Which lighting would you go with?

[CrunchyBananas]

So I am getting ready to upgrade from a 30 gallon biocube to a 75 gallon tank, and I purchased two ocean revive arctic t247 fixtures to light it. However, through a series of fortunate events, I now also have a t5 metal halide hybrid fixture with all new bulbs (2 actinic, 2 coral plus, 2 14000k 150w metal halide) that fits over my tank perfectly. My current reef is lit by a mars aqua 165 watt black box.

All that said, what you you guys recommend I use when I step up to my 75? stick with LED's since its cooler and possibly less stress on the corals? Move over to the time tested t5 and metal halide?

 

[MombasaLionfish]

If your planning on getting live rock it will take much longer to spread with a LED light.

 

[Jay Norris]

So I am getting ready to upgrade from a 30 gallon biocube to a 75 gallon tank, and I purchased two ocean revive arctic t247 fixtures to light it. However, through a series of fortunate events, I now also have a t5 metal halide hybrid fixture with all new bulbs (2 actinic, 2 coral plus, 2 14000k 150w metal halide) that fits over my tank perfectly. My current reef is lit by a mars aqua 165 watt black box.

All that said, what you you guys recommend I use when I step up to my 75? stick with LED's since its cooler and possibly less stress on the corals? Move over to the time tested t5 and metal halide?

Where do you live, if you live in a warm climate, you might also need a chiller, but if you live in a colder environment you may want to stick with the M/H T5 combo. Me personally, I would get the best LED's you can afford, and never look back. I love the way my aquarium looks under LED lighting, using my Mitra lights.

 

[CrunchyBananas]

I live in MD so pretty middle of the road climate wise, I also forgot to mention it will be an SPS dominant tank.

MombasaLionfish, What exactly do you mean by it taking much longer to spread? Are you referring to LED's spotlight effect?

 

[MombasaLionfish]

I live in MD so pretty middle of the road climate wise, I also forgot to mention it will be an SPS dominant tank.

MombasaLionfish, What exactly do you mean by it taking much longer to spread? Are you referring to LED's spotlight effect?

The purple coralline algae on a live rock will take about a year or more to spread with an LED, but with a HO 10000K t5 it will take more like 2 months.

 

[Ronn]

All depends on what you want. More growth go with t5s. But better color go with leds. I just switched from t5s to sbreef leds and love them. Much easier to
Use and the colors of my corals are amazing.

 

[MombasaLionfish]

I'm planning on doing three different kinds of lights on my tank the original light the tank came with, a LED, and a t5.

 

[Jay Norris]

I live in MD so pretty middle of the road climate wise, I also forgot to mention it will be an SPS dominant tank.

MombasaLionfish, What exactly do you mean by it taking much longer to spread? Are you referring to LED's spotlight effect?

The LED's I use grow SPS corals like weeds, and as far as Coraline growth on the rocks and other surfaces, it also grows very fast. The only draw back to LED's is they are not plug and play, so you need to be able to program to the same spectrum and PAR you have with the plug and play M/H's. The good news is their are more and more pre made programs you can download and add to your LED lights, and more are being introduced on the internet all the time.

 

[CrunchyBananas]

Thanks for the insights everyone! Im still a bit on the fence but am thinking I’ll go with my led’s and maybe supplement with a t5 or two if I’m not satisfied with them

 

[xmas]

Use the 360x. Or the Atlantic v4 and you’ll get the same growth as the t5.