Lighting suggestion for 10' mixed reef

RCS82 · Mar 12, 2019

Man a 10x5 tank with M/H, wow that must look incredible. I dont have a tank that size but if you asked me I wouldn't change a thing if it's already set up and working. Cutting the T5s when the M/Hs are on I would do first. And if your dead set on changing then just replace the M/Hs with LEDs and keep the T5s. That's 6 radions but I bet you'll want more to keep the same lighting intensity, and that's going to add up. I think to invest in LEDs is gonna cost a small fortune for the little in energy savings, heating and chilling aside.

Humongous · Mar 12, 2019

This is why I love reading this forum, so many different insights. I see many have requested some pictures so I'll take some current ones tomorrow and post them here.

I'm definitely going to experiment with turning the t5's off when the halides are on. I really just have them for viewing the tank as they light it up nicely, but really don't have the driving power to grow the corals. I know some are wondering why I have the old school VHO Super Actinic. If you've never seen them they are an amazing actinic light source.

I'll throw out some pictures tomorrow and thanks for all the input!

IgnatiusRath · Mar 12, 2019

Humongous said:
This is why I love reading this forum, so many different insights. I see many have requested some pictures so I'll take some current ones tomorrow and post them here.

I'm definitely going to experiment with turning the t5's off when the halides are on. I really just have them for viewing the tank as they light it up nicely, but really don't have the driving power to grow the corals. I know some are wondering why I have the old school VHO Super Actinic. If you've never seen them they are an amazing actinic light source.

I'll throw out some pictures tomorrow and thanks for all the input!

Having seen this tank in person with and without the VHO Super Actinics, they really add some beautiful pop and color to everything.

Humongous · Mar 13, 2019

I'm a horrible photographer and quite honestly not much better at videography. However I took a quick video and posted it on youtube. The right hand side of the tank is the only part with the halides on at the moment. This is about 1 year of growth since the crash when most of the corals perished. The nems are tough!

Dana Riddle · Mar 13, 2019

If you're unfamiliar with a 'light rail':
https://www.lightrail3.com/

TexasTodd · Mar 13, 2019

Agree, the old VHO supers actinics are great. Adjustable LEDs can now do some amazing things.
I'd keep the MH and replace the VHO with LED if you want to try some LEDs. The strips though are not adjustable. You have such a large tank you could possibly angle in some lower cost LED adjustable units.

Humongous · Mar 13, 2019

Is there a good LED bar that could replace the T5 and VHO's?

dantimdad · Mar 13, 2019

@Humongous Look into the Orphek ORs or look into the reef bar pro.

I have a small reef bar pro blue heavy and it looks pretty nice.

jda · Mar 13, 2019

Humongous said:
Is there a good LED bar that could replace the T5 and VHO's?

Sure, but they are not the same as the UVL Super Actinic. You might like them better, or you might like them worse, but they are not the same.

The larger Orphek ones are 36 diodes at 3 watts... so the same as a pair of T5s. Again, probably not much electrical savings here.

jda · Mar 13, 2019

Have you tried the t5 version of the UVL Super Actinic? It is slightly different, but still good - ATI gets all of the love, but these are great looking T5 bulbs. If you do like it, then replacing the VHOs with a pair of T5s will be about 25% more light for the same amount of wattage... the reflectors are just better. If you have really good 4-5" parabolic reflectors for your VHOs, then it might not be any better at all - these are hard to find and I had to make mine with some bent polished aluminum from a local welding shop.

Humongous · Mar 13, 2019

jda said:
Have you tried the t5 version of the UVL Super Actinic? It is slightly different, but still good - ATI gets all of the love, but these are great looking T5 bulbs. If you do like it, then replacing the VHOs with a pair of T5s will be about 25% more light for the same amount of wattage... the reflectors are just better. If you have really good 4-5" parabolic reflectors for your VHOs, then it might not be any better at all - these are hard to find and I had to make mine with some bent polished aluminum from a local welding shop.

I have been thinking about replacing the VHO bulbs with a T5. I'll take a look for them.

Humongous · Mar 13, 2019

So reading back through everyone's ideas and doing some math assuming running at full power running 8 hours per day. We typically are at $.12/KW/hr

Going with all halides, 8 x 250W radiums pulling 33ow at the wall. 21,120 watts or $2.54 per day
Going with all Orphek, 10 full size V4 Gen2 running 220W. 17,600 watts or $2.11 per day ( This would require buying $7700 in new lights ;Wideyed )
Going with 15 Noopsyche k7 pulling 95w. 11,400 watts or $1.37 per day (This requires approximately $2400 in new lights

)

I'm really taking a guess on the number of LED fixtures as everyone I know who runs them have more than what the manufacturers suggest which is something other have mentioned here. I'm starting to think that it may be best to keep the halides and modify the t5's a little.

I know that bigger tanks are expensive. I've put this system together with new and used components but I'm definitely not able to throw down $15k for a lighting system of any type. I've looked at the payback for electricity, not much gain there except for the Noopsyche. I could run my Halides for 8.3 years before breaking even in the cost of buying the Orpheks( not including bulb changes) and 2.58 years on the Noopsyche. How long do these LED systems really last? I don't have that answer.

If I missed something please feel free to let me know. This has really opened my eyes and hopefully helped out others.

jda · Mar 13, 2019

Those Noopsyche lights are a bit of a joke outside of a nano. One of the locals got two, we tested them and the output was horrible on even a 45g tank where 4x T5s outperformed them. You should probably throw these out of the calculus. Just regular/typical black boxes offer better value, coverage and price, but they will not save you any wattage.

Orphek is a legit larger-tank light. Numbers here are probably reliable.

Most people do not use their LEDs past five years. Some do, but not many. Most people factor in a 5 years. Some upgrade every generation, or about 2-3 years.

No matter how you add it up, reflectors are your friend on larger tanks.

Humongous · Mar 13, 2019

If the life expectancy is only 5 years, call it an average so nobody take exception, then it definitely doesn't pencil out for my tank.

dantimdad · Mar 13, 2019

jda said:
Those Noopsyche lights are a bit of a joke outside of a nano. One of the locals got two, we tested them and the output was horrible on even a 45g tank where 4x T5s outperformed them. You should probably throw these out of the calculus.

I think you need to retract that.

Check real numbers in a study being done.

jda · Mar 13, 2019

I will completely stand by the PAR numbers that I got with my Apogee 510. 4 Bulb ATI put out more PAR than two of these lights at 100% for us. They tested out similar to a Kessil which are also low output, but similar wattage.

dantimdad · Mar 13, 2019

@jda I am not going to argue with your bias against LED. I am just not.

If they didn't work and provide an advantage, the industry would not be going that way.

I would not be going that way either. I like MH lighting. Just not enough to stay with it.

dantimdad · Mar 13, 2019

@crusso1993

Jay Norris · Mar 14, 2019

Humongous said:
So reading back through everyone's ideas and doing some math assuming running at full power running 8 hours per day. We typically are at $.12/KW/hr

Going with all halides, 8 x 250W radiums pulling 33ow at the wall. 21,120 watts or $2.54 per day
Going with all Orphek, 10 full size V4 Gen2 running 220W. 17,600 watts or $2.11 per day ( This would require buying $7700 in new lights ;Wideyed )
Going with 15 Noopsyche k7 pulling 95w. 11,400 watts or $1.37 per day (This requires approximately $2400 in new lights )

I'm really taking a guess on the number of LED fixtures as everyone I know who runs them have more than what the manufacturers suggest which is something other have mentioned here. I'm starting to think that it may be best to keep the halides and modify the t5's a little.

I know that bigger tanks are expensive. I've put this system together with new and used components but I'm definitely not able to throw down $15k for a lighting system of any type. I've looked at the payback for electricity, not much gain there except for the Noopsyche. I could run my Halides for 8.3 years before breaking even in the cost of buying the Orpheks( not including bulb changes) and 2.58 years on the Noopsyche. How long do these LED systems really last? I don't have that answer.

If I missed something please feel free to let me know. This has really opened my eyes and hopefully helped out others.

Hi, will you need a chiller for your system when using the M/H lights and T 5’s, as both those lights run hot especially in a canopy. A big chiller will cost in the neighborhood of $8000 or so.