Lighting Help

[SilverCityReef]

I am working on ordering what I need for my 40 Breeder aquarium but I am stuck on the lights. There's a ton of options and I'm not sure what's the best route to go. I'm not interested in spending $1000 for lighting right now but want beneficial lights for higher end coral I want to keep in future. Any advice?

 

[blackizzz]

I'm supposing by higher end you mean SPS. Basically the options I'd chose between would be either T5, a Radion, or a T5/LED Hybrid (maybe aquatic life if you find a decent deal on a used LED fixture)

T5 will probably be the lowest "start up cost", look for an ATI fixture used, and you can probably get away quite cheap, despite getting a great piece of gear! But you'll spend more money on electricity and on bulbs.
A Radion XR30W will be close to the $1000 if you buy it new, but used you may get away with less than half of that.
A T5/LED hybrid would in my eyes be the "premium" option, as you get the best of both worlds. A 2/4 bulb T5 fixture plus a kessil/Radion would be awesome.

 

[SilverCityReef]

I'm supposing by higher end you mean SPS. Basically the options I'd chose between would be either T5, a Radion, or a T5/LED Hybrid (maybe aquatic life if you find a decent deal on a used LED fixture)

T5 will probably be the lowest "start up cost", look for an ATI fixture used, and you can probably get away quite cheap, despite getting a great piece of gear! But you'll spend more money on electricity and on bulbs.
A Radion XR30W will be close to the $1000 if you buy it new, but used you may get away with less than half of that.
A T5/LED hybrid would in my eyes be the "premium" option, as you get the best of both worlds. A 2/4 bulb T5 fixture plus a kessil/Radion would be awesome.

Yes, I mean SPS. Sorry, still new to the aquarium world but when my friend was getting me into it a few years ago, he told me about the more expensive and harder to find coral and that's what interested me the most because I like the challenge, risk, uniqueness, & reward.

Thanks for your input. I was looking at just a 36" LED from AquaticLife but then I did some reading on here and now I feel I need something different.

 

[IGROZOAS]

I actually have a 36” 6bulb ati T5 that would be perfect for a 40 breeder. If ur interested $350 shipped has all ati bulbs, 3 of the bulbs are brand new I just installed brand new.

 

[JasonK84]

The black box LED will work great. They are 165w but are a no frills light. Some have more options than others.

I have the Ocean Revive T247 and they are a very bright light. 2 channels (blue and white) and a built in timer on each channel. With the shape of a 40 breeder you would probably want 2 but even with buying 2 you could still keep it under $200-$350 or so. Check eBay

 

[PDR]

Yes, I mean SPS. Sorry, still new to the aquarium world but when my friend was getting me into it a few years ago, he told me about the more expensive and harder to find coral and that's what interested me the most because I like the challenge, risk, uniqueness, & reward.

Thanks for your input. I was looking at just a 36" LED from AquaticLife but then I did some reading on here and now I feel I need something different.

To answer your question, if you are going the SPS route, your best bet will be T5 or a T5 led hybrid.

I'll be upfront and let you know I am not an sps guy. Sure there are some that look nice, but they do not captivate me in the same way as they do others. That being said, most sps are not particularly hard to keep, they just need a specific environment (high flow, higher lighting, lower nutrients) and stability. Stability is something that comes with time (both tank maturity and experience as a reefer).

While I have seen some do it, when a complete beginner starts out with sps, it is usually not a successful endeavor the first time around. I also want to note that there are just as expensive, rare, unique and challenging LPS and soft coral that can be purchased. Most sps is not rare or hard to find either.

While I don't really advise this for a beginner if you are really looking for a challenge and for uniqueness, look into NPS coral. It's not nearly as common, can be quite rare, hard to find and expensive. That way you won't even need to worry about lighting

 

[SilverCityReef]

To answer your question, if you are going the SPS route, your best bet will be T5 or a T5 led hybrid.

I'll be upfront and let you know I am not an sps guy. Sure there are some that look nice, but they do not captivate me in the same way as they do others. That being said, most sps are not particularly hard to keep, they just need a specific environment (high flow, higher lighting, lower nutrients) and stability. Stability is something that comes with time (both tank maturity and experience as a reefer).

While I have seen some do it, when a complete beginner starts out with sps, it is usually not a successful endeavor the first time around. I also want to note that there are just as expensive, rare, unique and challenging LPS and soft coral that can be purchased. Most sps is not rare or hard to find either.

While I don't really advise this for a beginner if you are really looking for a challenge and for uniqueness, look into NPS coral. It's not nearly as common, can be quite rare, hard to find and expensive. That way you won't even need to worry about lighting

So if I went with the higher end LPS or NPS, which lighting would you recommend? I'm not going to start with rare or expensive coral, but want to have the right equipment for when I do have some experience and start trying higher end stuff.

 

[PDR]

So if I went with the higher end LPS or NPS, which lighting would you recommend? I'm not going to start with rare or expensive coral, but want to have the right equipment for when I do have some experience and start trying higher end stuff.

NPS stands for non-photosynthetic, so lighting is only needed for viewing and can be just about anything. I really don't recommend trying NPS as they are quite difficult and limiting. I just mentioned it as it fit what you were describing better.

With LPS I still recommend T5, but you could get by with just LED's. What budget did you have in mind?

The problem with starting with beginner coral (in an sps system) then working up to harder corals is that there are very few sps (if any) that are suitable for beginners. Even "beginner" sps requires more stability than beginner soft or lps corals.

If an sps dominate system is your ultimate goal and you plan on starting with easier corals (soft/lps) then working up to sps. Keep in mind that a mixed reef is generally more difficult to maintain than a full-blown sps system. Depending on how you look at it, if you are really looking for a challenge, a solid mixed reef with thriving soft/lps/sps/anemones/misc inverts, is much more difficult than a dedicated sps system.

 

[SilverCityReef]

NPS stands for non-photosynthetic, so lighting is only needed for viewing and can be just about anything. I really don't recommend trying NPS as they are quite difficult and limiting. I just mentioned it as it fit what you were describing better.

With LPS I still recommend T5, but you could get by with just LED's. What budget did you have in mind?

The problem with starting with beginner coral (in an sps system) then working up to harder corals is that there are very few sps (if any) that are suitable for beginners. Even "beginner" sps requires more stability than beginner soft or lps corals.

If an sps dominate system is your ultimate goal and you plan on starting with easier corals (soft/lps) then working up to sps. Keep in mind that a mixed reef is generally more difficult to maintain than a full-blown sps system. Depending on how you look at it, if you are really looking for a challenge, a solid mixed reef with thriving soft/lps/sps/anemones/misc inverts, is much more difficult than a dedicated sps system.

Sounds like I need to do some more research and figure out exactly what I want. Thank you for posting and giving me some insight. It's been 4 years since I learned everything and had the plan so I honestly have no idea what kind of coral we were talking about.

 

[PDR]

Sounds like I need to do some more research and figure out exactly what I want. Thank you for posting and giving me some insight. It's been 4 years since I learned everything and had the plan so I honestly have no idea what kind of coral we were talking about.

Research is your best friend in this hobby. Thankfully you are already ahead of the curve by being a member here. Don't hesitate to ask for help when needed. Also if you haven't already, I highly recommend watching all of the BRS videos on youtube, especially the 52 weeks of reefing.

 

[SilverCityReef]

Research is your best friend in this hobby. Thankfully you are already ahead of the curve by being a member here. Don't hesitate to ask for help when needed. Also if you haven't already, I highly recommend watching all of the BRS videos on youtube, especially the 52 weeks of reefing.

R2R has been unbelievably helpful lately and my go to source for anything reefing related. I am on I think episode 9 of BRS 52 weeks of reefing but it's a lot to take in so I keep rewatching episodes. It does appear that SPS is what I want. Although I haven't researched NPS yet.