NEW HERE (MARIO)

[G Santana]

Welcome to R2R

 

[Schraufabagel]

 

[Jeffcb]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!!

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Im new to this forum and new to reef keeping. I am interested in what everyone has to say. I currently have a 5 gallon tank with dwarf seahorse, and 55 gallon tank that is still in cycle. I am in search of a good light but on a budget of $200. looking to grow some pretty things that require low to medium light. if you guys have any idea comment below or send me a message. everyone is welcome. I get confused with the lighting setups like viperspectra 300w can one unit light the whole tank. Is it possible hang it over one area and have it illuminate the tank you can see I just have rock structure on the left side. this is an old photo but the set up has not changed. I know this is a topic often posted but im really just confused at this point. thank you for everything

Welcome! Glad you joined.

Have you considered starting your build thread? I found its a great place to document my tank's evolution for myself. I started tank first then joined, so I'm still finding myself going back collecting pictures & updating historically as well as current state. Once you create your first post in your thread and link it to your account, they will give you build badge (look left, under my ID)

Going to defer to others on lighting, as I just use what came with my tank. There is a Forum just for lighting, and people who know lighting spend time answering questions over there, so there may be good info pinned over there for you to find.

This is a good reference book type online article I still review:

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

This article was sponsored by @MarineDepot at www.marinedepot.com. Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is no...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Jimbhoy13]

Welcome to R2R and the salty world Mario. Lots of knowledgeable and helpful people here who will support and advise you when needed.

 

[Magic City Reefer]

Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[Manny’s Reef]

Hello and welcome to the R2R family.

 

[meowmix350]

Welcome. If that’s a 48” 55g, you’re really going to need two fixtures if you go with pendant style lights. I don’t know that you’re going to be able to get anything decent quality that will light the whole tank, that will grow corals, for under $200. If you bumped up the budget to $300, there are more options. You could start out with one light and light only half the tank or the middle of the tank, and then get another down the line. You could also look for used lights. I see used AI Primes for around $150 all the time, 2 of those would be adequate for soft corals and LPS. A couple Noopsyches would allow you to grow pretty much anything (they retail for around $250, but they’re constantly on sale, I think right now they’re 30% off). I would stay away from any LED strip lights (like the orbit), they just don’t have enough power to grow anything but the lowest light corals. If you absolutely can’t go over $200, as others mentioned T5s might be the way to go, but keep in mind you’ll need to replace the bulbs every 9-12 months (which can be pretty expensive, bulbs are around $25 a piece

Thank you that is true I think i buy it piece by piece I’m okay with that.

 

[meowmix350]

For you system and budget I would look at a T5 setup.
2 48" 2 bulb units will grow anything you want. You can just set them on the top of your tank.
Look at my 120 build thread.
I started with a 6 bulb unit and it was only 4" off the surface.

Oh and.........

Do you have to worry about night time phase ? I have been doing research but maybe I’m smoking to many joints while reading but it is confusing lol

 

[MaxTremors]

Do you have to worry about night time phase ? I have been doing research but maybe I’m smoking to many joints while reading but it is confusing lol

You don’t need any ‘night time phase’ or moonlights. They are largely a gimmick and more for our viewing than any real benefit to fish and corals. In fact, a lot of them are too bright and can stress fish out by not allowing them a proper day/night cycle. I’ve never used them beyond maybe a month or two when they were first a thing, they’re definitely not necessary.

If you’re talking about a ramp up/down, there are some T5 fixtures that have a dimmer, but i don’t think you can program a schedule on a timer. You’d need to use an analog or digital timer to set up auto on/off.

Personally, while I think T5s are great (they offer excellent growth and coloration), I wouldn’t use them as the sole lighting for my tank at this point. If I had a bigger tank going I would consider a hybrid, but for my current tank (28g), the convenience, the lack of bulb replacements, growth and coloration, and the look of LED lighting takes T5s out of consideration. You may be able to find a cheap T5 fixture, but when you factor in the all the bulb replacements (let’s say over a 5 year period), they become much more expensive than LEDs.

 

[meowmix350]

You don’t need any ‘night time phase’ or moonlights. They are largely a gimmick and more for our viewing than any real benefit to fish and corals. In fact, a lot of them are too bright and can stress fish out by not allowing them a proper day/night cycle. I’ve never used them beyond maybe a month or two when they were first a thing, they’re definitely not necessary.

If you’re talking about a ramp up/down, there are some T5 fixtures that have a dimmer, but i don’t think you can program a schedule on a timer. You’d need to use an analog or digital timer to set up auto on/off.

Personally, while I think T5s are great (they offer excellent growth and coloration), I wouldn’t use them as the sole lighting for my tank at this point. If I had a bigger tank going I would consider a hybrid, but for my current tank (28g), the convenience, the lack of bulb replacements, growth and coloration, and the look of LED lighting takes T5s out of consideration. You may be able to find a cheap T5 fixture, but when you factor in the all the bulb replacements (let’s say over a 5 year period), they become much more expensive than LEDs.

Thank you it is really confusing Bc you would think the moon is important but I mean darkness is darkness right yes in the past using them for reptile the T5 are annoying. I am not looking to grow anything crazy. This is my ideal goal

 

[atomos]

 

[meowmix350]

Welcome! Glad you joined.

Have you considered starting your build thread? I found its a great place to document my tank's evolution for myself. I started tank first then joined, so I'm still finding myself going back collecting pictures & updating historically as well as current state. Once you create your first post in your thread and link it to your account, they will give you build badge (look left, under my ID)

Going to defer to others on lighting, as I just use what came with my tank. There is a Forum just for lighting, and people who know lighting spend time answering questions over there, so there may be good info pinned over there for you to find.

This is a good reference book type online article I still review:

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

This article was sponsored by @MarineDepot at www.marinedepot.com. Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean, but it is no...

www.reef2reef.com

Thank you