SPS Lighting Opinions

[E.intheC]

I just started a 120 gallon, 4ft x 2ft x 2ft tank. Im planning on running an SPS dominant tank. I have been overthinking the lighting decision and would appreciate some opinions.

I currently have the following lights from previous setups:

-2x Kessil a360we pendants. One is brand new, the other is only a month old.
-1x Radion Gen 1 upgraded to a gen3
-Geisemann 24inch 150watt MH /T5 combo.

The tank has a center brace. It’s an in-wall tank so I’m not concerned about light fixture aesthetics. I’m also going for more of a minimalist aquascape. I’ve ruled halides out

I’m leaning toward the following:

-keep the 3 LED fixtures (Radion in the center, Kessils on either sideand buy 2x additional T5 retrofit kits from LET lighting.

-Sell all of the above and buy a 6 bulb ATI T5 fixture.

-Open to other reasonable suggestions.

Thanks for the help!

 

[stephj03]

If MH is out, I would


sell all of the above and buy 2Radion G4 pro or G5 blue and a 48" aquatic Life hybrid .

Or

sell all and buy a 48" 8x54w ATI hybrid LED power module.

Or sell all and buy 2 Orphek Atlantik V4.2

 

[jda]

What are you looking for? Coverage? Ease? Apps? Pure performance? It will help to know... all that we know now is that form-factor is no issue.

 

[E.intheC]

Yeah I struggled a bit with the initial post lol. Sorry about that...

I’m looking for best light within reason., meaning I can’t have 1,000s of watts of halides or spend $2,000 on LED panels.
Coverage is important, Im not going for a wall to wall SPS setup, but rather a few small islands in the middle.

Color is more important than growth.

I don’t care about apps or high tech. Reliable lighting that works well is the goal. I’ve ruled out MH because of the wattage and heat requirements in a rather small space.

I’m leaning toward a T5 fixture at this point.

 

[Saltysav96]

have you looked into the GHL mitra lx7206?

i am looking at lighting for my next build too and im thinking about going ghl over radion.

 

[lemonade]

Really hard to beat ATI T5s. I've used MH for years, tried the newer LEDs. Nothing could make me go back or change from an ATI fixture

 

[Lapras]

48" ATI PowerModule T5's... 8 bulb. I will never go pure LEDs again.

 

[greg 45]

I just removed my 48 inch 8 bulb t 5 set up. Yes I liked the coverage over the tank . I went back to my metal halides with the radium bulb. Just my 2 cents .

 

[Kayvon]

As a person with an 8 bulb powermodule I'd go with a sunpower and add reefbrites or something when you feel like it needs more power.

 

[E.intheC]

So it looks like T5s is the most popular suggestion. I’ve used a 6 bulb on a 90 gallon and was very happy with it.

I looked at the Mitras and have heard good things. But I’d rather go Radion for LEDs.

 

[stephj03]

Yeah I struggled a bit with the initial post lol. Sorry about that...

I’m looking for best light within reason., meaning I can’t have 1,000s of watts of halides or spend $2,000 on LED panels.
Coverage is important, Im not going for a wall to wall SPS setup, but rather a few small islands in the middle.

Color is more important than growth.

I don’t care about apps or high tech. Reliable lighting that works well is the goal. I’ve ruled out MH because of the wattage and heat requirements in a rather small space.

I’m leaning toward a T5 fixture at this point.

When you say SPS dominant but not wall to wall,. Approximately how many ft of the 4ft of tank length are you wanting to have SPS in?

When you say color is more important than growth do you mean the kind of colors that only LEDs bring? T5 is a great budget option on the front end, but a T5 dominant setup will not provide the kind of pop that your Kessils/Radion do. If both are used, T5 will drown out a lot of the LED pop when anymore than 3-4 T5 bulbs are on.

What is the approx range of your budget for lighting without selling what you have? Could you spend $300-500 on an aquatic Life hybrid unit?

Unfortunately, $1-2k is a common budget range to light 4ft worth of SPS if meaningful LEDs are deployed IMO.

It's unlikely anyone would recommend 2 Kessils and a G3 with a couple of T5s for a 4ft SPS build. If you have it and are strapped for cash by all means throw it on. But I would be prepared to feel like an upgrade is needed in the near future.

You could sell what you have and get into a 6-8 bulb T5, but that right would favor growth over color even with a few hundred more spent on reefbright/Orphek bars.

 

[x2uranium]

8 bulb cheapie amazon fixture with 2 year old bulbs running. I do have reefbrites for some pop

I think the fixture was about $120 lol

 

[Beardo]

I would get a 6 bulb sunpower and keep the 2 kessils. Mount the 2 kessils towards the front angled in. Gives you some shimmer and led pop for evening viewing.
I run the same but 8 bulb and additional kessils because of bigger tank.

 

[dustinc]

I think the best option you have is keep your 2 Kessil A360we and sell the Radion and MH to pay for either (2) LET units as you discussed or just by the 4ft aquatic life hybrid and it comes with the brackets you need for your Kessil lights. Those 2 LED fixtures w/ the 4 T5 bulbs will be perfect for you to be able to grow anything in that tank. I have the same tank and am running (2) Kessil A360x and 2 LET units (4bulbs total) and I haven't tested PAR yet, but I'm very confident I'll be able to do wall to wall SPS.

 

[svogun]

I think that you have more than enough lighting at your disposal now. I'd look at what your radion in the center and kessil's on either side give you in terms of PAR and spread of that par. The radion light diffuser is great for eliminating hot spots if you don't have one.