Reef Lighting

[Oroborous]

Hi,

I am looking to get into reefing. I have a 90 gal tank and currently using the coralife panel that uses fluorescent light bulbs and i am looking to get away from this variant. This dinosaur takes 8 bulbs that are blue light, 2 middle bulbs that provide a bright light as well as few small blue lights in the middle as well. Unless experts on here would suggest me otherwise I was thinking to move towards a LED light to save power this light is draining (I am not sure how much power saving i would have vs LED) and i am looking for suggestions as well as offers what i can ruin that would be suitable for a reef tanks that is 90g. I don't want to sound like i want to cut corners but i can't afford those very expensive lights like kessels brand new and even i wanted to use them i would probably need 2 360x's at least to make this work for the tank this size.

Below is what i have.

 

[Alarmguy66]

SOOO many options...SOOO much to consider. The 36" CFLs in that fixture you have are getting harder to find, T5 kinda took over and everything else went to the wayside. The metal halide portion (thats what the center bulbs appear to be) are great lighting, but fairly expensive to replace as well, considering it should be done twice a year, not to mention they are power hungry. I still prefer the all encompassing coverage of T5, but a 48" fixture with 4 bulbs is going to be your minimum investment for that 48" tank. Thats going to be about the cost of a single mid-high end LED fixture. Then you still have bulbs to replace.

Watch some BRS lighting videos, do some research, look at the options. Sure you can spend the big bucks, and thats probably the best bet if you have it to spend. The EBAY "black box" lighting fixtures do work, I have one myself, but they arent for everyone, or people wouldnt spend so much on Radions and Kessils. Search lighting here and you will find TONS of opinions, good and bad. Just take your time, don't get overwhelmed and let your budget be the deciding factor. There are plenty of options that will do the job for under $350, some as low as $200, but everything has drawbacks as well as advantages. If you are thinking of SPS AT ALL, going cheap now is only going to cost you more later. Bite that bullet once.

More will chime in, be ready for some good ideas.

 

[blstravler]

I recently moved to an ATI T5 Fixture from LED (3 Hydra 52 HD's) - I got a ATI 48in 6 bulb non dimmable unit. I got it used in pretty rough shape. However ATI sells all of the parts you could possibly need to fix ANYTHING. This is one of the reasons I went this route. With the fixture, replacement parts and bulbs I spent about $400. I got the fixture on E-Bay and actually only paid $150 + Shipping.

From a power perspective I noticed a slight decline in power consumption between the LED and the ATI Fixture - keep in mind I was running 3 Hydra 52's. The PAR coverage is a very nice and I have no issues growing anything in my tank. With the LED's I had major hot spot's and that problem is now gone with the T5's. If you have any questions feel free to message me.

 

[Oroborous]

Have you ever used Radions XR30W or any lights used by Radion?