Lighting Advice...

[kgood323]

Hello All,

I am new here and really enjoy reading all the posts and learning. I have read many other posts that have to do with lighting and I am still unable to draw any final conclusions on what is right for my tank. I am looking to put together a 20 gallon nano reef in the near future an I am buying everything as I can until I have it all. Well its now time to buy the lighting...and I am lost...somewhat. When I had my 29 gallon tank last it was in 2001-2005 and from what I can remember compact lights were it. Now after some research I see there is an LED option...

1. Does wattage play a leading role in deciding what light to go for? If so how does Mainland and Fluval get away with selling lights that are "reef ready" that only have 30 watts?

2. LED or T5?

3. Lastly, which brands/styles/power outputs are recommended for a 20 Gallon high? I am really only interested in soft corals and LPS so not SPS.

4. Also filter or no filter? I have heard live rock is plenty with regular water changes?

Thanks in advance for the help! I am looking forward to talking to everyone and getting this tank going!

-Kendall

[swhobbie1]

1. know what lighting the corals you want need then choose the lighting.
2. both are good, research which work best for the corals you want.
3. the deeper the tank the stronger the lighting needs to be.
4. no filters with floss/cartridges in them they are nitrate factories and you only want little nitrate in a reef tank

I had a fluvial on a tank that had blue spotted red mushrooms in it. They didnt do too good under it. I tossed the light as I did think it worked well.

[whosurcaddie]

When I first started metal halides were the best option and still to this day no other light looks as good as metal halides. Yet I will never have them on my tank again. LED's give just as good of growth as halides without the heat and electricity consumption.

I use the cheap Chinese black boxes. They cost anywhere from 95$ to 125$ for a simple dimmable led fixture. If you want it controllable ie sunrise and sunset you will be looking at double the price.

This is what I use on my tank and it gives me a beautiful 14k look and the color blending is great no disco effect.http://www.amazon.com/dp/B014H3RLKC/...words=reef+led

There is a cheaper option with galaxy hydro though.http://www.amazon.com/Galaxyhydro-tr...words=reef+led

If you want to get a little more spendy on the lights reefbreaders has really nice fixture in the Superlux. https://www.reefbreeders.com/shop/superlux/ Each one of these fixtures will grow anything you want from softies to sps and each one is under 200$.

No filter a hang on back skimmer is a good idea though. Its not a must have as long as you keep up with your waterchanges.

For flow I would go with one rw-4, its a great little wavemaker with a tiny footprint. It wont break the bank either.http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...VBD420TZCNHCXJ

[Ron Reefman]

1. Does wattage play a leading role in deciding what light to go for? If so how does Mainland and Fluval get away with selling lights that are "reef ready" that only have 30 watts?

The old watts/gallon is no longer even rational. The wattage of an led is an indication of how well it can penetrate into the water. Marineland, Fluval and Current Orbit make up for lack of power with massive numbers of leds. That works for shallow tanks, but not for anything deeper than 18". And I wouldn't even consider them for a shallow tank. I have a 14" shallow reef and a 10" frag tank and both have quality Chinese leds.

2. LED or T5?

Both work. Fluorescent bulbs probably need to be changed every year due to spectrum shift. And led fixture provides the ability to change the look of your tank from bright sunny white to crisp cool blue white to all blue with the simple twist of a dimmer knob or two.

3. Lastly, which brands/styles/power outputs are recommended for a 20 Gallon high? I am really only interested in soft corals and LPS so not SPS.

Any of the basic leds from China should work just fine. Sellers like ReefBreeders and OceanRevive are sponsors here and have sponsor forums, so they are easy to talk to. Others like MarsAqua, BlackBox and ReefRadiance are OK as well, but harder to ask questions since they don't want to play here.

4. Also filter or no filter? I have heard live rock is plenty with regular water changes?

A good HOB skimmer is a great addition. A HOB filter system can be very useful as well. They are NOT nitrate factories unless you are stupid and don't keep them maintained. Water changes are good, but a good filter system is constant and water changes are cyclical (every week, or 2 weeks... whatever) and stability is the key.

[Ron Reefman]

1. Does wattage play a leading role in deciding what light to go for? If so how does Mainland and Fluval get away with selling lights that are "reef ready" that only have 30 watts?

They make up for lack of power with massive numbers of leds. That works for shallow tanks, but not for anything deeper than 18". And I wouldn't even consider them for a shallow tank.

2. LED or T5?

Both work. Fluorescent bulbs probably need to be changed every year due to spectrum shift. And led fixture provides the ability to change the look of your tank from bright sunny white to crisp cool blue white to all blue with the simple twist of a dimmer knob or two.

3. Lastly, which brands/styles/power outputs are recommended for a 20 Gallon high? I am really only interested in soft corals and LPS so not SPS.

Any of the basic leds from China should work just fine. Sellers like ReefBreeders and OceanRevive are sponsors here and have sponsor forums, so they are easy to talk to. Others like MarsAqua, BlackBox and ReefRadiance are OK as well, but harder to ask questions since they don't want to play here.

4. Also filter or no filter? I have heard live rock is plenty with regular water changes?

A good HOB skimmer is a great addition. A HOB filter system can be very useful as well. They are NOT nitrate factories unless you are stupid and don't keep them maintained. Water changes are good, but a good filter system is constant and water changes are cyclical (every week, or 2 weeks... whatever) and stability is the key.

[kgood323]

Thanks everyone! This is exactly what I was looking for! Finally a cost efficient option for LED lighting. I will be getting one of the Galaxy lights today! 165 watt is not to much light for a 20 gallon right? I think it will work perfect esp since the 20 gal high is deep.

Any advice on mounting it? Really don't want to hang it from the ceiling... I can see my cat using it as a swing lol.

[Ron Reefman]

They have dimmers so you can control the amount (power/intensity) of the light. Even over a 24" deep tank most people would run it at around 50% power after a period of acclimating the tank.

There are fixtures out there with legs. OceanRevive T247-B is the one I know and I'm sure there are others.

I have 3 tanks with hanging leds and my cat couldn't care less, despite the fact that she loves to get on the stand and watch the fish.

[kgood323]

Oh ok cool! I see now...yea I will prob just hang it because I'm not really liking the way the legs look! Do you have glass lids on yours? Will that prevent any light getting into the tank? I know it didn't matter with compacts as long as it was clean. This has been really helpful! I am pretty knowledgable in everything else as I had a tank for 4 years or so but the LED's are new to me lol.

[theatrus]

Glass tops will always cut some amount of light out. Expect about 87% transmission through float glass. 93% through acrylic.

[whosurcaddie]

As long as you keep the glass clean you wont have a problem.

[kgood323]

Ok awesome! Still clean it with warm water with some vinegar? From what I remember it was always advised to never use any chemicals around your tank...and now the hard part. I can't choose between the cheaper option the Galaxyhydro LED or spend a bit more and get the Oceanrevive Arctic T-247. Im going to hang it either way so the stand is not that important to me. I just like that the Arctic is programmable and one cord whereas I will have to buy timers for the other.

[theatrus]

Vinegar is safe for aquarium use.

The fixtures are actually ODMed out of the same factory, just one provides you with US based support and sales.

[kgood323]

Oh nice I did not know that! Well both get great reviews so i will most likely go with the cheaper option! I am very excited to get this going! anyone had any luck with buying live rock online? I have heard horror stories. I am asking because my LFS does not have the greatest selection from what i could see...it was all white. I would at least like to see a little coralline on it.

[whosurcaddie]

If you want to keep the budget down take a look at dry rock. Its a fraction of the price per pound and will become live over time. Downside is it wont come with any cool hitchikers. On the other hand it doesnt have any bad ones either. Look at macro rocks and amazon sells the caribsea version.

[whosurcaddie]

If you want live rock though I highly recomend. tampabaysaltwater.com

[Ron Reefman]

A) Clean glass has very little affect on the PAR readings under it. I have a thick glass center brace it my PAR is almost the same under it as it is when there is no glass.

B) Be sure you know what you are getting into if you go with the Tampa Bay Saltwater LR. It may... probably, has critters on it you may not want in your tank.

I think this rock is very cool and I'm considering getting some an re-scaping my 65g shallow reef that is mostly local stuff from the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Keys. HOWEVER, I wouldn't consider putting it in my 180g sps & lps tank. Some of the things that could come with the LR will be an issue in a clean, pest free reef and in my tank, would be nearly impossible to catch, remove or kill.

[nuxx]

If you don't care about looks and controllability, Cheap Chinese 165 watt full spectrum dimmable LEDs can't be beat.

Would also switch our Kessil A360WEs for them on our big tank if my wife didn't hate how the looked (no canopy).

Switched to them on our frag tank and everything is loving life

[kgood323]

Awesome! I think I am going to go with a 26 gallon bowfront since the dimensions are similar. It will fit where i was going to put the 20 gallon. It seems to be near impossible to find just the tank though! Its always with package of some sort!