New to reefing and need Light advice

[shrive81]

Hey guys

so I did a post in the new to reefing section but figured i would make a separate thread just for the light. I just purchased and waiting for my ne MODE Infinity 100g tank to show up and will be doing a reef and fish setup, the tank is 48" wide and want to get a good light that I wont want to upgrade 6 months down the road. I would prefer a light i can mount and if possible get good spread throughout the whole tank. My budget i would like to keep around $500. I wanted the illumagic 48" but the dang thing is 1200 bucks hahahaha

any advice would be greatly appreciated

thanks for all the great help and knowledge

 

[lapin]

T-247's are well priced

 

[siggy]

Check out this one, great to start out and when you're ready for higher light corals add some led's

48" Hybrid T5HO 4x54W Fixture

Welcome to the future of aquarium lighting! Combine your favorite LED Light module along with Aquatic Lifes T5 lighting fixture to create a stellar lighting system! Accepts many of your favorite LED lighting modules! Includes standard LED Light Brackets Powder Coated Aluminum Frame Individual...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[wenliu51]

Radion XR30 G5 Pros. Go big or go home

 

[siggy]

Go big or go home

That's not big. Buying an Island in the South Pacific is

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hybrid with orphek bars or 36” reefbreeders photon V2

 

[nereefpat]

Do you for sure want LEDs?

 

[StephenMcn]

+1 T-247's. Great light only con is there's no sunrise and moonlight settings.

 

[jackie blue]

I know a ton of people are going to recommend a LED fixture or a LED hybrid fixture. But bang for the buck, simplicity and ease of use a 6x54w t-5 fixture is a good idea. I had great success with one and ran into way more issues trying to chase after the newest and better light that always seemed to come out every few years. Dimming, ramping, storm mode ect. are all nice but honestly I never sat infront of my tank for an hour in the AM to watch the "sun" rise on my tank. I'd just suggest that you don't rule out a decent T-5 fixture.

This is just my .02 cents.

 

[shrive81]

thanks guys, Ya so I want to stick with LED's and the idea of a moonlight setting is very appealing as this will be on display at my home.

 

[Bpb]

Black boxes will be your best bet on a tank that size. 3-4 of them hung 15” off the water would be full coverage with Minimal hot spotting. Viparspectra would be my go to for this purpose. Stretch that budget a few hundred bucks and 4 ai primes would do well. Or a reef breeders photon v2+ 48. Honestly. From brand to brand, the ceiling of what you can achieve is comparable. Differences will be negligible.

When people nail their tanks and when people flop it is more often a failure or success in overall light delivery. Not brand. And to a certain extent not even spectrum. That why people succeed so often with T5’s either as a supplement or primary light source. They provide even light without hot spots to all angles of the tank, successfully Illuminating almost the entirety of every coral.

Success with leds really happens when you double a manufacturers recommended units. For instance. One Red Sea reef led 90 may be “rated for 24”.... but that single source has one point of origin, and will inevitably result in tissue shading. Double that delivery and you have light striking from right and left, eliminating lateral shading. The coral will grow faster, have a more pleasing shape, and look better.

 

[Mjl714]

Reefbreeders provide super value.