looking for lighting advice

sparky2812 · Feb 9, 2021

Hi I have a 75 gallon reef tank with a old aquatic life t5 light that needs repair new ballast, bulbs and some tombstones. Was looking at the Fluval marine 3.0 as a replacement because I can buy one cheaper then the parts I need , does anyone have any experience with them ?

Jekyl · Feb 9, 2021

That light seems more for freshwater and plants than coral.

Snoopy 67 · Feb 9, 2021

See if you can find a T-247 Ocean Revive, grows everything.

sparky2812 · Feb 9, 2021

ok just happened to see it while looking around for a replacement and the price wasn't bad but sounds like I'll skipping that one. Any other suggestions have a budget around $400

Jekyl · Feb 9, 2021

Best coverage for around that price would be T5

sparky2812 · Feb 9, 2021

If I was to change to LED what would be a good unit

14 foot reef · Feb 9, 2021

What about an aquatic Life T5 hybrid from BRS and add LED as/if needed. Not sure what your end goal is with coral.

piranhaman00 · Feb 9, 2021

Fluval light would require 4 units at least, they are weak. You can go with black box LEds, but I would stay with the T5s!

smol_reef · Feb 9, 2021

I use viparspectras which are black box LEDs. My experience with them so far is good and they are cheap!

40g Nano · Feb 9, 2021

T5’s would cost more in the long run since you need to replace them every 8 mos

sparky2812 · Feb 9, 2021

Right now not much for corals just some small polyps but would like to get some LPS or some soft coral

aquakj · Feb 9, 2021

I wouldnt go with a fluval 3.0 especially not if you want to see growth and great health in your corals...I had the a fluval sea and it was on a shallow tank maybe around 9-10 inches the light was at the rim of the tank so the corals were about 4-6 inches from the light and it always seemed like they wanted more light or better lighting...I recently moved everything to my 75 and im using a viparspectra 300 watt i got it for $275 which is cheaper than most leds out there...my point is though if you have enough money to buy better lights like radions or kessils or anything high end I would go for it...if not the viparspectra light is a good light as well not as fancy but you get a pretty good light for your money. The only downside to the viparspectra is the mounting mechanism look into it before you buy.

aquakj · Feb 9, 2021

sparky2812 said:
Right now not much for corals just some small polyps but would like to get some LPS or some soft coral

even for easy to grow corals and softies I wouldn't really recommend the fluval sea lights

Jekyl · Feb 9, 2021

Watch the brstv investigates black boxes on YouTube before buying

alain Bouchard · Feb 9, 2021

in that price range, you could get 2 chinese popbloom rs90. they are good looking, have some efficient preset, nice color blend and in the right spectrum and have plenty of PAR. I did a review on them on the lighting section, you can check.

sparky2812 · Feb 9, 2021

ok thanks I will be staying from the fluval I was just talking to my wife she gave me a $500 limit so I'll see what we can do with that

Jekyl · Feb 9, 2021

Do you currently have coral in the tank? Is there a rush to buy lights? If not wait and save a couple hundred more and go with something that will last and you'll be happy with.

Jekyl · Feb 9, 2021

For $600 this would work for you

Razor X R5 200W LED Fixture

Maxspect Razor X LED Light fixtures are made with the latest in LED technology, including Cree XT-E and XP-E LED chips that are distributed through 4 different controllable channels. Programming can be done through the onboard OLED control interface, or wirelessly with the addition of the...

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