Lighting question

BLOCKAIDRUNNER · Oct 21, 2014

Hello, another newbie here that could use some advise on a lighting issue. I'm thinking of resurrecting a Oceanic 75 gal reef ready and not sure about the lighting. I found a lighting system that comes as a unit with 2 250w MH with 4x 54w Actinic blue T5 HO for only $230. The price scares me as I paid around $500 for my last MH fixture. Does this sound right and is it going to be enough for soft corals, clams & anemones.
Also I live in central Al. and had a heating problem in mid summer, do most aquariums in mid Alabama require a chiller?

revhtree · Oct 21, 2014

What's the manufacturer?

BLOCKAIDRUNNER · Oct 21, 2014

I found this on E-bay and it didn't have a manufacture so I ask the seller and he said the name is Odyssea, I've never heard of them. Do you know if there is a difference in MH for aquariums & a regular MH bulb

BLOCKAIDRUNNER · Oct 21, 2014

If I did it right there should be a photo of it on here

cpayne015 · Oct 22, 2014

i have around 275 total volume and do not run a chiller and never have

running halides you may have to thouh

BLOCKAIDRUNNER · Oct 23, 2014

There has been a lot of changes to this hobby since I last had my tank set up. MH was the only way to go 5 years ago, now they have LED and T5 which I know nothing about. When I did run the MH my temp got upwards of 84 in mid summer and I assume the LED's put out a lot of heat also, but I'm unsure of the T5's. Will any amount of the T5's work as well as MH? If I do go with the MH will 2 x 250 watts be enough or do I need 2x400? I was hoping to get some answers here, the nearest aquarium shop is 75 miles away. I open to any suggestions on a good lighting system.

tigerdragon · Oct 23, 2014

The 2 250w halides say at 14k and the t5's would be plenty of light just have to adj time period of halides so as to not bleach out corals but fixture will work fine.

BLOCKAIDRUNNER · Oct 23, 2014

Thank you very much for the advice tigerdragon,

walkerbrody · Oct 23, 2014

I use 3 400w halides on my 265g with no chiller. I have no heat issues.

BLOCKAIDRUNNER · Oct 23, 2014

I see you are in Gadsden, that's next door to me. So I don't understand why I'm the only one with heating issues, do you run cooling fans or anything? I removed my canopy thinking that would help, but it did nothing.

chefmur · Oct 26, 2014

I
switched from Halides to LED 2 years ago and never looked back, I know some guys still swear by Halides but LED Is the way to go. I also had heat issues and now tank stays around 78-79 in the summer, it was pushing 82 with the halides. LED use less power , no expensive bulb replacement , growth and color is great with the LED.

BLOCKAIDRUNNER · Oct 26, 2014

Thanks chefmur, from what I've seen I will need 2 for my 48" tank at $699 each, that's a little high for my budget, lol. I was told that the 2 54 watt T5 HO & 2 65 watt 10000K would be enough for soft & some hard corals, what's you opinion.

Tphill · Oct 26, 2014

I have 2 48" tanks. My 75 has a 32" fixture from Ocean Revive (OR IT2080). Very nice light. My 120 has a 48" fixture from Reef Radiance (Fusion 360). Don't really like it as much, but still working on color %'s. Neither of these were over $500. Never would I buy a $700 fixture that only covers 24"x24", especially after seeing some of them in person at the LFS's and fellow reefers.

Chameleon · Oct 27, 2014

If you do halides I would highly recommend getting used lumenarc reflectors or something similar. A lot of people changing to LED or T5 are selling used metal halide stuff cheap these days. Those odyssea fixtures will get the job done but the poor build quality will usually manifest itself later and to me they dont beat a quality used setup. There are also some 120w chinese LEDs that do pretty good for the price point of $100 each. You would need at least 3 of these for a 75 gallon for good spread. Here is a link to them: 2014 New Full Spectrum Dimmable 120W LED Aquarium Light Coral Reef Marine Lamp | eBay

If you want to see any of the lighting systems in action feel free to stop by. Between my two tanks I have T5's, DIY LEDs, chinese LEDs, and metal halide in a spider reflector.

BLOCKAIDRUNNER · Oct 27, 2014

I tried looking up the Ocean Revive & could not find that model, the ones on Ebay look pretty good and may be the ones I go with, but I found a 48" LED light f around $300 any comments on this one it's a Fluval Sea Performance LED marine & reef, 25,000K-692 LED's 46 watts- 120 light dispersion

tigerdragon · Oct 27, 2014

The or it2080 is $449 just looked it up on their site

chefmur · Oct 29, 2014

I
would do a little research online there are some LED systems that are much cheaper than that. I have the echotech Radions ( 3 over a 72" ) and yes they are expensive,but I bought a Chinese made system for my frag tank for less than $200 and it works great , two of them would work for your 48 " tank . Tatronic I think is the name bought off Amazon , separate controllers for blue and white bulbs.

dorky · Oct 30, 2014

I would steer clear away from Odyssey co. I almost brought their led light fixture till I read few horror stories from them

dorky · Oct 30, 2014

Just make sure u do research on the products and the company esp if the price is too good to be true type of thing. Nothing wrong with checking the customer review, it there for a reason

Chameleon · Oct 30, 2014

This is similar to the one chefmur and I own. Over the last year they have dropped in price quite a bit. It is similar to the previous one I posted but a bit cheaper and has the older housing design. Two or 3 of these over a 72 inch tank would be perfect.
Mr 120 LED Aquarium Light Marine Coral Reef 55X 3W SPS Dimmable Full Spectrum | eBay