What is/are the best reef light?

[toadfarm]

I am still a novice, but I have the ReefBreeders V2+. Love the ability to adjust color and intensity. I have a mix of LPS, SPS, Anenomes and soft. Bunch of inverts and 3 fish. Everybody seems happy from what I can tell. I see growth on all of the corals. Only bleached one, but I think that was because of too much change from where I got it and then to my tank.

 

[Gregg @ ADP]

At this point, I’ve probably run every conceivable combination.

Not sure there’s a best. I’ve settled on AI Hydras with some T5s thrown in as an all-purpose rig. I really like the controllability of the Hydras for the price. The most important thing is to pick a schedule/format and stick with it. Changing it all the time will tweak the corals.

Growth is usually good, not great. But the colors are banging. Most people would rather have smaller corals that blast color than big ones that are not as colorful, so I go that route. And they do grow eventually.

 

[Scott97062]

I used to have a combo of Metal halides and VHObut switched to LEDs several years ago. Now I have a pair of Ai LED's and I love them.

 

[stephj03]

Sorry, I didn't at all mean that only noobs run G4 Pros with Aquatic Life hybrid fixtures.

What I meant is in your first year or two of the hobby, it's wise to adopt the standard so ppl can more easily connect with you and help when needed.

Having said that, I am a:

Formerly slightly dissapointed Radion G4 Pro user (1.5yr),

Presently satisfied Orphek V4.2 user (1.5yr)

And likely future satisfied user of MH w/LED supplement in a warm climate zone that will continue not needing a chiller and using about the same amount of electricity as was experienced with the above lights run for over 1.5yrs ea.



So...... I think it would be awesome if we could actually start calling G4s w hybrid fixtures "the noob setup" hahahaha (tongue and cheek, I promise, sort of)

 

[zalick]

I've used the following lights over the last 25yrs:

Power compacts grow clams and corals ok.

T5s grow clams and corals well and easy.

LEDS can grow clams and corals well, but require planning/tinkering.

MH grow everything better than all of the above and are easy.

I currently have Mitras LX7 LEDs. I like them well enough. i had Kessil a360 before them and they were decent as well.

If the purpose is to give your coral what it needs to grow as fast as it wants, then you can't beat MH. I miss mine.

I've never run a MH/T5 combo, but I think that would probably be the best.

Maybe it's time for me to add some MH to my Mitras.

 

[stephj03]

Maybe it's time for me to add some MH to my Mitras.

I think I'll be doing the same thing at some point this yr. Gonna add Radiums in between my Orpheks before I go and buy more Orpheks. Still have full size lumenarcs and bluewaves in the garage.

Get Max growth from the MH, and max color from the LEDs, I think that's what it will do.

 

[alton]

Metal Halide is still king with either LED or T5's. Run leds/T5 for 8 to 10 hours and MH in the winter for 8, in the summer only 3 hours is required and no heating issues. The Con side is the look.
This

Versus this

 

[AlainD]

For me, this is a very interesting subject, even if the answers can be very different from one person to another.

In my area, I do not have the chance to see several models of lamp in demonstration, so I must rely on the experiences of people on Reef2Reef. For example, right now, I would be more interested in going to LED only for my SPS tank and I see that many suggest the Orphek V4. There is also the Reefi extrem which is mentioned in other posts. I could make the easy and expensive choice of going to radion G4 Pro (that's what my LFS suggests to me), but I see by reading your comments that there are other cheaper options that can lead to also good result.

Thank you for taking the time to answer this type of question by giving a good explanation based on your experience.

 

[zalick]

Metal Halide is still king with either LED or T5's. Run leds/T5 for 8 to 10 hours and MH in the winter for 8, in the summer only 3 hours is required and no heating issues. The Con side is the look.
This

Versus this

Nice looking tanks. I still think MH is beautiful! I'm an avid diver, and I do love shining a UV flashlight on corals to make them pop, but the natural sun makes them amazing all the same.

 

[alton]

Don't get me wrong I loved the light and colors in the tank, I just didn't like the large pendants and the lighting of the room

 

[RCS82]

Best light ever thread, so much fun.
Sure is nice seeing M/Hs getting mentioned so much here. That's my vote, with either the 14k Phoenix or Radium bulb.
My opinion only is that M/Hs are at the top of the heap in regards to most natural looking, best shimmer, power output, color blending, spectrum and spread, ok T5s are great here too. But M/Hs do it all. Aesthetics maybe not so much, but a bunch of LED mounting arms and rails aren't the prettiest sometimes either. A little heat and electricity, well just plug a little fan in, small trade off in my world. And I love the T5s and the LEDs and Radions and Orpheks, but for the money and you just plug them in, M/H for the win.

 

[symon_say]

Stable one, old lights seen to work better than led, because people set it and for get it, but with all the features leds have, people like playing with then, and changing things.

 

[PANONHAS]

So I guess I have all the bases covered lol.

 

[JasPR]

I own both Kessil panels and Eco tech Pros. I owned both for 4-5 years now. I first liked the kessils more. And although they do a great job on making my anemone very happy, over time I came to think of the Eco tech pro's as superior. Small things, small results-- But the learning curve on Eco techs IS a bear! You WILL likely burn stuff until you get it right. In the commercial evolution/revolution, I ditched my combo metal Halide and actinic fixtures for LEDs. And based on results, I feel a little foolish for spending THOUSANDS ( $5600 in total) on new lights when those old MH and Actinic bulbs did a wonderful job without the burning and the months of wondering -- " are things growing better now or is the light still too strong or of too narrow a spectrum". We hobbyists can look silly sometimes pursuing heaven on earth.

 

[Rilo]

From the tank's I've seen on the internet and in person the T5/LED combo is best aesthetically and for growth.

 

[SeaDweller]

if I had to do it again, I'd do MH and LEDs; hands down the best combo. I'm currently running all LED.

 

[The cats wrasse]

From your build thread (https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/brandons-diy-reef.672831/) you have metal halide and T5 over your 75 gallon. What is prompting the change?

ReefBreeders Photon V2+ will be hard to beat for this size of tank. Illumagic Blaze (uniquecorals has them) is another consideration. AI Primes, EcoTech Radions, or Orphek will be expensive as you’ll need multiple lights.

This doesnt really help you but I find the kessil to be the best b.c of how close their diodes are to each other it helps concentrate the full spectrum into 1 beam which eliminates the "disco ball effect" that you get from other led lights

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

The truth is you are not going to get a straight answer on this particular question because the problem is "best" is usually determined by the end user, not a scientific analysis.

For example, you can be just as successful with LEDs as MHs but reef hobbyists will argue with each other until they're dead that one is superior to the other. (If you bring up which salt is best you'll see the same trend.)

The science shows that they all work. LEDs, MHs, T5s, CFLs all work. It is now the end user deciding which is "best" and the reasoning will vary greatly based on what that person's preference is and what they want their system to grow/look like.

I prefer LEDs and run the AI Hydra 26 HDs over all of my tanks as I find they are at the perfect threshold of cost and quality. Are Radions "better"? I think so, but not enough for me to shell out the extra money for them.

 

[Fourstars]

Sure 14K hailde will grow coral and fast! But in a hobbyist tank do your really want the fastest growth? I don’t know about you, but my real estate is pricey!

 

[stephj03]

Sure 14K hailde will grow coral and fast! But in a hobbyist tank do your really want the fastest growth? I don’t know about you, but my real estate is pricey!

I guess it depends on how many frags you want to trim and sell.