al hydra 26’s for my second tank I set up . I like the hydras a lot but for the money you can’t beat viper spectras.
If the money wasn’t an option between the hydras and viper, what would you go with?
 

AdamB

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If the money wasn’t an option between the hydras and viper, what would you go with?
[/QUOTE
That’s a tough question when I really think about it .. I had great growth in one year with viper spectras but i would have to go with the hydras I moved 8 of my acans and a few other pieces to the hydra set up 5 months ago From viper s and I noticed the colors are brighter and better.
Hydras give you more control flexibility with the color spectrum.
 

Big E

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I would stick with T5s as you'll have no setup headaches and the results are consistent.

Bulb replacement can easily be covered by selling a few frags a year locally or at swaps.

I use blue+ and coral+ only....you can see my results here--

I have a Sunpower on one system and a LET diy on the other.

I don't know your time frame but Sunpowers come up on sales threads occasionally at excellent prices.
 

X-37B

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I would stick with T5s as you'll have no setup headaches and the results are consistent.

Bulb replacement can easily be covered by selling a few frags a year locally or at swaps.

I use blue+ and coral+ only....you can see my results here--

I have a Sunpower on one system and a LET diy on the other.

I don't know your time frame but Sunpowers come up on sales threads occasionally at excellent prices.
Exactly! I purchased a used ati 6 bulb fixture for $200 for my 120.
3c+ 3b+ all 9 hours on then off.
Fixture is 4" off the water.
Excellent coral growth and color.
It does take a few weeks to months for some corals to color up since lfs is all radions running heavy blue for looks.
System is only 5 months old at the end of this month.
I always laugh when the "yea but you have to replace bulbs and its expensive over time". Really just buy 1 bulb a month at $20. We spend $20 in the blink of an eye in this hobby.
Keep it basic with what is proven to work and stop changing everything.
Especially the settings on your led. Thats another reason I like t5's as its set and forget.
7" filter sock, tunze 9410 dc skimmer, bare bottom, and tunze ato. 4 powerheads for flow. Dose 2 part and trace.
I do not do water changes either but thats another story for a other thread.
Get a t5 system and move on.
A few cell phone pics. Click on image for better resolution.
20191114_081151.jpg
20191028_194807.jpg
20191016_182519.jpg
 
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NanoDJS

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I use the redsea reefspec 90 x2 over a 48x24x16deep DeepBlue professional frag tank. I get from 400 par down to around 140 -100 one the bottoms, mixed reef with acros ,montis, tons of LPS , and z&P out the wazzoo . I get better growth from these so far than my t5 hood , or my MH setups .(which I kept just in case )plus the program-ability of it. Stuff POPS with these lights .
 

AdamB

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I use the redsea reefspec 90 x2 over a 48x24x16deep DeepBlue professional frag tank. I get from 400 par down to around 140 -100 one the bottoms, mixed reef with acros ,montis, tons of LPS , and z&P out the wazzoo . I get better growth from these so far than my t5 hood , or my MH setups .(which I kept just in case )plus the program-ability of it. Stuff POPS with these lights .
I have the same tank. Using hydra 26’s at 11” over water . I would like to know my what my par values are and thinking about renting a par meter. No one in my area owns one . I live in the sticks!
 

NanoDJS

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best tank ever imho . Almost every store around here NY uses them still , and wont sell them or change em . the hyrdas are great also , I would guess at that height your prob around the same as my figures , I run mine at 75% blue 30% white which gives 20k almost exactly the same as radium(mh) color and shimmer , I love these things so far ( 4 months ) and for the price , they are the best led ever made for reefing as of now according to the BRS par video , they test better than any other light.
 
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Currierfarms14

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I really appreciate all the feedback. It seems as though you can’t go wrong with either option here... both have seen success. My tank is 29 inches wide, and 18 inches deep.
For led or T5 what exact length / amount of wattage or bulbs would you recommend?
 

AdamB

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I really appreciate all the feedback. It seems as though you can’t go wrong with either option here... both have seen success. My tank is 29 inches wide, and 18 inches deep.
For led or T5 what exact length / amount of wattage or bulbs would you recommend?
True, I like My T5s but looking at energy added costs and spending $20+ on each bulb every 6 months I could buy leds and come out better . It was me just watching my long term budget ..
 

Skynyrd Fish

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For what it’s worth I’m running a six bulb ati 48” on my 60”x 18” wide x 24” tall. Growing sps just fine. I got mine for $200 on Craigslist in good condition. I replace bulbs yearly on Black Friday.
 
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Currierfarms14

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For what it’s worth I’m running a six bulb ati 48” on my 60”x 18” wide x 24” tall. Growing sps just fine. I got mine for $200 on Craigslist in good condition. I replace bulbs yearly on Black Friday.

How high above the tank do you have these?
 

NanoDJS

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i assume the tank is 18 front to back also so 29x18x18 correct ? you have an odd size for t5 so you could use 24w 4 bulb hood but it wont cover the full 29 inches since the bulbs are 22 inches long, but the hood is almost your tank size for the endcaps ect , this isnt ideal those bulbs dont throw like the 46" ones AT all they are22" is 24w ,, 46" is 54w so the 6 bulb Skynyrd is talking of uses 324w! whereas you can only fit 100w over your footprint, but your tanks are the same justn twice as long , but he has more than 3 x the lighting . It gets into logistics , and feasability. you get t5 on that tank you will be adding supplimental led trust me . Edit I am not flaming T5 btw I own the T5 hood you gonna need for that tank lol
 
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Currierfarms14

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i assume the tank is 18 front to back also so 29x18x18 correct ? you have an odd size for t5 so you could use 24w 4 bulb hood but it wont cover the full 29 inches since the bulbs are 22 inches long, but the hood is almost your tank size for the endcaps ect , this isnt ideal those bulbs dont throw like the 46" ones AT all they are22" is 24w ,, 46" is 54w so the 6 bulb Skynyrd is talking of uses 324w! whereas you can only fit 100w over your footprint, but your tanks are the same justn twice as long , but he has more than 3 x the lighting . It gets into logistics , and feasability. you get t5 on that tank you will be adding supplimental led trust me . Edit I am not flaming T5 btw I own the T5 hood you gonna need for that tank lol
After buying this tank (which had to fit in the corner of my dining room, hence the weird dimensions). Yes that is my exact size. There is a LFS that has a light fixture of that size (I believe it’s a 6 bulb system). My hesitation is that they told me they don’t make the fixtures / bulbs for that size very often as those dimensions are generally for freshwater fish. I don’t want to make a large investment into that fixture, If I’ll eventually be upgrading. I was considering mounting a size larger (even if it covers more than the tank) so that if I upgrade, I can have a more normal sized fixture. This is also why I’ve been entertaining the idea of led as they can also hang above the aquarium/ the benefit of long term lower costs... decisions decisions
 

NanoDJS

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1 RSReefer 90 would do that whole tank with the very left /right bottoms able to have serious chalice / zoa par 80-100 the majority of the tank would be 150-340 ish stand that flips up for servicing tank without removing anything, and POP blue viewing it would be $450 ish with stand, once and that 90w will be better than the 150w in t5 from my experience , either way cant wait to see the system when its up ! also the amp draw of t5s is WAY higher than led even at same voltage/wattage , wattage doesnt tell you how much $$$ its gonna cost to operate , in this case its the ballast crest factor @ 110v and I would bet that t5 sucks down 5x the power of LEDs of similar voltage/wattage , take that in to account .
 

biecacka

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My opinion.....the electric savings each month could be minimal depending on where you live. You have the t5 fixture already, keep it. The bulbs can go 12 months if I’m not mistaken, so you only replace them once a year.
I switched from halides to led and I noticed 7$ a month on average in savings.....many other people state the same but it does truly depend on your location and electric costs. The upfront cost to buy new fixtures could be a few years worth of bulbs possibly. And diodes can burn out, my fixtures are getting leds replaced in them right now.....


corey
 
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Currierfarms14

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I don’t have a t-5 fixture at the moment. I am using a neighbors DIY Led and not happy with them. I am leaning towards the RS Reefer 90 as it will cover my tank, and is great for coral growth/cover. I would imagine the LED are rated to stay good for 5+ years as well. It also comes with a great mount, so that will solve another one of my issues . I appreciate everyone’s feedback. I will have a thread on my tank build in the next couple of weeks!
 
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