MH or Powermodule or LED on 120g mixed reef

[mozymo]

My last big purchase before my first reef is ready to be born is the lighting.
I am planning on having a mixed reef. The DT is 120g (4'x2'x2') acrylic with a (soon to be finished!) 40g sump.

This tank has a very shallow hood in which no light will really fit so I plan to have an open top (at least for now). I live in NorCal along the coast so it never gets very hot in the summer so I don't think heat will be too much of a concern (especially with an open top).

What lights should I get? I flip flop everyday between T5, MH, and LED.

I was thinking maybe a Powermodule fixture (either the 48" 8x54W or the 36" 10x39W).

Or maybe hanging 2 250W MH pendants supplemented with 2-4 T5 bulbs

And then I started reading about the AI LED fixtures and now I'm thinking about those as well (though these will end up costing about twice as much initially)

Help me make up my mind!!

Thanks!

[yerboy]

I have a 190gallon 4x3x2 and im running a 10x54 powermodule and couldn't be happier. the 10 bulb has excellent coverage of the 3 foot wide tank so an 8 bulb would likely be perfect for a 2 foot tank such as the 120.




ATI Blue +
Fiji Purple
ATI Blue +
Fiji Purple
ATI Blue +
ATI Blue +
Fiji Purple
ATI Blue +
Fiji Purple
ATI Blue +

[James77]

I personally prefer halides, nothing can beat the appearance of them. If power consumption or heat were a serious factor, I would take a serious look at LEDs or go with T5s.

I had a powermodule on my 120, and it worked great. I do not like the flat look of flourescents and they were not as crisp as halides. I switched to 2x250 HQI Phoenix with LumenMax reflectors, and it is very bright, with even coverage.

My take on LEDs: They are not a good option for me right now because the power savings for me only come out to about $5/month, and replacement halide bulbs run about $100 a year. I think the LEDs are there as far as brightness, but I am giving them more time for even better products to come out as well as prices to come down. I also am unsure of the longevity of the LEDs. It is a great selling point not having to change bulbs for 10 years, but I am skeptical that a large majority of them will. Similar to the compact flour. bulbs in my house, I replace them at least 3x as much as my old incandescent ones.

[mozymo]

yerboy,

the lights look beautiful on your tank!
What kind of Par values do you get? The light is really blue - are you producing enough usable light for the corals?

Also, is there much light spread with the powermodules? Would I need a 48" for my tank or would a 36" be sufficient for a 48" tank?

Thanks

[yerboy]

man i have no idea what kinda of par im getting, i dont even have water in the tank yet. HAHA today i started my plumbing. From what i have gathered from Grim reefer the Fiji purple puts out 704 par not sure if thats with reflectors or overdriven at all. And the Blue plus is putting out around 311 par.
I'm more afraid im going to be cooking corals rather then starving them light.
I went with the 48 because i think its looks better and i have more coverage i would bet a 36 would work fine also.

[jdyer88]

Go with the MH. You will have no restrictions on light loving corals, which you will want in the future. I don't trust the led technology yet. There are all kinds companies selling these things for aquarists and indoor gardeners. They show all kinds of great pictures of giant tomates or other things(depending on he publication you are reading), but test after test shows that they just do noproduce thelumes you need. I have even experimented a little with led lights and the results were less than desireable. Plus consider the cost of replacing even one diode that goes out. Its not a bunch of money but you would have to disassemble the fixture and solder in each diode as they die. In the future we will all be using led lights for many applications, but we are not quite there yet. MH are tried and true, and not that much more expensive than a good T5 fixture. You would be in good shape with 2x250watt, and maybe one T5 actinic.

[HCO]

I'll suggest you t5's... less heat, more options.. you can go as blue as you want w/o losing PAR.. I went with MH and believe me if I could go back in time I'll buy an ATI powermodule!!!!

[Johnny C]

It's 2010... despite what some may choose to believe, T5's can emit just as much par as MH's (with half of the electricity and heat, too). With that being said, I would definatly be careful putting a 10-Bulb PM over a standard 4x2x2' 120G aquarium if you plan to keep Softys + LPS.

IMO a six/eight bulb PM would work awesome and you can still play with the color spectrum to your liking.

[mozymo]

So I guess it is coming down to either a powermodule (8x54W 48") or 2 free floating 250W MH (perhaps ushio, pheonix, or radium on a bluewave7 ballast)

the powermodule will be $1030 with bulbs (what bulbs?)

the bluewave7 is $160, 2 lumen max elite (or lumen max3) reflectors are $330 (150 each plus 15 for the glass shield), and bulbs are ~70 each (for a total of ~$650)


if both provide ample lighting for all coral, then the only difference is heat versus shimmer and MH looks to be cheeper to buy but more expensive to run with electricity (the bulb replacement seems similar - MH is 2 ~$70 bulbs every 6-12 months and powermodule is 8 ~$20 bulbs ervery 6-12 months)

Anyone wanna weigh in?

[cakemanPA]

Originally Posted by mozymo

Anyone wanna weigh in?

I am running LEDs over my 120 mixed reef. I am running a Solaris I5 and could not be happier. Everything grows great and the built in sunrise/sunset is nice. Now that Solaris is gone, AquaIllumination makes a great light.

[yerboy]

Originally Posted by mozymo

So I guess it is coming down to either a powermodule (8x54W 48") or 2 free floating 250W MH (perhaps ushio, pheonix, or radium on a bluewave7 ballast)

the powermodule will be $1030 with bulbs (what bulbs?)

the bluewave7 is $160, 2 lumen max elite (or lumen max3) reflectors are $330 (150 each plus 15 for the glass shield), and bulbs are ~70 each (for a total of ~$650)


if both provide ample lighting for all coral, then the only difference is heat versus shimmer and MH looks to be cheeper to buy but more expensive to run with electricity (the bulb replacement seems similar - MH is 2 ~$70 bulbs every 6-12 months and powermodule is 8 ~$20 bulbs ervery 6-12 months)

Anyone wanna weigh in?

its just going to come down to personal preference at this point. The t5 option gives you endless choices to get the color you want but cost more upfront and a little more with bulb changes. I was in the same boat and was considering MH for my tank as well, the selling points was that the powermodule is a sleek fixture and i didnt need to build a big lights rack to light my rimless tank.

[grigsy]

Go with an all in one Metal Halide and VHO lighting system.

I think that is the best choice for lighting. Great coral growth, very nice shimmer effect and VHO actinics really give your tank an attractive color - gives a lot of pop.

[mozymo]

grigsy, do you have any all-in-one units in mind?
also shout out to fellow Santa Cruzian!!

[HCO]

Originally Posted by yerboy

its just going to come down to personal preference at this point. The t5 option gives you endless choices to get the color you want but cost more upfront and a little more with bulb changes. I was in the same boat and was considering MH for my tank as well, the selling points was that the powermodule is a sleek fixture and i didnt need to build a big lights rack to light my rimless tank.

+1!!!
And if you miss the shimmer you can always add a few white leds

[shaunt]

LEDs....just do it you will be happy, plus no heat, no chiller, with the shimmer

[jcolletteiii]

LED's. In addition to above... they also function as moonlights w/ moonphase sim, no expensive bulb replacements, less electricity.