New Build Lighting Questions

[Krzykat]

I bought a 210 Gallon tank - 72" long, 24" wide - and the hood had a coralife with 10K 96w Power Compacts x 4 with moonlights.
After looking around for these outdated lights, it seems bulb replacements will cost me about $200, so someone recommended that I look into getting LED and reduce the temp at the same time.

I was questioning about buying some Chinese LED's ... but is that worthwhile, or should I go big and go with Kessil lights?

If I go with Kessil, I think I found a good price on AP700, so wanted to know - is one sufficient, or I assume I should buy two of them.

Looking for recommendations and looking forward to getting the tank up and running. (Off topic, I'm also looking into some used Neptune Apex Classic setup ... don't think this would impact the lighting decision, but figure I should mention it).

 

[JCTReefer]

Man, you have a ton of options out there LED wise. Plenty of lights that will grow coral. Not sure what you’re aiming to keep coral wise. BRS has done a lot of videos on many popular leds on the market. That would be a good place to start. That would give you and idea on cost, set up, light spread, par intensity, suggested number of fixtures, spacing of fixtures, etc. All of this covered on many, many lights they’ve tested. They even did testing on some of the popular black boxes recently. Good luck!!!!!!

 

[bwelch]

I also have a 210 and I light it with three viparspectra 165 watt leds with the lenses removed. Mine is a mixed reef and everything is growing fine.

 

[Krzykat]

I also have a 210 and I light it with three viparspectra 165 watt leds with the lenses removed. Mine is a mixed reef and everything is growing fine.

Those look nice, and the price seems right. I do see that some people swap out the SB Reef Light PCB board. You using them as is, or did you modify?

 

[bwelch]

Those look nice, and the price seems right. I do see that some people swap out the SB Reef Light PCB board. You using them as is, or did you modify?

I’m

Those look nice, and the price seems right. I do see that some people swap out the SB Reef Light PCB board. You using them as is, or did you modify?

I’m using as is

 

[bwelch]

Those look nice, and the price seems right. I do see that some people swap out the SB Reef Light PCB board. You using them as is, or did you modify?

Also I have mine inside of a canopy about 7 inches off the water. They do really well and are very powerful.

 

[ReefLab]

You'll need more than one ap700. Those will cover about a 4ft by 2ft rectangle.

Bottom line is pretty much any light can grow coral. IMO kessils just look the best, especially with some diffused fill light. Radions look amazing also. Im not a fan of hydra/prime shimmer
BRS found that the viparspectra lights are the best "black box" LED out there if you decide to go that route.

Take a trip down to your LFS and see what kinds of lights they're running on their frag tanks and if you like how they look (shimmer/color)

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I was questioning about buying some Chinese LED's ... but is that worthwhile, or should I go big and go with Kessil lights?

I use a single 300W Viparspectra over my 40g breeder and it's great. I liked it so much I bought another for my 50g Rubbermaid frag tank.

If you approach this hobby from more of a utilitarian standpoint and just want something that works, a black box will work just fine. However, for a lot of people in this hobby, just working isn't good enough. It has to work, it has to look sleek and polished, and it has to be at least a little "cool." If this sounds more like you, you should look into LED lights from a more mainstream manufacturer.

 

[reefertank]

I use a single 300W Viparspectra over my 40g breeder and it's great. I liked it so much I bought another for my 50g Rubbermaid frag tank.

If you approach this hobby from more of a utilitarian standpoint and just want something that works, a black box will work just fine. However, for a lot of people in this hobby, just working isn't good enough. It has to work, it has to look sleek and polished, and it has to be at least a little "cool." If this sounds more like you, you should look into LED lights from a more mainstream manufacturer.

Also check out the selling forums on Reef2reef, ton of good lighting for sale.

 

[Krzykat]

I also have a 210 and I light it with three viparspectra 165 watt leds with the lenses removed. Mine is a mixed reef and everything is growing fine.

Sorry for all the questions - why do you have "lenses removed" ?

 

[bwelch]

It spreads and blends the light better and helps it not to have such a hotspot...my lights are about 7 inches off the water