Lighting HELP!

Ty Hamatake · Oct 7, 2017

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/this-was-a-fun-little-project-t5-retrofit.293496/
There are many different ways to do it, but here's what I came up with. You can also see the conduit lighting mount I made. If you're interested you should head over to the DIY forum, tons of good stuff there! https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/do-it-yourself-diy.378/

BC-reefer · Oct 7, 2017

Ty Hamatake said:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/this-was-a-fun-little-project-t5-retrofit.293496/
There are many different ways to do it, but here's what I came up with. You can also see the conduit lighting mount I made. If you're interested you should head over to the DIY forum, tons of good stuff there! https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/do-it-yourself-diy.378/

wow, nice work. i like the mounting setup as well

BC-reefer · Oct 7, 2017

Ty Hamatake said:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/this-was-a-fun-little-project-t5-retrofit.293496/
There are many different ways to do it, but here's what I came up with. You can also see the conduit lighting mount I made. If you're interested you should head over to the DIY forum, tons of good stuff there! https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/do-it-yourself-diy.378/[/QUOTE

*edit double post

Ty Hamatake · Oct 7, 2017

BC-reefer said:
wow, nice work. i like the mounting setup as well

Thanks!

BC-reefer · Oct 14, 2017

Thanks for all the feedback gents. All the equipment is ordered and stand is getting sanded/painted this week. Should have a build thread up in 3-4 weeks once there is progress to report

saltyfilmfolks · Oct 16, 2017

BC-reefer said:
Thanks for all the feedback gents. All the equipment is ordered and stand is getting sanded/painted this week. Should have a build thread up in 3-4 weeks once there is progress to report

Wait, what did you get?

BC-reefer · Oct 16, 2017

saltyfilmfolks said:
Wait, what did you get?

Oops forgot the most important part

I went with the 36" Current Orbit Marine Dual Pro with the HUB.

I did a ton of research and landed on this decision for the following reasons;
- For a 30g tanks, the 36" length is a challenge for lighting and something to consider before purchasing the aquarium. Either a single hydra52/radion xr30 or two kessel a360's/primes for a 30g tank is going to run you $600+. With the CAN exchange rate, any of those options were going to be twice as much by the time i mounted them. I did look at a few others like Evergrow and SB reef lights as well.
- Being in the IT business, i was interested in the Loop technology and integration with the wave pumps. This gave me the opportunity to get integration and control within my budget
- We went to several LFS and were lucky enough to look at all of the lighting options mentioned. From an aesthetic view, the orbit met our requirements in terms of no hanging fixture, sitting low on the tank and a low amount of spillover light. This is going in our living room/music room so we want it to be a feature in the room without taking over. I really deliberated over the T5's but again with the low profile and quietness of the LED, we went LED.
- Lastly, i really have a plan of keeping the tank simple. I want to aim for a few sustainable, tank raised fish with some easy to keep LFS and softies. Given the shallowness of the tank, this light should work well for those needs.

I have the light and ordered two eflux 660 pumps as well which will connect into the HUB. Also have a IM Ghost skimmer coming as well.

Thanks for all the input. I have been finding a ton of really valuable knowledge on the forum. I will get a build thread going after the tank is set up and cycling

saltyfilmfolks · Oct 16, 2017

BC-reefer said:
Oops forgot the most important part

I went with the 36" Current Orbit Marine Dual Pro with the HUB.

I did a ton of research and landed on this decision for the following reasons;
- For a 30g tanks, the 36" length is a challenge for lighting and something to consider before purchasing the aquarium. Either a single hydra52/radion xr30 or two kessel a360's/primes for a 30g tank is going to run you $600+. With the CAN exchange rate, any of those options were going to be twice as much by the time i mounted them. I did look at a few others like Evergrow and SB reef lights as well.
- Being in the IT business, i was interested in the Loop technology and integration with the wave pumps. This gave me the opportunity to get integration and control within my budget
- We went to several LFS and were lucky enough to look at all of the lighting options mentioned. From an aesthetic view, the orbit met our requirements in terms of no hanging fixture, sitting low on the tank and a low amount of spillover light. This is going in our living room/music room so we want it to be a feature in the room without taking over. I really deliberated over the T5's but again with the low profile and quietness of the LED, we went LED.
- Lastly, i really have a plan of keeping the tank simple. I want to aim for a few sustainable, tank raised fish with some easy to keep LFS and softies. Given the shallowness of the tank, this light should work well for those needs.

I have the light and ordered two eflux 660 pumps as well which will connect into the HUB. Also have a IM Ghost skimmer coming as well.

Thanks for all the input. I have been finding a ton of really valuable knowledge on the forum. I will get a build thread going after the tank is set up and cycling