New and looking for advise - Lighting

[10Seconds]

Sounds like your stuck on LED. But here is what I did. I planned to someday upgrade to LED but so happy with these lights, I have not. You will have to upgrade the bulbs. I use phoenix 14k bulbs in mine. They sell a few different lengths. Topdogsellers treated me well, and I'm not affiliated with them .

Search this on Ebay, Didn't want to link, Not sure if it's okay here.
MH 48" Metal Halide T5 Aquarium Light 716W Coral Reef Marine LED 2x 250W Bulbs

This is going to be the cheapest way to decently light your tank. You cant beat MH and T5 lighting and the price on these is cheap. Put decent bulbs in it and you will be fine for a while. I still run a Odyssea fixture on a 60 gal mix reef with with a Hamilton 20k MH bulb and ATI t5

If you are really on a tight budget you cant beat this for a great start.

LEDs sound great to beginners, I started with them too, but now run some type of hybrid fixtures on all my tanks. I would NEVER run LED only again.

 

[Water Dog]

XR15s providing a 2’x2’ coverage area!?!

I’ve gone through the whole LED craze... had custom Nanobox LEDs for my nano reef, had an AP700. Now that I want to get serious about successfully growing acropora, I’ve ditched the LEDs and purchased an ATI Sunpower T5 fixture (thanks @BoomCorals). I’m not saying that my goals couldn’t be achieved with LEDs. It would just take a lot more fixtures (than the manufacturer recommends) to get there.

The issue with the OP is the sheer size of his tank. At 96”x30”x30”, properly lighting it with LEDs exclusively will not be cheap. Especially with the “bells and whistles” that he’s looking for. I believe Slief had a tank of similar dimensions and he lit it with something like 8-10 Kessil a360s... I think it’s 6 or more GHL Mitras now. I know the OP mentioned keeping just softies and LPS, but as he progresses in the hobby, we all know those goals will quickly change.

 

[Fourstars]

Remember the OP is looking for best lights on a budget.

Earlier poster claims cheapChinese lights? I don’t think so, maybe twenty years ago but the Chinese’s can manufacture. Better then overpriced German lights! I agree with you I would NEVER run LED only. I’ve watched too many people not have long term success, and many used on the market. I’ve used MH for some twenty years an nothing beats the growth. So I no longer desire to switch. They do cost more to run.

 

[Water Dog]

Remember the OP is looking for best lights on a budget.

I totally got that, but he’s looking specifically at premium models like Radions and AP700s for the bells and whistles. Which if he’s going that route, he will not have enough fixtures to adequately cover his tank, despite what the manufacturer claims.

If you’re set on going strictly LEDs, want proper coverage for your tank and can forgo some of the bells and whistles of cloud cover and thunder storms (a novelty IMO), I’d go with 4 ReefBreeders Photon 48 V2s.

https://www.reefbreeders.com/shop/photon-48-v2/

 

[Bpb]

I’ll be totally honest. Based on a couple dozen people I know personally, and many many dozens of threads I see pop up constantly, it seems like most new hobbyists are far more interested in the LEDs themselves and programmability than actual corals and growth. I realize there are lots of sps keepers on the high end that have figured out how to effectively use LEDs, but for every one of those, you see 10 more people who say “it’s our first tank, the wife and I love LEDs, bulb changes are such a hassle and inefficient”.

 

[BoomCorals]

XR15s providing a 2’x2’ coverage area!?!

I’ve gone through the whole LED craze... had custom Nanobox LEDs for my nano reef, had an AP700. Now that I want to get serious about successfully growing acropora, I’ve ditched the LEDs and purchased an ATI Sunpower T5 fixture (thanks @BoomCorals). I’m not saying that my goals couldn’t be achieved with LEDs. It would just take a lot more fixtures (than the manufacturer recommends) to get there.

The issue with the OP is the sheer size of his tank. At 96”x30”x30”, properly lighting it with LEDs exclusively will not be cheap. Especially with the “bells and whistles” that he’s looking for. I believe Slief had a tank of similar dimensions and he lit it with something like 8-10 Kessil a360s... I think it’s 6 or more GHL zMitras now. I know the OP mentioned keeping just softies and LPS, but as he progresses in the hobby, we all know those goals will quickly change.

You’re gonna love that light!

 

[jda]

It is not China manufacture that is the issue, it is cheap brands. Odyssea and like still have horrible ballast, thin wires and low output. They could be made better if desired. That unit probably has less output than a single 250W MH on a good ballast and reflector.

On the flip side, I have some Chinese made hydroponics T5s with individual reflectors that are quite well made, have nearly the same output as ATI and have resisted corrosion very well. These are more than Odyssea, but less than ATI. I am pleased a few years into owning it.

You cannot afford to be cheap on this kind of thing. You do not have to spend a fortune, either.

 

[Kordin]

thanks for all the help and thoughts. we ended up ordering 3 ap700's hoping that it will cover us for now.. and the future. its more than we wanted to spend but we thought better to spend more now then to buy 1k now and end up having to rebuy more expensive later. we also got 3 major diffusers. please. someone. chime in and tell me we did ok . heh.

 

[Bpb]

thanks for all the help and thoughts. we ended up ordering 3 ap700's hoping that it will cover us for now.. and the future. its more than we wanted to spend but we thought better to spend more now then to buy 1k now and end up having to rebuy more expensive later. we also got 3 major diffusers. please. someone. chime in and tell me we did ok . heh.

I think that’ll work fine for just about anything except acropora in certain areas. The ap700 blankets the light much better than most led fixtures do. As far as what YOU are looking for in a light, I think you did well. Just aquascape carefully and avoid the end to end rock wall. Place your stacks carefully to where their high points are under the panels, and the open sand/valleys are in between. You should do just fine that way

 

[Sgolden]

thanks for all the help and thoughts. we ended up ordering 3 ap700's hoping that it will cover us for now.. and the future. its more than we wanted to spend but we thought better to spend more now then to buy 1k now and end up having to rebuy more expensive later. we also got 3 major diffusers. please. someone. chime in and tell me we did ok . heh.

There you go. Home run !