Lighting ?'s

spdjnky · 03/17/2016, 06:37 PM

I have these LED lights over my 75 gallon that as you can see is in the wall.
First of all I'm not sure if they are the best or the T-5 ones I have would be better as I am new to everything. But before I go rambling on my first ? is if the ones I have or new ones would be better lighting for the aquarium if I enclosed the lights over the top so I did not get all the extra room light from the back.

ghellin · 03/17/2016, 07:14 PM

They should suffice. If you are looking for the most beautiful sps tank the world has ever seen, you may want to upgrade but other than that they should do just fine for most corals. if you have a T5 fixture build a canopy and hack the fixture up so you can do LED/T5 combo.

spdjnky · 03/17/2016, 07:24 PM

I have a T5 fixture that I was thinking of enclosing in a canopy that way the whole top of the aquarium would not have the extra room light.

ghellin · 03/17/2016, 07:35 PM

I am a fan of closed tops, saves the eyes, evaporation, fish jumpers, noise, cuts down on dust falling into the water, etc.

spdjnky · 03/18/2016, 06:08 PM

Hi ghellion Thx
This is all new to me and I'm reading and trying to learn more all the time. From the pic I posted. I looked for another one that would show more but don't have one and its dark here right now but during the daylight there is a lot of room light not directly on the front and back glass of the aquarium as they are open. But where you see the lines in the back the wall is not done and the wiring over to the side thats not showing leaves a lot to be done so building a canopy that I could do ahead of time would work the best so IO would just need help mounting the whole uint to the wall. Everything would be nice and neat and seems to me with my room setup it would be better in the long run for the way my aquarium sits in the wall. Still wonder about the 3 1/2 inch space in the front .....the part in the wall never thought about that when I did it .

spdjnky · 03/18/2016, 06:13 PM

I'm getting to the point where it's been 4 months and I'm getting closer to being more comfortable with everything and learning but the lighting has me going wish I had a par meter if you know what I mean.

spdjnky · 03/18/2016, 06:14 PM

Heres another pic shows some of the natural light in the room

spdjnky · 03/18/2016, 06:17 PM

pic

mgraf · 03/18/2016, 09:29 PM

LEDs are great. That said, I feel that there is no finer choice than T5. If you don't mind the yearly bulb change cost. That is the only drawback. You can fry a lot of corals with LEDs.

03/17/2016, 07:14 PM	#2
ghellin Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Edmond Posts: 1,844	They should suffice. If you are looking for the most beautiful sps tank the world has ever seen, you may want to upgrade but other than that they should do just fine for most corals. if you have a T5 fixture build a canopy and hack the fixture up so you can do LED/T5 combo. __________________ 180. SRO 3000INT w/ANC. Fluval SP4. Gyre. DIY LED's/T5s. Apex. Bluefish. Clams. Tangs. SPS.

03/17/2016, 07:35 PM	#4
ghellin Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Edmond Posts: 1,844	I am a fan of closed tops, saves the eyes, evaporation, fish jumpers, noise, cuts down on dust falling into the water, etc. __________________ 180. SRO 3000INT w/ANC. Fluval SP4. Gyre. DIY LED's/T5s. Apex. Bluefish. Clams. Tangs. SPS.

03/17/2016, 07:24 PM	#3
spdjnky Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Schenectady,NY Posts: 165	I have a T5 fixture that I was thinking of enclosing in a canopy that way the whole top of the aquarium would not have the extra room light.

03/18/2016, 06:08 PM	#5
spdjnky Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Schenectady,NY Posts: 165	Hi ghellion Thx This is all new to me and I'm reading and trying to learn more all the time. From the pic I posted. I looked for another one that would show more but don't have one and its dark here right now but during the daylight there is a lot of room light not directly on the front and back glass of the aquarium as they are open. But where you see the lines in the back the wall is not done and the wiring over to the side thats not showing leaves a lot to be done so building a canopy that I could do ahead of time would work the best so IO would just need help mounting the whole uint to the wall. Everything would be nice and neat and seems to me with my room setup it would be better in the long run for the way my aquarium sits in the wall. Still wonder about the 3 1/2 inch space in the front .....the part in the wall never thought about that when I did it .

03/18/2016, 06:13 PM	#6
spdjnky Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Schenectady,NY Posts: 165	I'm getting to the point where it's been 4 months and I'm getting closer to being more comfortable with everything and learning but the lighting has me going wish I had a par meter if you know what I mean.

03/18/2016, 09:29 PM	#9
mgraf Registered Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Canal Fulton Posts: 741	LEDs are great. That said, I feel that there is no finer choice than T5. If you don't mind the yearly bulb change cost. That is the only drawback. You can fry a lot of corals with LEDs.