Newbie question about led lighting

Totempolez · Sep 22, 2016

I am so new to the hobby that i dont even have a tank yet, but i am currently making a list of everthing i want so i can price out an amazing set up.

I want to use a LED only lighting system on my 120 gallon set up (just bought a tank)

I want to be able to grow anything that i see in my local fish store with out having to worry about if i have enough light
The two questions that i have are:

If i were to go for an over kill with all of the top of the line equipment lights what would i get?
but
If i were on a budget, what would be the best bang for my buck?

trying to keep the set up under 5k but i was told at my fish store that lights are not to be skimpy on.

thanks

Joeganja · Sep 22, 2016

The highest end LEDs in the market are made my ecotech marine. The radions. They have set the standard for all companies. So if you want high end each light will cost you around $600-800 for the gen 4 depending on whether you want the pro model or not. Now the gen 3 prices have dropped and you can pick up each one of those for around $500-550 and they will still look amazing. Now if your looking for fixtures around $300-600 then aquaillumination hydra 26s or 52s. One has more leds than the other. The hydra 26s have two pucks and spread 24 inches and I have them and love them. Grow anything as well as the radions just a bit cost effective. Ecotech marine is aquailluminations parent company. They bought them a few years back. Anyways the hydras 26s will run about $349 and the hydra 52 with 4 pucks are $599. I have 2 hydra 26s on a 90 gallon tank. Now if you want fixtures cheaper than that then you start getting towards fixtures that may not be as high end as you want them. You have kessils that run $399 a light but here's the problem with them it's a single source of light. It's one led puck and I've had them and they shadow a lot and aren't the best for the harder stuff in my opinion. Others will defend kessils and i totally understand that. You have maxspect leds that are good lights but can run anywhere from $300-500 depending on which length you want and sprectrum. And then you get into black box leds that are found on eBay or amazon that retail anywhere from $150-250. Sure they are decent and people have success keeping anything with them but they don't give out the pop like the radions or hydras do in my opinion.

iyaayas · Sep 22, 2016

I use the Current USA Orbit Marine PRO lights. And if you're making it a reef tank make sure you get the PRO model. They are not the absolute best in the industry, but they've come a long way and they light up my tank beautifully. I have both soft and hard corals and they look amazing. Haven't had a single piece die on me or look like its struggling. The lights have a module that has a ton of different settings, they can simulate storms, cloudy days and nights, and partly cloudy days and nights. They also ramp up in the morning and ramp down at night to simulate sunrise and sunset. They will run you about 450-550$ depending on where you look. Your LFS was right, don't cheat on lights, and for the price I'm very pleased with my lights. And their customer service is wonderful. The module had a whining noise coming from it. Called them and had a new one the next day for no charge at all and haven't had any issues from the new one and I've had it longer than the first one.

mr11 · Sep 22, 2016

Just to clarify if it wasn't already clear, you will need multiple radions or hydras with a tank that size, 3 units of the hydra 52s or the Radion xr30s is ideal to grow anything but you can get away with 2. So the prices listed above are per light, you're looking at $1000-$2500 depending on how many lights you purchase and if you're buying new/used old/new technology. A good middle ground between these top of the line fixtures and eBay black boxes are reefbreeders. Is this a standard 48 x 24 120 gallon? You can get the Photon v2 48" for $600 and one light will cover the whole tank with plenty of power to grow anything.

Totempolez · Sep 22, 2016

mr 11 the tank i picked up is 60x26x18 my budges is around 1200 to 1500 if i want to keep the tank under 5 grand i think ( all of the extra money will go to lighting)

joe, that is a beautiful tank, i could only dream of being that successful!! is that just led or do you supplement with MH or T8/5? if that is just LED then you are giving me hope because most of the articles that i have read say that i wont have much success with JUST LED.

Also i am going with a controller (most likely apex) I saw that the high end models are compatible with it, but is that even really necessary? there are timers on most of the lights. Even cheep lights have the fade to moonlight and progress to sunlight settings. It just seems to me that it is not that important to have that specific device attached to a controller. Please correct me if i am wrong. i am still new to the hobby and trying to get my first tank off the ground. all the info i can get is helpful.

Thanks in advance

Joeganja · Sep 22, 2016

Totempolez said:
mr 11 the tank i picked up is 60x26x18 my budges is around 1200 to 1500 if i want to keep the tank under 5 grand i think ( all of the extra money will go to lighting)

joe, that is a beautiful tank, i could only dream of being that successful!! is that just led or do you supplement with MH or T8/5? if that is just LED then you are giving me hope because most of the articles that i have read say that i wont have much success with JUST LED.

Also i am going with a controller (most likely apex) I saw that the high end models are compatible with it, but is that even really necessary? there are timers on most of the lights. Even cheep lights have the fade to moonlight and progress to sunlight settings. It just seems to me that it is not that important to have that specific device attached to a controller. Please correct me if i am wrong. i am still new to the hobby and trying to get my first tank off the ground. all the info i can get is helpful.

Thanks in advance

Thanks! What articles have you read? These have been grown under 100% led and nothing else. Not t5s or MH. As you can see my corals are growing. From softies to the most difficult acros. Think of it this way. If you can get all your lighting under $1,500 your golden. Have your filtration be around $1,00-2,000 and your tank itself be around $800-1,200. And the rest of the pumps and sand and rock. You can easily get an amazing system for under $5,000. It's all knowing what you want in the beginning.

Totempolez · Sep 23, 2016

the one here - https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/are-leds-a-suitable-primary-light-source.42/ did not seem to positive, but there are a lot of negative when you just google type. that is y i needed to see your tank to prove them wrong!!

Reef Breeders · Sep 23, 2016

If you are looking for great lights at a decent price, our Photon 48-V2 would work great for a standard 4x2x2 120gallon tank for $585 shipped to your door. They use the same Cree LEDs as the Radions, and have 6 control channels, one for each color, and tank mounted legs included. If you have any questions just let me know!

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

Reefrookie220 · Sep 23, 2016

I recently got the 60in reefbreeders photon w. It's a great light and super bright, I like the controllability and the fact that the same diodes are used in these 600$ lights of which you'd only need one as the 600$ radions which you would need 3.

Plus I hear reef breeders support is excellent as well.

Totempolez · Sep 24, 2016

Reef Breeders said:
If you are looking for great lights at a decent price, our Photon 48-V2 would work great for a standard 4x2x2 120gallon tank for $585 shipped to your door. They use the same Cree LEDs as the Radions, and have 6 control channels, one for each color, and tank mounted legs included. If you have any questions just let me know!

would that be the only light that i would need to grow anything that i wanted?
would i have to get t8 to supplement if i wanted high light corals?

Reef Breeders · Sep 25, 2016

Totempolez said:
would that be the only light that i would need to grow anything that i wanted?
would i have to get t8 to supplement if i wanted high light corals?

Yes, the 48 would cover a mixed reef or sps dominant tank that size very well. You don't need to add any T-5/T-8 Supplements

Totempolez · Sep 28, 2016

@Reef Breeders - I just watched BRS 52 weeks of reefing episode 21 where they talkrf about LED lighting. They show the PAR of the lights in a 2' x 2' tank at 6",12" and 18" deep. The Kessil 700 had a PAR of over 150 at 18" deep over the WHOLE 2 FEET. I was wondering if you have an informative video demonstrating that same data for the Photon v2 (p.s. I noticed that you are out of Connecticut as well, is that where the lights are made)

I also decided to go with a different tank, 72 x 24 x 24 tank because a fish store went out of business and i picked up that 125 gallon tank brand new for 75 dollars and he threw in 2 55 gallon tanks for 25 each (one for sump and one so i can cut the glass to make baffles). what one someone recommend for lighting on this tank, it will be a mixed reef

mattstanks2016 · Sep 29, 2016

This was my problem that I just solved! I have a 75 gallon reef tank and I am doing a complete redo (going to make a build forum). The lights are very expensive. If you are wanting to get a tank that can keep everything you can not go with the cheep aqualife lights or marine land. While those are good maybe for soft corals they aren't good for anything else. I have a tank 48x18x21 and what I did was purchased 2 AI prime HD lights. This provides lots of coverage and everything is going great! I love that I can control the colors by them self and also how it has the ability to setup a light plan for the day. Total cost was 450 for both but worth it! I purchased them on Amazon, but you could check out eBay or Craigslist (these are my go to when I need something especially live rock it's like $2 per pound!) Hope this helps!

Reef Breeders · Sep 30, 2016

Totempolez said:
@Reef Breeders - I just watched BRS 52 weeks of reefing episode 21 where they talkrf about LED lighting. They show the PAR of the lights in a 2' x 2' tank at 6",12" and 18" deep. The Kessil 700 had a PAR of over 150 at 18" deep over the WHOLE 2 FEET. I was wondering if you have an informative video demonstrating that same data for the Photon v2 (p.s. I noticed that you are out of Connecticut as well, is that where the lights are made)

I also decided to go with a different tank, 72 x 24 x 24 tank because a fish store went out of business and i picked up that 125 gallon tank brand new for 75 dollars and he threw in 2 55 gallon tanks for 25 each (one for sump and one so i can cut the glass to make baffles). what one someone recommend for lighting on this tank, it will be a mixed reef

I find the kessils to have much less even spread, they are a spotlight with all the LEDs concentrated in the middle, vs. our layout which is more spread out. We have a PAR chart on the website that demonstrates PAR values through water, using an apogee PAR meter. Our lights are manufactured in China (Kessils are made in Taiwan by the way) and we warranty them for 2 years in the USA, our warehouse is in Wakefield RI.

Par%20value%20guide%20Photon%2048%20V2_zpseilnksu3.jpg.html

Totempolez · Oct 1, 2016

i saw that the hydra 52s are supposed to have a 3' x 3' spread, would everyone say that is accurate? because i if i have a 72 x 24 tank that should mean that i only need 2 hydra 52s ?