Led reef lighting
- Thread starter Josh_k2018
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Yes. The flaxability of Light intensity will allow you to choose more types of coral.
There are also less expensive options to achive the same goal.
There are also less expensive options to achive the same goal.
Was preferring to stay with the led lights.
My thought was for more par as the current light fixture is good for some corals in my tank but I feel don’t ring them out fully and am wanting something more so to be able to control the different light spectrums especially the reds
My thought was for more par as the current light fixture is good for some corals in my tank but I feel don’t ring them out fully and am wanting something more so to be able to control the different light spectrums especially the reds
tsav87
Well-Known Member
Without a spectrometer, you would be choosing your spectrum blindly.
If you are dead set on LED, choose a company that will give you recommended settings that are accurate for coral. Kessil does this out of the box and Ecotech provides measured and proven settings.
If you are dead set on LED, choose a company that will give you recommended settings that are accurate for coral. Kessil does this out of the box and Ecotech provides measured and proven settings.
Bpb
2500 Club Member
You would need a minimum of two ecotech Radion xr30’s to properly light a 4 foot tank, take that into consideration.
From a spectrum and par standpoint it’s no discussion. That fluval light is intended to illuminate Petco Glo Fish or guppy tanks. Not really designed to grow a thriving reef tank.
If you decide to go with controllable LEDs, I would caution you to actually avoid controlling them. Use the settings to dial in an appropriate program that is already built in on the LEDs and leave it alone. Frequent adjustment of colors, especially reds are a quick way to kill every coral in the tank. That’s why so many people struggle with LEDs and why classic t5 and metal halide lighting is so successful. People mess with their LEDs too much. Can’t change a light bulbs spectral properties with the touch of a dial. Stability is important. That includes light spectrum and intensity
From a spectrum and par standpoint it’s no discussion. That fluval light is intended to illuminate Petco Glo Fish or guppy tanks. Not really designed to grow a thriving reef tank.
If you decide to go with controllable LEDs, I would caution you to actually avoid controlling them. Use the settings to dial in an appropriate program that is already built in on the LEDs and leave it alone. Frequent adjustment of colors, especially reds are a quick way to kill every coral in the tank. That’s why so many people struggle with LEDs and why classic t5 and metal halide lighting is so successful. People mess with their LEDs too much. Can’t change a light bulbs spectral properties with the touch of a dial. Stability is important. That includes light spectrum and intensity
tsav87
Well-Known Member
Agreed, and would add that your corals will have to adjust to the new spectrum everytime you move a percentage. Depending on the coral, it may take a day or two, it may take a month or two for them to start growing again.
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I would agree. The thing that kills T5s is the cost of bulb replacements gets expensive real quick. Just a suggestion but unless you have very difficult to grow corals the XR30 Pro is probably overkill and at $1600 per pair plus the cost of mounts and $100 controller and you are talking about a serious investment that might be overkill. Ecotech Marine owns AI as well and you might look into the Hydra series. It isn't comparable to the Pro series, but the Hydra 26 is comparable to the regular XR15 and the Hydra 52 is comparable to the regular XR30. The other advantage is that you don't need to purchase a separate controller since you can control them directly from a phone app or a computer.
Y’all would actually be amazed at some of the success I’ve seen with that fluval. I was really surprised.
But it is low par, perfect for lower light corals. Two would actually be great for a step up into lps.
And it has the added benifit if having very few knobs. I 100% agree on that one.
I’m an SBreeflight owner. Relatively inexpensive for the bells and whistles models , very inexpensive for the basic models. Grows corals very well and more power Than I or most folks need.
But it is low par, perfect for lower light corals. Two would actually be great for a step up into lps.
And it has the added benifit if having very few knobs. I 100% agree on that one.
I’m an SBreeflight owner. Relatively inexpensive for the bells and whistles models , very inexpensive for the basic models. Grows corals very well and more power Than I or most folks need.
Bpb
2500 Club Member
I really think if you’re speaking in terms of a non-cooled t5ho cheapo fixture, vs maybe mars aqua black box budget, yeah 6-8 t5ho bulbs every 8-12 months can cost some money. If you keep those mars aqua units clean and luck out and get a pair that last you 5 years, but paying $200 for them requires some serious saving for you, I could see the comment of bulb cost getting expensive. Expensive is such a relative term.
The OP has the budget for radions though. Put ati bulbs in a 4 bulb sunpower fixture though and you’re looking at more like $84 every 18-24 months. If you’re flirting with $2000 in LEDs, $84 every couple years is hardly real expensive real quick. That comes out to about $3.50 a month. I say a 4 bulb because he would be keeping lps and softies. 6 bulbs in a sunpower is overkill for a softy tank. At that, xr30s is probably overkill too. 2 hydra 26 hd, 2 xr15, or a pair of kessil a360 would be more appropriate for a softy tank. Still pushing $1000 for the Radion option.
LEDs can save you money for sure. But you have to skew the numbers correctly. They’ll save you money if you compare low end LEDs to high end t5ho. Not vice versa.
If the OP just likes LEDs because they like LEDs. No other reason. Fine. I know plenty of Radion users that bought them just because they’re fired up about the ecotech company and could really care less about water quality and maintenance. They just dig the gear. That’s fine. I’m not trying to sell anyone on t5ho. Just pointing out that bulb cost won’t necessarily break the bank, even on a modest budget.
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Hence the reason I recommended something significantly cheaper than the Radions. A pair of hydra 26s with mounts runs less than $850 total.
tsav87
Well-Known Member
I wrote this in another thread the other day about bulb changes and cost.....
"Ah, the bulb change argument lol.
Let's do some math...
Ecotech Radion G4 Pros, $800 per fixture. To light a 4 ft tank, you would need 3. Don't give me the "oh they are rated for 24 x 24". BS. You will have shadowing everywhere.
So, 3 fixtures for a 4 ft tank. $2400 up front investment.
Hamilton 4ft, 6 bulb T5 fixture. $500, bulbs included.
Now, let's fast forward 10 years (1% of tanks make it this long, just my best guess) and you have changed bulbs 9 times. The math: ($21 x 6 bulbs) x 9 years = $1134
$1634 < $2400
Oh, and the no heat from LEDs means you will run your 300w worth of heaters 24 hours a day instead of just dearing lights out, so saving electricity by using LEDs over your tank is smoke and mirrors...
Just sayin'...."
"Ah, the bulb change argument lol.
Let's do some math...
Ecotech Radion G4 Pros, $800 per fixture. To light a 4 ft tank, you would need 3. Don't give me the "oh they are rated for 24 x 24". BS. You will have shadowing everywhere.
So, 3 fixtures for a 4 ft tank. $2400 up front investment.
Hamilton 4ft, 6 bulb T5 fixture. $500, bulbs included.
Now, let's fast forward 10 years (1% of tanks make it this long, just my best guess) and you have changed bulbs 9 times. The math: ($21 x 6 bulbs) x 9 years = $1134
$1634 < $2400
Oh, and the no heat from LEDs means you will run your 300w worth of heaters 24 hours a day instead of just dearing lights out, so saving electricity by using LEDs over your tank is smoke and mirrors...
Just sayin'...."
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True but then again unless you have the most demanding of corals, you don't need XR30 Pros and can get by with significantly cheaper LED lights.
tsav87
Well-Known Member
You can buy cheaper, but in terms of spectrum/wavelengths of light, don't think for a second that you are matching that of T5 and MH. Ecotech comes close, but I still don't think it's an exact replacement for T5 and MH.
I’d encourage you to try an sbreef Light. It’s very interesting
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I would agree that LEDs are still about a half step behind the nicer T5 or MH lights, but the fact remains that a decent Kessi or AI fixture will do just fine for about 80-90% of the corals out there. Surprisingly in my case a cheap Mars Aqua light bar seems to do wonders for my Frogspawn. I just purchased a pair of Hydra 26 lights, so I can't wait to see what it will do under those.
