If budget wasn't an issue, what is the best lighting for sps?

[Drae]

Originally Posted by d2mini

I'm baffled at the amount of people recommending LED.
The OP is asking for the BEST lighting, specifically for SPS with NO BUDGET!
It's been shown time and time again that some SPS just don't like LED and that growth speed, growth patterns, PE and color are all maximized with MH.
So if budget is of no concern, which means bulb replacements, heat and energy is of no concern, why would you recommend any LED unit as the best thing to get?

I agree. Thats why mh/vho is tops. T5 is a close second though.

[Allmost]

Originally Posted by d2mini

I'm baffled at the amount of people recommending LED.
The OP is asking for the BEST lighting, specifically for SPS with NO BUDGET!
It's been shown time and time again that some SPS just don't like LED and that growth speed, growth patterns, PE and color are all maximized with MH.
So if budget is of no concern, which means bulb replacements, heat and energy is of no concern, why would you recommend any LED unit as the best thing to get?

I think alot of those Issues arise since we want to get 24x24 coverage from an LED fixture, where in reality it only has enough light for say a 12x12 area ...

if you cover the top with LEDs, and dim them all, I dont see why u should have any Issues.

[d2mini]

Originally Posted by Allmost

I think alot of those Issues arise since we want to get 24x24 coverage from an LED fixture, where in reality it only has enough light for say a 12x12 area ...

if you cover the top with LEDs, and dim them all, I dont see why u should have any Issues.

Yes, I agree that is part of the problem.
I still think there is "something" missing with LED but that's a whole other conversation and light coverage is definitely a big part of it.

Meanwhile though, I would still go mh/t5/vho and let others continue to figure out LED.

[zoomonster]

Can you even still get a fixture with VHO these days other than maybe finding ballasts, end caps and bulbs and building one? I have an old Hamilton MH 48" out in the garage that has VHO's and I always loved them. I just made a comment the other day about T5 actinic just not pulling the pop of VHO. I hate when new and improved things are actually less useful than what they replace. Neither T5 or PC ever lived up to VHO and LED has not lived up to MH.

[d2mini]

Originally Posted by zoomonster

Can you even still get a fixture with VHO these days other than maybe finding ballasts, end caps and bulbs and building one? I have an old Hamilton MH 48" out in the garage that has VHO's and I always loved them. I just made a comment the other day about T5 actinic just not pulling the pop of VHO. I hate when new and improved things are actually less useful than what they replace. Neither T5 or PC ever lived up to VHO and LED has not lived up to MH.

Not that I know of. You'd have to get a retrofit kit and install in a canopy, or build a floating canopy if you wanted more of a hanging fixture type look.

[unze]

or... The ATI hybrid is ridiculously nice.

I thought they look cheap, pacific sun is a better led

[swk]

Get yourself a 6 bulb ati t5 fixture. Remove the 2 middle bulbs. Cut 2 circles. Insert kessil A360s. Done ;-)

[Wazzel]

The best light is the one you like the most. Opinions on lighting are all over the place and some people have very strong opinions on various systems. Lighting is just one part of what it takes to have healthy colorful corals. All systems have pros and cons you have to account for during operation.

Once you talk high end fixtures it is just personal preference across system.

[unze]

Good post, Also many blame the LEDs when they have issues, and most of the time it is not the LEDs that is causing the issue.
I have had almost every light unit possible and find most LEDs work well over corals. Most of the problems seems to be that people are putting too much light over there tanks and wondering why there corals are not doing well.

[toky916]

I agree I've even made the same mistake just coral don't like the change and then people blast there whites super high and then wonder why everything is stressing. I have the hydra52 and I must say starting dim and working your way up the sps are getting colors I have not see with my old Kessil lighting for 2 years But I'll running t5 on the 120 since cost is about the same.

Originally Posted by unze

Good post, Also many blame the LEDs when they have issues, and most of the time it is not the LEDs that is causing the issue.
I have had almost every light unit possible and find most LEDs work well over corals. Most of the problems seems to be that people are putting too much light over there tanks and wondering why there corals are not doing well.

[Drae]

Originally Posted by unze

I thought they look cheap, pacific sun is a better led

I've never seen the pacific sun in person. The ati looks amazing to me. I'm a t5 person though and the LED's add a little something extra to the picture. Quality of the fixture aside (best by far IMHO) the light it produces is incredible.

[Wazzel]

Originally Posted by toky916

I agree I've even made the same mistake just coral don't like the change and then people blast there whites super high and then wonder why everything is stressing. I have the hydra52 and I must say starting dim and working your way up the sps are getting colors I have not see with my old Kessil lighting for 2 years But I'll running t5 on the 120 since cost is about the same.

Starting dim and running a long acclimation duration has been working well for me. My tank is just frags so still need to see how things go. They are growing well as far as I can tell, mostly encrusting.

[Lavoisier]

These are all great ideas and great systems. However, nothing takes the place of doing some reading of empirical data. Start with Sanjay's info at http://www.manhattanreefs.com/lighting. Then make a decision that suits your particular tank, needs, and wants.

[Bpb]

Originally Posted by Lavoisier

These are all great ideas and great systems. However, nothing takes the place of doing some reading of empirical data. Start with Sanjay's info at http://www.manhattanreefs.com/lighting. Then make a decision that suits your particular tank, needs, and wants.

Where has this page been all my life

[Fredfish]

Originally Posted by Bpb

http://youtu.be/JhvcCX27U_k

http://youtu.be/gqS-LepIVM4

It's about an hour to watch, but they're both worth watching in their entirety.

FYI, he has gone over to entirely Radion pros as of this spring.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog...fkeeping-video

[jrozzi]

Originally Posted by SkullV

I believe that T5 is actually a better option than MH because of heat and color combo choices. We know both will grow SPS just fine. LEDs on the other hand have terrible shading problems, even with the best CREE leds and wide optics.

Personally, if I was changing fixtures and wasn't DIY savvy, there would be no question, ATI T5/LED hybrid.

I just don't understand how you can call shading a problem. corals grow towards the light place a frag on top of a rock on the side or wherever its still going to grow towards the light. If shading is an issue for anyone well I would say the problem lies more with the individual and terrible placement of a coral.

[jrozzi]

Originally Posted by d2mini

I'm baffled at the amount of people recommending LED.
The OP is asking for the BEST lighting, specifically for SPS with NO BUDGET!
It's been shown time and time again that some SPS just don't like LED and that growth speed, growth patterns, PE and color are all maximized with MH.
So if budget is of no concern, which means bulb replacements, heat and energy is of no concern, why would you recommend any LED unit as the best thing to get?

while I will not argue MH are tried and true ,I have sps under and a kessil 360 and my sps love it. I bought a dantes inferno from RR usa it came in brown since putting it in my tank its has colored up awesome and is already starting to branch noticeable growth in under 2 weeks is pretty good I would say. I don't think you should knock LEDs as bad as you are. They are more than capable.

[sunilp]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I don't mind mh but living in houston, heat is an issue. I have a chiller that operates a lot during the day. I will look at the ati hybrid setup. If anyone knows a place to get them discounted, let me know.

[jda]

Again, go out and look at some. You will not find anything on the interwebs that will help you as much as your own eyes and meeting some people - you cannot get depth, breadth and perspective from a computer screen.

[ArmanS]

ATI T5 fixture IMO. T5 are the best for growing SPS.

An ATI Powermodule all T5 Unit was one of if not the best fixture for growing SPS corals.

[swk]

At the reef raft store in the Bay Area, all the sps are under ati t5 fixtures

[d2mini]

Originally Posted by jrozzi

I just don't understand how you can call shading a problem. corals grow towards the light place a frag on top of a rock on the side or wherever its still going to grow towards the light. If shading is an issue for anyone well I would say the problem lies more with the individual and terrible placement of a coral.

Originally Posted by jrozzi

while I will not argue MH are tried and true ,I have sps under and a kessil 360 and my sps love it. I bought a dantes inferno from RR usa it came in brown since putting it in my tank its has colored up awesome and is already starting to branch noticeable growth in under 2 weeks is pretty good I would say. I don't think you should knock LEDs as bad as you are. They are more than capable.

Wait until you have a tank full of colonies, not little single branch frags.
The shading comments have to do with the UNDERNEATH of the corals, not one coral shading another coral. LEDs are terrible for light wrap because they are a pinpoint light source. So you end up with the top surface of your coral having color and PE, but the bottoms are completely bare and colorless.
I think LEDs have their place, they are just not the BEST option right now. This thread is about the BEST, with zero financial constraints. Some have mentioned LED units that fully cover the top of the tank, rather than spot lights and this would definitely help.

[SkullV]

Originally Posted by jrozzi

I just don't understand how you can call shading a problem. corals grow towards the light place a frag on top of a rock on the side or wherever its still going to grow towards the light. If shading is an issue for anyone well I would say the problem lies more with the individual and terrible placement of a coral.

Originally Posted by d2mini

Wait until you have a tank full of colonies, not little single branch frags.
The shading comments have to do with the UNDERNEATH of the corals, not one coral shading another coral. LEDs are terrible for light wrap because they are a pinpoint light source. So you end up with the top surface of your coral having color and PE, but the bottoms are completely bare and colorless.
I think LEDs have their place, they are just not the BEST option right now. This thread is about the BEST, with zero financial constraints. Some have mentioned LED units that fully cover the top of the tank, rather than spot lights and this would definitely help.

This. I have had the "best" pre-made LEDs (Radions), full DIY CREE fixtures that span the entire top of my tank, and various T5s. Multiple tanks full of SPS colonies, and every time I have gone back to T5. LED directional light simply DOES NOT penetrate the water like a T5/Halide with a reflector.

In a no budget scenario, a pure LED fixture is not the best, period. I did however recommend the ATI LED/T5 hybrid though. The color "pop" of LED is second to none so with the LEDs supplementing the T5 (or the other way around) you will have a well rounded fixture.

Edit: In fact, this thread of yours exemplifies the issue with LED shading: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2414300.

Originally Posted by jrozzi

I had my birds nest coral taking direct flow from my mp10, the side taking flow was turning brown so I moved him out of the direct flow but there are still some brown spots on him. Im pretty new to SPS but I would say its polyps are extended, (pic attached) Any suggestions on what could be causing the brown?

Shading, or "the individual and terrible placement of coral"?

[stancfii]

Originally Posted by Fredfish

FYI, he has gone over to entirely Radion pros as of this spring.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog...fkeeping-video

My intent is not to turn this into another hate thread, but I watched all of those videos. The original experiment was never followed through. He was supposed to change his higher k bulbs for 6500k, and run them during non-viewing hours (1-3 hrs in order to get 4-5 years out of one bulb) in order to increase coloration and quality of growth, and use the radions for viewing purposes the rest of the day. Instead, he phased out his MH altogether, and nothing more was said.
I'm not disputing that LEDs work, but I too would drop MH and sing praises of radions if BRS gave me free radions to do a marketing video

[Dapg8gt]

Originally Posted by d2mini

Wait until you have a tank full of colonies, not little single branch frags.
The shading comments have to do with the UNDERNEATH of the corals, not one coral shading another coral. LEDs are terrible for light wrap because they are a pinpoint light source. So you end up with the top surface of your coral having color and PE, but the bottoms are completely bare and colorless.
I think LEDs have their place, they are just not the BEST option right now. This thread is about the BEST, with zero financial constraints. Some have mentioned LED units that fully cover the top of the tank, rather than spot lights and this would definitely help.

This x 1000. It's been in numerous threads and experienced by many people that shading is more prevalent in led fixtures just simply by the nature of the source itself. Especially if someone goes with the manufacturer recommended fixtures coverage area.

You get shading with almost all light sources under colonies but it's just more pronounced with led only systems without overdoing it fixture wise imo. I totally agree that leds are capable of growing coral I just don't feel they are the best sole light source available at this time.