Final decision on lights.

[armandoarturo]

Hi everyone!!
After days and days of reading all over the forum, watching videos, comparing options, taking decisions and then changing mind over and over again, I have come to this conclusion...

I guess a hybrid method would work pretty well in my tank. (30" long, 13" wide, 20" deep).
It gets the best of both worlds... on one side you get all the health and growth benefits from the T5 all over the tank, and you also get that neat look with the LEDs.

I first came here with the idea of spending somewhere between 200 - 250 bucks, but now I know that If I wanna make it work good Imma need to spend more than that.

Good thing is that I can make this step by step instead of going bankrupt all at once.
Im thinking of getting one of them first, and then save some extra money and get the other one as soon as I do.

After ALL my research, I came up to this:
Im thinking about getting an Aquaticlife 24" T5/HO Hybrid with ATI bulbs.
And the question would be... which LED should I pick out of this options:
Radion XR15 - Hydra 32HD - Orphek OR3 bar

Thanks a lot to everyone, Ive been learning a lot from all your experience and I feel much more confident about this!

 

[Colt13]

Orphek or reef brite bar, no of those other lights cover 30” and you will get a lot of light spill out the front/back. Tbh the t5 is pretty wide, those will spill some too. I’d go 3 light bars but yeah the hybrid works

 

[A. grandis]

Again... everyone here will tell you what they like.
You need to search and study.
Videos and forum are ok to watch, but people shouldn't decide for you.
Try to visit local stores and find out for yourself.
It's not only about colors, looks, or what people will tell you.

 

[KevinC]

BRS did a whole bunch of video, for a 40B which is a 36” tank, they used 2-3 al prime. What corals you keep would be crucial to how many.

If you are like me who doesn’t care about controlling different Channels that radion and ai offers, I suggest you go Orphek 24” light bars, mount it higher and 3-4 should be sufficient. you can add on T5 if you want.

 

[Reefacist]

I prefer kessils just due to their awesomeness visually and quality wise. But from those I would go g5 xr15 pro

 

[piranhaman00]

You would need two leds for that length, I would suggest two ai primes to save some money and they are good lights!

 

[Bpb]

Something you need to consider is your 13” tank width. The aquatic life fixture is 18” wide. Your t5 bulbs will be illuminating the floor in front of and behind your tank. Rather than the tank itself. It is inefficient to light that tank with pucks as well. You’re wasting all the front to back throw. Again, illuminating the floor.

You really would benefit from a 4 bulb t5ho fixture, or from 3-4 reef brite/Orphek led strip lights. You will get the most even and efficient coverage that way. The prefab hybrids are simply too large.