Need lighting help please....

[TARHEEL78]

Ok, I'm brand new to this so bear with me here. I recently picked up a used 180 gallon(72x24x24) tank with a DIY hybrid canopy. The previous owner had 4 T5 HO bulbs in the canopy(these were included with my purchase) and 3 XR15s(these were not). I've read so many lighting threads in the last week that I feel like I'm just going in circles at this point. I'm looking for LED options to supplement the T5s but I'm not looking to spend Radion money at this point. I'd like to stay in the $300 range. Any suggestions?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Welcome to R2R!

#WelcometoR2R
How much are you looking to spend? The 165 watt black boxes are always a low cost good choice

 

[TARHEEL78]

I don't want to spend much over $300-400, I will if I need to but I'd rather not. I'm just not sure how much additional light I would need with the 4 T5s.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I don't want to spend much over $300-400, I will if I need to but I'd rather not. I'm just not sure how much additional light I would need with the 4 T5s.

If you went the black box route, you'd need at least three to cover your 72" length, looking at about $300 bucks for the basic unit, more if you start adding features such as timers and wifi control

 

[TARHEEL78]

I don't need wifi, the timers would be nice though. I've looked at a couple of the black box offerings but I'm still not sure on size. Would 3 of any brand 165w work? If you were buying BBs right now which would you buy?

 

[Crabs McJones]

I don't need wifi, the timers would be nice though. I've looked at a couple of the black box offerings but I'm still not sure on size. Would 3 of any brand 165w work? If you were buying BBs right now which would you buy?

Three of the 165's would work. If you want one with timers i'd look into something like these

 

[TARHEEL78]

I've looked at those and was close to buying them but I don't like that they all run on an independent timer and you can't daisy chain the cords. How bad are the Dsuny lights? I noticed they are 12ow instead of 165w but they have both of the other features and they come in a wifi variant if I did decide to go that route.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Not familiar with the DSuny lights. Maybe a member of the #reefsquad might be, i'll tag them and see if anyone has personal experience with them

 

[dantimdad]

Dsuny lights are iffy at best. I have read both success and horror stories.

The basic black boxes (or white ones too) from wattshine work well and can be modded later on if you so desire.

You can get a 3 pack on ebay for $300.

I have a modding tutorial in my build thread for them.

Take a look at @Flippers4pups 6 foot tank and judge for yourself about black boxes. His tank is gorgeous. He runs modded black boxes.

 

[dantimdad]

Oh! I missed saying Welcome Aboard!

 

[TARHEEL78]

I haven't seen the wattshine lights, I'll check them out. Thanks!

 

[TARHEEL78]

I can't seem to find your build thread or any pics of flippers tank. Any chance you could link me to them?

 

[Crabs McJones]

@Flippers4pups https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/flippers-reef-125-gallon.317425/

 

[TARHEEL78]

That is a really nice looking tank. I'm struggling to find a black box with the features I want other than Dsuny and having read more about them I don't think I'm willing to take the chance. Are there any other options that will give me linked lights with a timer and sunrise/sunset/moonlight settings? I'm willing to spend a little more to get what I want I just don't want to have to drop a grand or more on lights right now when I have so many other things to buy to get this tank up and running.

 

[TARHEEL78]

Also, thanks for all the help guys I really appreciate it.

 

[Oshengems]

So you don’t have the XR15s sorry I’m slow lol, if you don’t wanna break the bank this is a good time lots of people get out around this time Graigslist and local forums are your friend, also offer up and let go this app you can find deal, got kessils on letgo for cheap

 

[TARHEEL78]

I've been looking on let go recently but I haven't checked craigslist. I don't know of any local reef forums but I'll do a search for them too. Thanks

 

[TARHEEL78]

The more I look at this the more I think I'm going yo be spending $600-900 to get what I want in a light.

 

[TARHEEL78]

I decided to go with 3 AI hydra 26 HD. I think this will give me the light I need and the features I want. I found 1 used (for 6 months he says) locally so I just need to find 2 more in good shape and I'll be set. Someone reinforce my decision by telling me it will work, please.

ETA: Can anyone tell me what the requirements are to post a WTB thread? I don't have permissions for that yet.

 

[TARHEEL78]

@Crabs McJones I noticed you had some threads on the hydra 26 hd. Do you think 3 will be sufficient with my T5s?