Novices need LED lighting questions answered.

[balo971]

In this ramp you have red, green, royal blue, blue and white colour

[air breather]

what is the optimum combination of T5 and LED wattage for a 110 gal high for soft coral and fish?

[Ron Reefman]

Trying to figure out wattage of lighting for a tank used to be a common formula with MH and t5. But even back in the day it was a VERY shaky way to size your lights. And since leds have come onto the seen with dimmers and controllers and now even some t5 are dimmable, wattage formulas are pretty much out the window. What you really want to look at is PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation), and there is a meter for measuring PAR. Look around and you may find a nearby fellow reefer with one you can borrow, an LFS or even some outfits rent them out.

Get led fixtures that will work for your tank. Then add any t5 you want and dial back the leds a bit. Even a Current Orbit led fixture would probably be OK with 2 or 4 t5 bulbs given you just have soft corals, But I'd recommend sticking with led fixtures that use 3 or 5 watt leds and that way you can always migrate to lps or even sps if you want to.

[rudymama]

my tank I have is 55 gal. it's currently in the cycling stage.
haven't decided if I should do coral reef or just fish with live rock.
what are the pros and cons. what lightening would I need for a regular fish set up and what's good but affordable for a reef set up

[Ron Reefman]

Well, the pros and cons about fish only tanks and coral reef tanks are probably better addressed in the regular forum as this one is supposed to be for lighting.

Lighting:

A fish only tank can run with pretty much anything for lighting, even a $25 fluorescent shop light from the local hardware store. All you are doing is lighting the tank so you can see the fish.

A coral reef tank has live corals which host an algae inside the polyps called zooxanthellae and it needs strong cool white light. The algae needs the bright light to be able to perform photosynthesis which feeds the coral. You'll want to buy a fixture that is specifically made for lighting a coral reef aquarium. Easy corals need a bit less light and harder corals need rather intense light. Fixtures can be MH (Metal Halide), t5 fluorescent or led (or some combination of these). A basic fixture for a 55g tank that is 4' long will cost at least $100 for the very cheapest t5 fluorescent and $200 for a couple of MarsAqua led fixtures and the sky's the limit after that. Some fixtures for a 4' reef tank can run up over $1500!

[BGW]

Hello, I'm just getting back in the hobby after a few years down time.....I have a 75g that will be about 16 inches deep when it's running.....I have 2 Vertex Illumilux 36" led fixtures that sit about 3 inches above the waterline....since I'm starting from scratch again...

What would do well with this current set-up.......???? If anything..??!! I would like to do a live rock reef of course, but not sure about what else besides the rock...??!!


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[BGW]

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[air2mag]

Thanks for all the great information Ron. I am just starting my 75 build and your posts have been very informative. I think most people call something "cheap" based on price alone. They should really be weighing their purchase based on value. That will of course be at a different price point for each individual.

[Ron Reefman]

Originally Posted by air2mag

Thanks for all the great information Ron. I am just starting my 75 build and your posts have been very informative. I think most people call something "cheap" based on price alone. They should really be weighing their purchase based on value. That will of course be at a different price point for each individual.

Thanks for saying so. I know how much I struggled to understand how things work in this hobby and I just want to help people find it easier than I did. Good luck with your 75g. My second tank was a 75g and I eventually added a 35g hexagon tank as a display refugium where I could also keep critters I wouldn't put in my DT.

Although I agree, I do feel the word 'cheap' often carries with it the connotation that it is poorly made. And when used in conjunction with calling it out for being 'made in China' I think that 'poorly made' is often what they want to say.

[Andre russo]

Building a 29 gallon reef. I'm in the cycling stages. Wanting to keep a mixed reef of sps LPs and softies. Was looking at the current orbit marine. Any suggestion on this light. Trying to keep the price as close to 100.00 as possible.

[Ron Reefman]

If you tank is the 18" tall version of a 29g tank, the Current Orbit is a shaky choice as it uses 0.5 watt leds which don't penetrate the water as well as all the other fixtures which use 3w or 5w leds. It's a great fish only fixture and OK for corals over a 12" deep tank. Even at 18" it is probably OK for zoas and softies. But it's probably not the best choice for lps and certainly not a good choice for sps corals in an 18" deep tank.

Look around and you'll see only Marineland sells a similar led fixture and it looks the same. My guess is it's made by the same company in China and I find it depressing that these 2 companies continue to sell these as reef lighting for deep tanks. You won't find anybody else selling an led fixture with that kind of control for under $350 and there is a reason for that, theirs work and the Current and Marineland don't!

Look at the MarsAqua or one of the handful of other fixtures that look similar. It's less sophisticated in terms of control, but WAY, WAY better in terms of light energy that it will provide for the corals

[ragekage1121]

Greetings fellow Reefers,

I am getting back into the hobby and a 15 year hiatus. Currently I have a new tank (not set up) yet and looking to get all the items to begin setup.

The tank is a 45Gal tank measuring 36" Long by 12" Wide by 24" deep

I currently have a 29Gal reef that I will eventually be changing over to the 45. My current Corals are a Green Star Polyp, 2 Green Bubble Corals, Several Plate Corals and various mushrooms.

I have been looking over two Led lighting options but I am not honestly sure if either of these are a suitable option. Would love some feedback on these and or a good "Affordable" recommendation for LED's is neither options is a good one. Either light will be the 36" light

Option 1. http://www.marineland.com/Products/a...rip-Light.aspx

Option 2. http://current-usa.com/aquarium-led-...it-marine-pro/




Thank you for any assistance!!

[Andre russo]

This past weekend I acquired a sunpod 160 mh light. Don't know much about the light as info is scarce as its a discontinued item from current. I'm assuming since it is a mh it should serve me well for softies and LPs. Is this correct? Also what's the chances of it working with sps and will/should I add an actenic?

[Ron Reefman]

It would help to know the wattage of the bulb, and the color temp of the bulb (i.e. 3000K which is a warm reddish white, up to 20,000K which is a cool bluish white) and how deep your tank is. BTW, just to be clear, the K is for Kelvin which is a color 'temperature' not a hot/cold temperature.

Most people have great success with MH light. My concern is that a 150w bulb that is a warm white over a deep tank may struggle some. Or that a 400w bulb over a shallow 12" deep tank could bleach corals.

IMHO, the normal 250w or even a 400w bulb over a 24" deep tank with the bulb 12" to 24" off the water should be good to grow any coral... even sps.

Some people add blue or actinic light with t5 fluorescent bulbs or 400nm to 480nm leds. But the higher K color temp that is cool bluish white has a lot of blue spectrum in it already.

The other issues with MH is that they run quite hot and can raise the water temperature enough that you may need a chiller to keep the water cool enough (like under 82F) and some MH have issues with ballasts malfunctioning.

[Andre russo]

Ron I have no idea what the wattage is to be exact if I had to guess it would be 150. The light to cast a bluish hue to the tank. The only lights of this kind that I've found are on ebay and were 150 so Thsts where my guess comes in at. I'm doing a fishless cycle so I've left the light on for 12 hours and the water temp never made it above 73. The tank is a regular 29 gallon.

[Andre russo]

content://media/external/file/17438

[Andre russo]

How do I post a pic of the light?

[Ron Reefman]

A standard 29g is 30" long so if you mount the fixture high enough it should cover the tank OK end to end. If it is indeed a 150w bulb it should be strong enough for most corals in your tank as it isn't 24" deep. And the blue/white color is a good thing. You probably don't need to consider any actinic t5 fluorescent or blue led supplements unless you get to doing a lot of sps corals, and that shouldn't be for at least 6 to 12 months.

I post my photos at Photobucket and then copy the 'IMG' link and insert that in my post here. It works OK, but Photobucket seems to be getting slower and slower as well as loaded up with ads now that make it a bit 'funky' to use compared to a year or 2 ago.

Good luck and keep asking questions, that's the way to learn.

[Doostur]

Originally Posted by ragekage1121

Greetings fellow Reefers,

The tank is a 45Gal tank measuring 36" Long by 12" Wide by 24" deep

I have been looking over two Led lighting options but I am not honestly sure if either of these are a suitable option. Would love some feedback on these and or a good "Affordable" recommendation for LED's is neither options is a good one. Either light will be the 36" light

Option 1. http://www.marineland.com/Products/a...rip-Light.aspx

Option 2. http://current-usa.com/aquarium-led-...it-marine-pro/




Thank you for any assistance!!

Would love to hear some suggestions on this as well. Just got into the hobby. Also have a 36" Long by 12" Wide by 24" deep. We plan to have coral/fish. Leaning toward one of the reefbreeders systems. Pricey but seem worth it. Looking for something programmable.

[Mikee002]

Originally Posted by CHOX

I need a suggestion and I'm hoping this is a great place to ask. I'm currently running a Mars Aqua eBay LED over a 20x18x20 aquarium. I have some SPS and they're doing good, but I want controllability. I've narrowed it down to a Kessil 360w or a Radion Pro 15. They're both great lights, far as I have heard, but I haven't heard TOO much about the Radion 15. Can anyone suggest one over the other?

What percentages do you have your blues and whites at? I'm getting ready to start my tank with this light and I don't know where to start with ratios and intensity.

[crash29ca]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who help with the info on here. I am in the planning stages of either a 90gal 4' tank and a 125 gal 6' tank. My final decision is probably going to come down to what I can afford. Lights were the major factor in this. Before this thread I really believed I couldn't do a mixed reef on a 6' without spending $2000 plus on lights. No I have more research to do. Really want to keep lights around $1000. So I am leaning towards a 4' with messily or RB. Don't think 1 radion will do it for a 4'. And unfortunately I don't think 2 AI primes will either. If you guys have other suggestions for solutions for either size feel free to let me know. Keep in mind I live in Canada so any US cost are 35 to 40 % higher for me. I live next to Detroit so going to the US to pick something up is not a problem. Just have to add the exchange rate to the cost.

[Ron Reefman]

Funny, I used to live in Detroit and bought my beer in Windsor (there were better Canadian beers that didn't get to the US).

4' or 6' tank, if you don't care about fancy control like sunrise/sunset or more than 2 channels you can do a 6' tank with 3 (pretty well) or 4 (seriously sps coral ready) fixtures (the basic 16" type). MarsAqua is probably the cheapest, there are a few others between $100/fixture and $200/fixture. Three OceanRevive fixtures at $200 would grow anything in a 6' tank and you'd have built-in timers, digital 0-100% dimmers and extra coverage because they have a bigger spread of leds than the regular black box leds from China.

If you want all the bells and whistles, and these are for your fun, the corals really don't care much about sunrise or multiple channel color control, 2 of the Reef Breeders Photon V2 32" would cost you $1000. A single $800 Radion isn't even enough for the 4' tank and you'd need 3 for a 6' tank. Then try and tell me why you think the extra $1250 is worth it?

You can see my tank lit by a RB Photon V2 50" (5' tank) in my build thread. There is a link in my sig below.

[crash29ca]

Thanks again Ron Reefman for the advice on the lights. They just started carrying the reefbreeder lights here in Canada at an online store. That means they meet the Canadian electrical code. They are a bit cheaper than ordering the through the US too which is always nice. The $100 price difference between the US and Canada is less than the exchange rate so yay!! I have also decided on the 4ft tank after factoring everything in including a really good price on it at my lfs. Start a thread in the build section once I am closer to getting everything and keep you guys posted on how I like the lights.

[Ron Reefman]

Glad to hear it. Did you decide on a 32" or a 48" fixture for the 48" tank?

One other comment, get a USB port to dedicate to the remote. The battery lasts about 3 to 6 weeks if not used and after that, you'll need to charge it before you can use it. And with no controls on the fixture, a dead remote then you need it is a PITA. I bought a small USB extension cord that plugs into the wall so I can keep it in the dry cabinet and have it ready whenever I need it.

[crash29ca]

I will keep that in mind for the remote. I posted my plan in the tank build/journal section. now just got to start saving like mad to get everything.