I'm drowning in all the lighting options

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www.dinkinsaquaticgardens.com
Would love to see your system. Do you have any photos you can post?

dwilliams87 said:
You can make a DIY light system look really good if you are willing to spend the extra money to do so. All of my potentiometers are mounted in a light box on my wall. All the wires are wrapped along the back of the fixture and down as one strand. You can add black acrylic to the outside to hide the lights and u bracket. You are more than welcome to come see my light rig if you want. I have a led setup on my frag tank with 36 Royal Blues and 24 Cool Whites. I have 4 dimmers 2 control the blue, 2 control the white. I like this in my frag tank because I have the option to turn one side down for chalices, acans, etc. I want to add some UV and Violet LEDs as well. That's one of the nicest things. All I have to do is buy the LEDs and drivers and add them where I want. On my rig, I have a 150w metal halide right in the middle. I don't use it right now. But if I want to I can. DIY offers options you don't get with fixtures. The best part of the whole rig is not counting the used MH in the middle that was $100, I have about $300 in it, including everything. That's lights, wire, u channel, drivers, pots, and in my case a PVC stand that was painted black. The reason I used that was, I can unhook the LEDs with the quick disconnects, unchain the light rig, and I can transport it in 3 sections for frag swaps. My point in this is options. Good luck in your process.

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I am leaning toward T5.
Allthough it may not be the best solution long term it may be the "good" solution for the time being.
I have spent so much on this the last month I need a break to recoop.
I have considered the initial cost and future expense of lamps for 1 year versus LED. Hopefully then I can afford a nice LED upgrade and maybe recover some cost of the T5 light.

I have found the AquaticLife T5 72" 8 bulb for $492.49 shipped

Any great difference of opinion on this??
 
Please make sure that light is for a marine tank and not a fresh water tank.


AirAngel said:
I am leaning toward T5.
Allthough it may not be the best solution long term it may be the "good" solution for the time being.
I have spent so much on this the last month I need a break to recoop.
I have considered the initial cost and future expense of lamps for 1 year versus LED. Hopefully then I can afford a nice LED upgrade and maybe recover some cost of the T5 light.

I have found the AquaticLife T5 72" 8 bulb for $492.49 shipped

Any great difference of opinion on this??
Click to expand...
 
ReefBot Lab, Automated Water Tester
One thing I will mention that has not been, even in my PM. The stock bulbs that come with that fixture are okay. just okay. I would go ahead and add into your budget the cost of switching them out to ATI bulbs. If you were to buy all new bulbs at one time that would be a significant addition to the total cost. But if you slowly buy 2 at a time every 4-6 months it's not so bad, and then as you add them, you don't have to switch all the bulbs out at once when they need to be replaced, which at the same time you avoid costs in the future. I write the date I add the bulbs on the very end of the bulb with a sharpie, so it's easy to replace the right ones at the right time.
 
I had that fixture and the bulbs that came stock were good for 4 months. Would be a good idea to buy a couple of bulbs a month and change them out only a couple at a time
 
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Alabamareef said:
Hey can ya'll post a link to these guys tanks? Would love to see them.
Click to expand...

This tank had 4. I repeat 4 T5 bulbs on it for well over a year, then I went up to a 6 bulb fixture, and have had it about 10 months now. I think I can safely say that T5's can grow corals and it doesnt even have to be 8 bulbs, much less 12.

photobucket-1618-1350495366046.jpg

photobucket-16084-1350495367482.jpg


here is a couple of pics of my green birdsnest with 4 T5's and now 6 bulbs
2011-05-24_21-41-01_148-1.jpg

2012-02-12_21-28-53_621-2.jpg

photobucket-9299-1349319650761.jpg
 
www.dinkinsaquaticgardens.com
Dowtish, nice tank. I too had good luck with similar corals. How big is this tank? Looks like a 90 gallon..... If so I'm assuming its a 36" x 24" x 24", or close to it. If so the light spread would be much different for a 72 " tank with only 4 T5 bulbs. The 12 bulb fixture has 6 36" bulbs on each side. Or to make it simple an 8 bulb fixture would be equivalent to your 4 bulb, just saying.

Have you visited Aquatic Critter on 5009 Nolensville Pike in Nashville? They have a Red Sea Tank with a 10 bulb T5 fixture and it has some insane acros
 
Cool, I would not know where to start. Looks like it fits great into the canopy. How is that awesome looking clam doing under the LED's?
 
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