Best lighting for a new 80 gallon, 24-inch depth system?

[eschaton]

Hey guys,

My new SCA tank is coming in the mail, and should arrive next week. Setup should take a bit, but I need to start thinking about my lighting choices. When I was last active in the hobby T5's were still normal. I know LED systems have since become the norm, and I've used them in on my planted talk for awhile now (now on my second system) - but I know nothing about the modern LED reef lights. I do think it's cool how a lot of them (all?) seem to have the ability to control the day/night cycle and tune the colors via your phone however.

I suppose I should say that my plan is not to go for an uber-SPS focused tank, though I'll probably buy some frags of montipora at some point, because I've had good success with montipora growth in the past. I'm probably going to go for more of a mixed reef thing, with a lot of zoas, shrooms, some xenia, and a few LPS.

I should also say I'm a fan of deep sand beds, so the furthest down the light will have to go is more like 20-ish inches.

 

[Bpb]

Budget?

 

[X-37B]

I still run t5's on my 120.
Ati 6 bulb 3C+3B+ at 9hrs.
I like the, it comes on, and then goes off.
No fiddling and they "still just plain work".
I have MH and will some day run them too.

 

[Ron Reefman]

There are a huge number of led fixtures in the market that do what you are asking. As to 'which one is best?' is impossible to answer as it's really an individual opinion.

Example: I will soon have a 90g tank (36"x30"x20") with a mix of corals (mostly zoas) and RFA's. I want a good looking (IMHO) fixture that can do sunrise/sunset as well as control 6 or more different colors of leds. I'm also frugal and would like the best value as opposed to the cheapest or the highest quality. For me; a Reef Breeders Photon V2+ is just what I wanted. And they have a sponsor forum here at R2R so it's easy to talk to them as wellas other Photon users.

But that certainly doesn't mean it's what others would want or that other would see as the best fixture for them.

 

[eschaton]

Budget?

Not bottomless I suppose I'd say, but I don't want to cheap out either.

Looking around it seems like the average price for a fixture for a tank of that size is $600-$800, which certainly seems a bit pricey to me, since it's about half what I paid for the tank and stand. But I know a good fixture should last many years. It doesn't seem like there's much out there between that range and the cheapo $50-$200 fixtures which are probably not good for much but nanos or lighting FOWLR tanks.

 

[Jon Fishman]

What are the overall dimensions? I am planning LED and t5 Hybrid (aquatic Life probably).

 

[eschaton]

What are the overall dimensions? I am planning LED and t5 Hybrid (aquatic Life probably).

32 width, 24 height, 24 depth. I needed to go with this build because the tank spot was in a corner where 36 would be a bit too wide. I guess that constrains my light choices a tiny bit.

 

[jda]

Best is gonna depend on you. T5s are very popular and viable. If you go with LED, then you first need to decide if you want pucks or panels. Pucks are like Radion or Hydra and have little poker chip sized emitters that can cause issues with shadows since the light comes from a small place - pros is light blending and some like the small form factor, cons is that they shadow the worst. The other option is to get a panel based light like the Photon V2 or Atlantik V4 - these do not have as many shadows, but some do not like the disco-ball and lack of color blending.

You are going to need to decide between T5 or the panel/puck type of light. T5s have neither light blending nor shadowing problems, but some hate that they do not shimmer and can look "sterile." Lots of people use both T5 and some LED.

In the end you will pay a lot for the tech that has nothing to do with the corals. Thunderstorms and changing colors from your couch (which will just make your corals mad), cost money. These "features" are for you and not the corals.

 

[eXact iDip®]

Hi @eschaton, our Senior Web Designer runs an Ocean Revive Arctic T247-B on his 60g 24x24x24 and gets really good results! It doesn't have sunrise or sunset features, but you can control the turn-on and turn-off time of the individual channels.

 

[eschaton]

Hi @eschaton, our Senior Web Designer runs an Ocean Revive Arctic T247-B on his 60g 24x24x24 and gets really good results! It doesn't have sunrise or sunset features, but you can control the turn-on and turn-off time of the individual channels.

Looks like an intriguing fixture. The 16 length concerns me a bit though, given my tank is wider than the 24 inch tank you mention, and ceiling mounting in the dining room is just going to be a nonstarter with my wife. I suppose I could rotate the fixtures so they spanned front-to-back. It would be a bit ugly to see the brackets from the front, but the plus side is the cords would be a lot less visible. And it looks like two fixtures would cost me like $330 - which is nearly 50% under the lowest-cost higher-end units I'm seeing.

 

[eXact iDip®]

It looks like there was a past thread with a mounting idea here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ocean-revive-t247-mounting-ideas.403034/.

Maybe try that?

Here's another idea someone came up with:

 

[eschaton]

It looks like there was a past thread with a mounting idea here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ocean-revive-t247-mounting-ideas.403034/.

Maybe try that?

Here's another idea someone came up with:

Both of those look like they'll work as solutions. But I'm going to have high costs relating to initial setup (the rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater is going to cost a pretty penny) and a long period for waiting for the tank to mature, so I'll have time to work on a more aesthetically pleasing mounting system once my checking account recovers.

I presume if I buy two fixtures there's some way to control both by a single remote right? Seems like an added hassle if I have to program everything twice.

 

[eXact iDip®]

To our knowledge you would have to program both lights separately. BUT it's super easy to do. We did it right on the light and haven't touched the remote once since purchase. The included instructions do a great job of explaining how to program it. Once you do so, you really can forget about it as it only takes about 5 minutes to do!

 

[X-37B]

Another option to check out are black boxes. I ran one on my nano for 2 years with decent results and growth. Transfered all colors to my 120.
Check out the threads that have pics. They work well for thier price and 2 would work nicely on that odd size tank.
You could also go with an 24" 8 bulb t5. You can find used ati fixture if you look long enough for a decent price.

 

[eschaton]

Another option to check out are black boxes. I ran one on my nano for 2 years with decent results and growth. Transfered all colors to my 120.
Check out the threads that have pics. They work well for thier price and 2 would work nicely on that odd size tank.
You could also go with an 24" 8 bulb t5. You can find used ati fixture if you look long enough for a decent price.

When I google Black Box, it looks like it refers to a type of light, not an actual brand or anything.

Were you thinking something like this? Looks $20 cheaper than ordering two of those T247 ones (dunno why it said crap...I put B_s), and it's all in one system. Two year versus one-year warranty as well.

 

[X-37B]

When I google Black Box, it looks like it refers to a type of light, not an actual brand or anything.

Were you thinking something like this? Looks $20 cheaper than ordering two of those T247-crap, and it's all in one system. Two year versus one-year warranty as well.

I ran the mars aqua brand. It is a 18" cube.