Lighting suggestions for 36x20x16

[30reef]

Hey all,

Any lighting suggestions for a 36x20x16 system?
I'm mainly deciding between LEDs and T5s.
I'll b growing zoas and LPS.
I have had Radions, love them but now the G4 is out an I don't necessarily want to spend the amount of money need to cover my tank.

I'd like to here your suggestions and if you have any pictures of the tank, I'd love to see them!

 

[Anthony Wood]

The LPS will be happier with T5's but the obvious drawback is the cost of electricity and replacing bulbs which gets expensive because you get what you pay for when it comes the bulbs. Also the heat T5's put off but if the tank is in a cool room or large room it won't be much of an issue. I personally would go with T5's. I've had both Kessil LED's and now currently a ATI Sunpower on my display and cheap Odyssea fixtures. D your plan on having more LPS then softies go T5 if your doing more softies then LPS you could get away with LED. Personally I have had the best colors and growth under T5.

 

[30reef]

The LPS will be happier with T5's but the obvious drawback is the cost of electricity and replacing bulbs which gets expensive because you get what you pay for when it comes the bulbs. Also the heat T5's put off but if the tank is in a cool room or large room it won't be much of an issue. I personally would go with T5's. I've had both Kessil LED's and now currently a ATI Sunpower on my display and cheap Odyssea fixtures. D your plan on having more LPS then softies go T5 if your doing more softies then LPS you could get away with LED. Personally I have had the best colors and growth under T5.

how many watts do the ATI fixtures use?

 

[MaddyP]

I'm also running a 36" ATI on my 40 breeder (36x18x16) with great success. Mostly SPS but LPS are doing great as well. I moved to T5 from Radions due to shadowing around the sides of corals. Yes, T5 draw more power but overall is more cost effective for spread.

 

[Anthony Wood]

how many watts do the ATI fixtures use?

It's not the fixture it's the ballast and bulbs themselves. So if you don't count on the fact that cheap fixtures with cheap ballasts and improper cooling of the bulbs will consume more electric because of the heat the ballast and bulbs produces. Your looking at 39 Watts per bulb. So if your looking at a 4 bulb fixture (I wouldn't go less then 4 bulbs) your looking at a minimum of 156 watts may be more once you add heat into the mix.

 

[Anthony Wood]

My 220g display with a 6 bulb ATI Sunpower. All 6 bulbs on. 4 ATI blue+, 1 ATI aquablue special and 1 ATI true actinic

This is my Odyssea fixture with just 2 bulbs on. ATI blue + and a ATI coral plus. It's a 4 bulb fixture though

Another new Odyssea 4 bulb picture with the cheap bulbs that came with the fixture. 2 daylight and 2 blue are on. Didn't feel the need to change to ATI bulbs because this is gonna be my macro tank eventually.

Like @MaddyP said you'll eventually run into shading problems with LED's. Not a matter of if but when. Which is a thing to consider with LPS.

 

[30reef]

How many bulbs should I get for my tank I'll do the 36" fixture.

 

[Anthony Wood]

How many bulbs should I get for my tank I'll do the 36" fixture.

4 is more then enough. 6 will give more room to do different bulb combination to tweek the overall color of the tank and add specialty bulbs but is not necessary. Plus a 6 bulb will only work if the fixture itself isn't wider then the tank. If the end bulbs over hang the rim or tank that light won't be going into the tank which is a waste of money.

 

[Salty1962]

how many watts do the ATI fixtures use?

Depends on how many bulbs you go with but a 36" T5 fixture uses 39W bulbs.

 

[30reef]

Depends on how many bulbs you go with but a 36" T5 fixture uses 39W bulbs.

Ok so I'm leaning towards 36" 4 bulb. How much money is at per month?

 

[Salty1962]

So you

Ok so I'm leaning towards 36" 4 bulb. How much money is at per month?

have 4 bulbs X 39W= 156(Total Wattage)/120(VAC)=1.3 Amps. You would need to look at your power companies charges per KW and figure from that. It's like running a 150W flood light, give or take a couple of watts.

 

[happyhourhero]

2 SB Reef Light 16"

 

[30reef]

So you

have 4 bulbs X 39W= 156(Total Wattage)/120(VAC)=1.3 Amps. You would need to look at your power companies charges per KW and figure from that. It's like running a 150W flood light, give or take a couple of watts.

Do you know how much at 24" is per bulb?

 

[Salty1962]

Do you know how much at 24" is per bulb?

24W

 

[atoll]

AI Hydra 26 HDs x 2 or 1x 52HD

 

[spartanman22]

I'm a huge fan of the OR-T247 fixtures. I've had Kessils and an Elos Planet 2 halide/T5 system (absolute beast of a light) and went back to the OR's. Zero disco ball effect. LEDs are spread out easily. Good color and spread. And my SPS have had the best color and growth under these over any of the other fixtures.

On my last setup I had a dual display: 25 gallon cube and a 15 gallon frag tank. The display was lit by the OR and the frag tank by a Kessil. I found that my Zoas did better under the OR. The two tanks were plumbed together and both had MP10's. So flow and water parameters were identical.

Here's my current setup. I was strongly considering ATI but in the end LEDs are just cheaper to run and in my personal experience they've worked very well.