LED T5 Combo Feedback

AAReef · Aug 11, 2019

Hello everyone. This is my first post, but definitely not new to this community. Great resource for reefers!

I am in the design phase of a new tank that will be my "retirement" reef if there is any such thing. I have a question about my lighting plan. Attached is a design I have put together for the 650 gallon tank. The dimensions on the tank are 36in x 120 in x 36 in. The lights are your standard T5s and AI's Fiftytwos LEDs. I am trying to address two concerns with this design - PAR at bottom of tank and light distribution. However, I don't want to kill corals with too much lighting. I welcome your insight and thoughts on this.

Thank you.

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Peace River · Aug 11, 2019

AAReef said:
Hello everyone. This is my first post, but definitely not new to this community. Great resource for reefers!

I am in the design phase of a new tank that will be my "retirement" reef if there is any such thing. I have a question about my lighting plan. Attached is a design I have put together for the 650 gallon tank. The dimensions on the tank are 36in x 120 in x 36 in. The lights are your standard T5s and AI's Fiftytwos LEDs. I am trying to address two concerns with this design - PAR at bottom of tank and light distribution. However, I don't want to kill corals with too much lighting. I welcome your insight and thoughts on this.

Thank you.

Thank you for your first post! Let's see if we can get an answer to your lighting question....

#reefsquad @Crabs McJones @Flippers4pups @HotRocks

AAReef · Aug 11, 2019

Thanks. I hope so. I have been out of the hobby for a few years. Last time I was in it LEDs didn't exist. One change from my last post, I think I am going to go with the Ecotech Radion XR30 G4 Pros rather than the Fiftytwos. I liked that the fiftytwos offers three pucks, but Radion is a better quality product.

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Jay Z · Aug 11, 2019

Welcome! Hopefully some one smarter than me can shine some light on this subject!

I can guarantee someone has the parfect answer to your question.

I hope you are going to start a build thread. Would really love to see this monster tank shine!

Aardvark1134 · Aug 11, 2019

Make sure you use LEDs that can get enough light down 36 inches. For example a Kessil 360x would have issue with 36 inches deep...but if you added the narrow reflectors that they have optional they would not have an issue with 36 inches deep. You will find most LEDs can not deal with 36 inches of tank depth.

HotRocks · Aug 11, 2019

What kind of coral do you desire to keep? I'm assuming SPS? You can probably get away with fewer fixtures especially if you are going to run T5s/led hybrid.

For example I run a 4 bulb T5 fixture with a pair of radions (XR30PRO4) over a 24"X24"X48" tank and I can sink 350+ par to the bottom of the tank with the fixture a good foot above the waterline.

I am definitely not a lighting expert by any means. I'd think 10 pro4s on hybrid fixtures would work. Obviously I don't know what would happen for the bottom 12" of the tank since I don't have anything that deep.

@Dana Riddle

Crabs McJones · Aug 11, 2019

Welcome to R2R! Looks like a solid plan so far. I dont know that you would need that many leds, but I've never dealt with a 36" deep tank before

JoshH · Aug 11, 2019

@vetteguy53081 I believe has a tank similar to yours he might be able to help as well.

vetteguy53081 · Aug 11, 2019

Another nice size tank !! That's a lot of lights for coverage although they would have a real nice effect.
My tank depth is 48" and I have 4 Orpheks 12" apart going across flowed by 4 orphek light bars, front and back. It provides plenty of coverage without having too many fixtures mounted.
With large tanks like these, there are so many configurations one can use. Although I did not do it, I would look at the forum "Monster Tanks" and see what others are doing for lighting

AAReef · Aug 11, 2019

Thanks to all for your input. I do plan to keep SPS corals in this tank. Depth is definitely a factor as well as covering the entire tank. From what I've read, T5s are the best overall coverage, but I want more of that "old school" shimmering and warm look and I think I was trying to get that by overpowering the T5s. I think I am going to consider adding the LED strips and pulling T5s out of the plan altogether. I will check out the Monster tank forum as well. Thanks again!

Dana Riddle · Aug 12, 2019

AAReef said:
Hello everyone. This is my first post, but definitely not new to this community. Great resource for reefers!

I am in the design phase of a new tank that will be my "retirement" reef if there is any such thing. I have a question about my lighting plan. Attached is a design I have put together for the 650 gallon tank. The dimensions on the tank are 36in x 120 in x 36 in. The lights are your standard T5s and AI's Fiftytwos LEDs. I am trying to address two concerns with this design - PAR at bottom of tank and light distribution. However, I don't want to kill corals with too much lighting. I welcome your insight and thoughts on this.

Thank you.

Welcome back to the hobby! Do you have a PAR meter? If not I would suggest acquiring one and buying your lighting components a few at a time. Then lighting becomes a snap - you'll be able to know how many you'll need and how high to mount your lights in order to get a PPFD value of 200 micromol/m2/sec at the bottom of the tank. I think in your case, the meter would pay for itself quickly.

AAReef · Aug 12, 2019

Dana Riddle said:
Welcome back to the hobby! Do you have a PAR meter? If not I would suggest acquiring one and buying your lighting components a few at a time. Then lighting becomes a snap - you'll be able to know how many you'll need and how high to mount your lights in order to get a PPFD value of 200 micromol/m2/sec at the bottom of the tank. I think in your case, the meter would pay for itself quickly.

I'm glad to be back. I don't have a PAR meter yet, but I do plan to buy one when I get the lights. Thanks for the input!

Thirdeyesight17 · Aug 12, 2019

Welcome to reef2reef looks like I might have a local reefer home of the 82nd AB. Good luck with getting started looks to be an amazing build.

jda · Aug 12, 2019

What are you going to keep? If you want to get into acropora, then that is about what it takes to light a tank like that. If softies and stuff, then you could probably do with less.

Plan on replacing those Hydras ever 5 years, or so... they are not lifetime purchases and very few people use panels past the 5 year mark, but there are some. Replacement can get expensive with so many. Also, plan on a failure or two in the mean time between warranty expire and end of life. This is no knock - when you have 16 of anything, you are bound to have a failure.

This tank is very hard to light, which you are seeing. If you are against using 4x 400w MH and large reflectors, then this is pretty much what you end up with, so well done on the plan.

vetteguy53081 · Aug 12, 2019

jda said:
What are you going to keep? If you want to get into acropora, then that is about what it takes to light a tank like that. If softies and stuff, then you could probably do with less.

Plan on replacing those Hydras ever 5 years, or so... they are not lifetime purchases and very few people use panels past the 5 year mark, but there are some. Replacement can get expensive with so many. Also, plan on a failure or two in the mean time between warranty expire and end of life. This is no knock - when you have 16 of anything, you are bound to have a failure.

This tank is very hard to light, which you are seeing. If you are against using 4x 400w MH and large reflectors, then this is pretty much what you end up with, so well done on the plan.

I happen to have a 4 reflector unit with T12 bulbs for sale on the site and Cheap

AAReef · Aug 13, 2019

Thanks. @vetteguy53081 has captured my interest in the LED strips (looking at the Reef Bright lineup). I also reconsidered using the Ecotech XR30 Radions for the XR15s. Will require me to use fewer light pucks to cover the area thus saving a little dough. My heart is still with metal halides though, so they haven't been ruled out. It's kinda like owning a new camaro or owning a 69 camaro...know what I mean? Old school....plus I just have more faith in MH.

vetteguy53081 · Aug 13, 2019

AAReef said:
Thanks. @vetteguy53081 has captured my interest in the LED strips (looking at the Reef Bright lineup). I also reconsidered using the Ecotech XR30 Radions for the XR15s. Will require me to use fewer light pucks to cover the area thus saving a little dough. My heart is still with metal halides though, so they haven't been ruled out. It's kinda like owning a new camaro or owning a 69 camaro...know what I mean? Old school....plus I just have more faith in MH.