Topic of the Week - Lighting

sassAwrasse · Nov 30, 2014

Let's talk about lighting.

What is your preferred lighting set up for your tank?

Are you an old-school Metal Halide kind of guy?
Do you prefer T-5's?
Have you had success with LEDs?

Do you double dip? Metal Halides and T-5's? T-5's and LEDs?

Let's hear about what you have going on your tanks. What your colors and growth are like? Let's see some pictures.

On the flip-side, have you had some bad experiences with any type of lighting? What would you have done differently.

Have fun and GO!

sassAwrasse · Nov 30, 2014

Currently, I have a 14k Phoenix Metal Halide bulb on our 30g rimless. I'm going to be adding a small LED supplement to it just for the blue pop at night.

We have an 8 bulb T5 on our 80g frag tank. We'll be putting an 8 bulb T5 over our 80g bedroom tank.

We also have a 6ft fixture with 3 Metal Halide and 8 mini (or 4 long bulb) T5s on our 125g.

T5s are by far my favorite. With the right combination, you can get great growth AND color. I've found that with just the MH, I get great growth, but sometimes miss the color I get from the T5s.

fishcrf450r · Dec 1, 2014

I run 1 x 15k and 2 x 20k mh .
I get lots of light but don't like the color as much
As my t5ho with actinic .
Wish i could fit them together .

SteelerMike · Dec 1, 2014

I have 2 ReefBreeder Photon's over my 125 but I am currently working on supplementing them with T5's. For anyone who has done this, how high off the tank do you have your T5's? I ask because most people hang thier LEDs pretty high off the tank but I'm thinking the T5's need to be much closer...

Masedaddy · Dec 1, 2014

I'm wondering the same thing, Mike. I plan on adding some T5's to my setup as well.

sassAwrasse · Dec 1, 2014

We are going to be adding LEDs to our T5s. Interested as well.

KRAZE · Dec 1, 2014

Been a T5 guy since I started in the hobby and I don't plan to stray from that anytime soon. With the variety of colors from multiple companies making quality lamps it makes it easy to play with color combos to get the growth and color your happy with. And they are becoming more affordable to replace lamps which is nice, now if they can just find a way to lessen the power consumption!

Metal halides I had success with, can't really go wrong with a halide/T5 setup but as mentioned you don't always get the best visual color with all halides but definitly grow corals like crazy.

As far as LEDs go I feel its only the beginning of their time in this hobby and no one has yet to perfect a good all around LED. Eventually LEDs will be the standard but there's still too many downfalls to convince me on an all together changeover.

I see the next 5 years of lighting being dominated by the hybrid T5/LED lights as that's where trends are going towards, and in the meantime LEDs alone will get better. Once an LED is released that does everything a halide or t5s can do, its then going to still be a few more years until its affordable to most hobbiests lol

Bryan47 · Dec 1, 2014

I have 4 t5's but I would like to add blue led steips to really make the corals pop. What are the best for this?

smb2415 · Dec 1, 2014

Running 3 GHL Mitras over 42" deep tank.

Considering Ecoxotic cannons down the road.

Useful_Idiot · Dec 1, 2014

I don't know the maximum height at which t5's lose their efficiency but from the research I did when I was adding mine 6" is best. When I was running a few bulbs I started out with them at 4". Got to be too much salt on the reflectors and I raised them to the more common 6" and noticed that the color of the tank looked a little better due to the different color bulbs blending/overlapping better. For some reason the colors don't blend as well in the water as above the water. However the higher they are from the surface of the water the more par from them you lose. If you're getting most of your par from leds maybe that's not an issue for you.

Useful_Idiot · Dec 1, 2014

I prefer the t5 led combo. You can't beat royal blue leds for the glow but that's all leds are good for in my opinion and experience. I was new to the hobby when AI leds came out and believed it when I read about how these were the best lights ever made. So I sold my t5 fixture that he'd worked out great for me and proceeded to kill off, bleach and starve my coral of light. The ones under the center of the light got fried(40 degree optics) the ones on the edge of that bleached slowly and because I was trying to use one AI to light a 40 breeder the corals on the far edges of the tank didn't get hardly any light at all. When I set up my 150 cube and added 2 t5's to it and saw a huge improvement in the color of the coral a couple weeks in. So I added 2 more, and again later another 2 seeing an improvement each time. When I set up again I'll have 8 t5's and the two AI's.

svogun · Dec 2, 2014

I've used Gen 1 Radions for LPS. Currently planning on upgrading to a Gen 3 pro for a 90 gallon SPS tank. If anyone out there has had success with SPS growth with the Gen1s I'd be interested in hearing any feedback before I spend the buck to upgrade.

sassAwrasse · Dec 2, 2014

I'm surprised that the majority of the poll has LEDs so far. Thought there would be more MH or T5 users..

KRAZE · Dec 2, 2014

Only 2 people choose t5, but 4 posted that they are using them, and the only people who commented that they are using LED said they plan to supplement T5 to their LED. Anyone who runs just LEDs and is happy with them just the way they are? 16 people have them in the poll! I know triggreef is full LED and his set up does very well. If he posts I have a follow up for the reason I feel he does have such good luck, but first Dave has to tell us about his tank

drsalomon · Dec 2, 2014

I am all led. One tank has two hydras, another one sol, another two vegas. Sps dominant. Once thry are dialed in, they are great. But be careful with intensity of white and uv channels in my experience.

Bryan47 · Dec 3, 2014

How can I add blue leds to the tank? The ones that give the killer glow? Because my t5 fixture takes up a lot of room they'd have to be small?

Any ideas?! Thanks !

KRAZE · Dec 3, 2014

Bryan47 said:
How can I add blue leds to the tank? The ones that give the killer glow? Because my t5 fixture takes up a lot of room they'd have to be small?

Any ideas?! Thanks !

Stunner strip. They are only for visuals, don't do anything for coral growth. Then there's also the ecoxotic strips that are nice too.

Bryan47 · Dec 3, 2014

Awesome! I will check them out!!

Bryan47 · Dec 3, 2014

It would appear the stunner strips only use quarter watt leds. Amazon has the rolls of strip leds with surface mount leds with multiple color options for $25. I could probably mount these on the edges of my T5 light and get just as good an effect. They make water proof ones for the same price that have a plastic sleeve. I could get probably 4 rows of LEDs where the stunner will only give me one row. I think I will give this a shot. Make sure to get 5050 smd leds.