Help with Lighting

dintz · Nov 4, 2013

To make a long story short, I was gifted a 30 gallon tank with 1 clown fish and some nice rocks and sand in it. It had a run of the mill filter and a heater and that's about it. I've always wanted to have a salt water thank and when this free tank came along I said why not. I've kept it for about a year now and I've done almost nothing with it (just replaced the filter) but now I'm ready to get a reef tank started. I'm buying a auto-top-off unit, 2 power heads 240GPH each and plan to eventually add a sump skimmer to the set up but I think that I can get by without one if I move slowly and do constant water changes.

I want to add coral (softies mostly) and a couple other fish. I think I have all the parts I need except for the one thing I have no real good grasp on... Lighting.

I have read thru countless websites and thread discussions but it's all jumbled up for me and I just need some help on which way to go with this. I am thinking of doing LED lights (to save on energy costs and replacement costs down the line) but have no idea where to buy them from, how much is a reasonable amount to spend... It's a small tank and I donâ€™t really want to shell out more than 300 for the lights (is that possible?). Otherwise I could go with all those non-LED options but I really did not want to mess with the heat complications that come with that. In any case if any of you could help me with a good place to purchase lights, as well as what I should be looking for I would greatly appreciate it.

dcsaquarium · Nov 4, 2013

I was right where you are in the lighting area. There is a company called Reef Radiance. You can order online at reefradiance.com The owner of the company is an all around nice guy and has amazing prices. I have ordered from them and so have many people I have visited with on the forums. If you aren't sure what you want to get just shoot him an email at [email protected] and he will be happy to help. I personally was going for pretty cheap when I got mine but still got an amazing product! I personally have one of the DM-155e's but I really need two so I will be ordering another one soon. He designs them and then has them shipped to him from his manufacture in china. It takes anywhere from 1-3 weeks but is worth the wait for customer service, cost and a great product! I think you would probably be good with one of the DM-155e's but if you want something with more bells and whistles they have that too! Hope this helps!

NanaReefer · Nov 4, 2013

Be prepared for a ton of opinions & options. Oh and spending a little over $300. Unless you build them yourself.

Personally I've been using 4x24w T5HO for 3yrs. I spend $80 a year on lamps, am keeping all corals except SPS but only because I don't care for them. Have no heat issues and my electric hasn't changed from running them.

Good luck with whatever you choose. Just do your research

Sent from my iPhone 4s via Tapatalk.

Dalmatia · Nov 4, 2013

dintz said:
To make a long story short, I was gifted a 30 gallon tank with 1 clown fish and some nice rocks and sand in it. It had a run of the mill filter and a heater and that's about it. I've always wanted to have a salt water thank and when this free tank came along I said why not. I've kept it for about a year now and I've done almost nothing with it (just replaced the filter) but now I'm ready to get a reef tank started. I'm buying a auto-top-off unit, 2 power heads 240GPH each and plan to eventually add a sump skimmer to the set up but I think that I can get by without one if I move slowly and do constant water changes.

I want to add coral (softies mostly) and a couple other fish. I think I have all the parts I need except for the one thing I have no real good grasp on... Lighting.

I have read thru countless websites and thread discussions but it's all jumbled up for me and I just need some help on which way to go with this. I am thinking of doing LED lights (to save on energy costs and replacement costs down the line) but have no idea where to buy them from, how much is a reasonable amount to spend... It's a small tank and I donâ€™t really want to shell out more than 300 for the lights (is that possible?). Otherwise I could go with all those non-LED options but I really did not want to mess with the heat complications that come with that. In any case if any of you could help me with a good place to purchase lights, as well as what I should be looking for I would greatly appreciate it.

Look on alibaba.com for full spectrum LEDs for reef not gardening! Go with Bridgelux or Cree! Cree is better and also more expensive but Bridgelux is giving them a lot of competition cause of the good quality LEDs.
You can run a full spectrum led unit with 120watts (more than what you need) for about $120 shipped