Help; light choice..

P593gat · 05/19/2019, 10:32 AM

hi guys i need your help. I have a 120x55x55 (cm) reef with a 35-40 cm wide rocky structure. I raise only acropore and a few lps. what would be the best lighting for my reef. I want to have a light that allows me to have amazing colors in the acropora.

mcgyvr · 05/20/2019, 04:31 AM

Metal Halide or T5 fixtures.

mattgumaer · 05/20/2019, 06:04 AM

Or LED or a hybrid approach. Seriously though, Metal Halide and T5 are probably the easiest for success but have inherent limitations in terms of control (which may be part of the success).

If you break LEDs down into 'puck style' and 'bank style', with puck style being clusters of LEDs in close proximity arranged in one or more pucks, and 'bank style' being more evenly spaced LEDs across the entire fixture, puck style has a color blending advantage and light intensity uniformity disadvantage, while bank style should have more light intensity uniformity but less good color blending.

For ease of 'plug and play', a 6 or 8 bulb T5 is hard to beat. Personally, I'd probably take a hybrid approach with a combination of T5 and LED. If going all 'puck style' LEDs, plan to buy more fixtures than the manufacturer says you need, particularly for acropora to achieve good light uniformity and borrow/rent/buy a par meter if you can, it will remove much of the guess work about intensity.

Matt

P593gat · 05/20/2019, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattgumaer

Or LED or a hybrid approach. Seriously though, Metal Halide and T5 are probably the easiest for success but have inherent limitations in terms of control (which may be part of the success).

If you break LEDs down into 'puck style' and 'bank style', with puck style being clusters of LEDs in close proximity arranged in one or more pucks, and 'bank style' being more evenly spaced LEDs across the entire fixture, puck style has a color blending advantage and light intensity uniformity disadvantage, while bank style should have more light intensity uniformity but less good color blending.

For ease of 'plug and play', a 6 or 8 bulb T5 is hard to beat. Personally, I'd probably take a hybrid approach with a combination of T5 and LED. If going all 'puck style' LEDs, plan to buy more fixtures than the manufacturer says you need, particularly for acropora to achieve good light uniformity and borrow/rent/buy a par meter if you can, it will remove much of the guess work about intensity.

Matt

I thank you for the answer .. yes I would like to make a hybrid solution t5 + led .. you in my place what would you mount as a hybrid? can you give examples using commercial products?

PurpleCarpet · 05/20/2019, 04:24 PM

T5's/LED combination seems to bring the best results from all the reading I've done.

mcgyvr · 05/21/2019, 08:16 AM

I will argue all day that if you want "Amazing Colors" in Acropora that MH is the only way to go..

P593gat · 05/21/2019, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

I will argue all day that if you want "Amazing Colors" in Acropora that MH is the only way to go..

I know they are top lights ... but I can't mount MH ... too much heat ... I would like to have advice on t5 or led to be used together

mcgyvr · 05/21/2019, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by P593gat

I know they are top lights ... but I can't mount MH ... too much heat ... I would like to have advice on t5 or led to be used together

Well then... Hard to beat a t5 setup..
TONS of bulb choices (mostly dictated by personal preference)... Some run very blue tanks.. Others like better "color rendition",etc... there isn't much proof that one end of the spectrum is better than the other for the most part..
There are numerous posts about peoples bulb combination choices.. Plenty of youtube videos showing examples of each bulb/combo,etc...

The ATI brand is typically regarded as "popular/high quality,etc..."

Some just add in some simple blue LED strips on each side to help increase that "trippy/glowing" look from corals fluorescing.

fijisrfr · 05/21/2019, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by P593gat

I thank you for the answer .. yes I would like to make a hybrid solution t5 + led .. you in my place what would you mount as a hybrid? can you give examples using commercial products?

Aquatic life hybrid, my corals are growing much faster since installing this fixture.. using the 24in hybrid with the radion pro over a 60 gal cube

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

bshow24 · 05/22/2019, 12:43 AM

If you want to go the hybrid route, you'd be looking at the 48 inch hybrid with 2+ LEDs depending on what LEDs you choose (Hydras, Radions, Kessils). My personal experience is with radions, and for a 4 foot tank, I'd go with 2 XR30s (the xr15s just don't provide enough power). You will still need a way to hang the fixture though, as it doesn't come with legs. It's a high cost, but there is a good amount of success with it.

P593gat · 05/22/2019, 02:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fijisrfr

Aquatic life hybrid, my corals are growing much faster since installing this fixture.. using the 24in hybrid with the radion pro over a 60 gal cube

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Can you post pictures of your reef with this light or can you post the link to your tread?

P593gat · 05/22/2019, 02:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bshow24

If you want to go the hybrid route, you'd be looking at the 48 inch hybrid with 2+ LEDs depending on what LEDs you choose (Hydras, Radions, Kessils). My personal experience is with radions, and for a 4 foot tank, I'd go with 2 XR30s (the xr15s just don't provide enough power). You will still need a way to hang the fixture though, as it doesn't come with legs. It's a high cost, but there is a good amount of success with it.

do you mount the hybrid with radion in your reef?

bshow24 · 05/22/2019, 04:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by P593gat

do you mount the hybrid with radion in your reef?

I don't currently, right now I'm all radions with diffusers (2 xr30s and 2 xr15s on a 5 foot tank). I used to use retrofit t5s connected to a radion before they had these fixtures, but it wasn't too pleasing to the eye.

I wish I could use the aquatic life hybrid, but I can't hang a fixture from the ceiling and don't have enough room to put anything behind my tank to help hang it, so I'm a bit SOL unless they come out with legs for it.

fijisrfr · 05/23/2019, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by P593gat

Can you post pictures of your reef with this light or can you post the link to your tread?

Here ya go, glass needs cleaning!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

05/19/2019, 10:32 AM	#1
P593gat Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2016 Posts: 22	Help; light choice.. hi guys i need your help. I have a 120x55x55 (cm) reef with a 35-40 cm wide rocky structure. I raise only acropore and a few lps. what would be the best lighting for my reef. I want to have a light that allows me to have amazing colors in the acropora.

05/20/2019, 04:31 AM	#2
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	Metal Halide or T5 fixtures. __________________ Who me?

05/21/2019, 08:16 AM	#6
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	I will argue all day that if you want "Amazing Colors" in Acropora that MH is the only way to go.. __________________ Who me?

05/22/2019, 12:43 AM	#10
bshow24 Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Thousand Oaks, CA Posts: 584	If you want to go the hybrid route, you'd be looking at the 48 inch hybrid with 2+ LEDs depending on what LEDs you choose (Hydras, Radions, Kessils). My personal experience is with radions, and for a 4 foot tank, I'd go with 2 XR30s (the xr15s just don't provide enough power). You will still need a way to hang the fixture though, as it doesn't come with legs. It's a high cost, but there is a good amount of success with it. __________________ Tank: Reefer XL 525 Reef Tank Equipment: 2x Radion XR15 Pro, Radion XR30 Pro, Vectra M1 Return, 2x MP40 Powerhead

05/20/2019, 06:04 AM	#3
mattgumaer Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 561	Or LED or a hybrid approach. Seriously though, Metal Halide and T5 are probably the easiest for success but have inherent limitations in terms of control (which may be part of the success). If you break LEDs down into 'puck style' and 'bank style', with puck style being clusters of LEDs in close proximity arranged in one or more pucks, and 'bank style' being more evenly spaced LEDs across the entire fixture, puck style has a color blending advantage and light intensity uniformity disadvantage, while bank style should have more light intensity uniformity but less good color blending. For ease of 'plug and play', a 6 or 8 bulb T5 is hard to beat. Personally, I'd probably take a hybrid approach with a combination of T5 and LED. If going all 'puck style' LEDs, plan to buy more fixtures than the manufacturer says you need, particularly for acropora to achieve good light uniformity and borrow/rent/buy a par meter if you can, it will remove much of the guess work about intensity. Matt

05/20/2019, 04:24 PM	#5
PurpleCarpet Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2018 Posts: 60	T5's/LED combination seems to bring the best results from all the reading I've done.