Black Friday: “best” SPS lighting for 24 inch cube

Wrasse-cal · Nov 23, 2017

All,

I know “best” is highly subjective, but I want to see what you all would do if you were me.

Parameters:

I’m setting up a new tank, a waterbox 75.2 “cube.” (24x24x20)
Stimulating max coral growth is the most important factor for the light
Connectivity is nice, but I don’t need to be able to tinker. Set (with apex or otherwise) and forget.

The goal is all SPS, top to bottom. I am torn about what lighting system to get. I’m leaning towards the Orphek, but the Kessil/T5 combo is also pretty appealing. If there is something I’m missing, please suggest it!

I’d like to take advantage of Black Friday deals if possible, so I’m really looking to buy now.

Thanks!

Broadfield · Nov 23, 2017

Judging by your poll, it has to be LED? Because a 24" Giesemann Spectra would absolutely rock on that tank... especially for a full SPS top-to-bottom. And it would be the ultimate set and forget... just plug it into your Apex and watch the coral thrive.

Tallison · Nov 23, 2017

Assuming there's no center brace I'd probably go orphek. That or you can go with 2 xr15 pros

Wrasse-cal · Nov 23, 2017

Broadfield said:
Judging by your poll, it has to be LED? Because a 24" Giesemann Spectra would absolutely rock on that tank... especially for a full SPS top-to-bottom. And it would be the ultimate set and forget... just plug it into your Apex and watch the coral thrive.

I’d like to stay with LED for heat reasons. I’ve got no room for a chiller, so I’d be SOL if the light got the tank too hot.

Wrasse-cal · Nov 23, 2017

Tallison said:
Assuming there's no center brace I'd probably go orphek. That or you can go with 2 xr15 pros

No center brace.

JDNels · Nov 23, 2017

Aquatic Life 24" T5 Hybrid/Kessil. Center brace on a 24 cube?????

Zagreus · Nov 23, 2017

I would do an LED T5 hybrid but I would use radion g4. Currently I run 4 t5 and an ai26 hd over my cube mixed reef.

justingraham · Nov 23, 2017

I agree with Broadfield

Halide has come a long way in the heat department

I have halides 13 inches over my tank with no heat problems

I have never ran what Broadfield has recommended but the Reefbrite pendant with xho’s Are nice as well and on sale for a heck of a lot cheaper then I bought it for plus there ballast is nice as well

Broadfield · Nov 23, 2017

p.o.t.u.s said:
I’d like to stay with LED for heat reasons. I’ve got no room for a chiller, so I’d be SOL if the light got the tank too hot.

justingraham said:
I agree with Broadfield

Halide has come a long way in the heat department

I have halides 13 inches over my tank with no heat problems

I have never ran what Broadfield has recommended but the Reefbrite pendant with xho’s Are nice as well and on sale for a heck of a lot cheaper then I bought it for plus there ballast is nice as well

Yeah, I don't have heat issues either... no chiller. My temp is set to 78 degrees and it never gets over 80 by the end of my 7 hour light schedule. That's with my fixture 9" above the water line, (2) 250 MH and (4) 54 watt T5s. If for some reason you ended up having heat issues, regardless of lighting choice, you could always run a small 12-volt fan blowing over the top of your sump.

With all of that being said, it will depend on how warm you let your house get before you have the AC kick on.

Nice choice on the tank though... I'm in the midst of getting Waterbox to sponsor that same one for me.

Wrasse-cal · Nov 23, 2017

Tallison said:
Assuming there's no center brace I'd probably go orphek. That or you can go with 2 xr15 pros

Broadfield said:
Yeah, I don't have heat issues either... no chiller. My temp is set to 78 degrees and it never gets over 80 by the end of my 7 hour light schedule. That's with my fixture 9" above the water line, (2) 250 MH and (4) 54 watt T5s. If for some reason you ended up having heat issues, regardless of lighting choice, you could always run a small 12-volt fan blowing over the top of your sump.

With all of that being said, it will depend on how warm you let your house get before you have the AC kick on.

Nice choice on the tank though... I'm in the midst of getting Waterbox to sponsor that same one for me.

Thanks. I thought about using a fan, but the tank is going in my work office, and I need it to look as clean as possible. Equipment-wise, I’m going to be limited to what I can cram in the stand. My concern with a fan is that that’ll cause more evaporation, and the ATO will have to be refilled too often and be a PITA.

I also strongly prefer to use a light I can mount to the stand or afix to the wall of the tank with a mounting arm. This is mostly because I hate the look of the dangling wire.

One more thing: though the long term plan is full SPS, I was leaning towards an adjustable output LED so I can start with more LPS and softies but not have to swap out equipment later. My understanding is that the adjustment of the MH intensity would be by raising and lowering the bulb, which again, beecause this is my office, light spillover is not ideal.

I was leaning towards the Orphek largely because of the bulk reef supply review discussing the PAR/PUR releative to other lights. The negatives versus other options are the disco ball effect and no (comparatively) intense Kessil shimmer.

justingraham · Nov 23, 2017

Broadfield said:
Nice choice on the tank though... I'm in the midst of getting Waterbox to sponsor that same one for me.

What is this???? Good for u many deserve it

What’s ur evaporating like Broadfield I want to say my 90 gallon 120 total volume evaporates less then a gallon a day

And me op a 12 volt fan is three inches at most u should be able to fit that in ur stand

If I were u I would go halide esp since U want an sps tank top to bottom ur not going to do that cleanly with leds I don’t think and the geisman fixture is sleek If u look on the web there is tons of ways to make hanging ur light nice u can use a wall mount for a tv and Corals are very adaptive if you set it up where u want it and leave them alone they will survive I have a torch in 250 par getting blasted with flow that has doubled its heads

But if u really want the led route I would got with the t-5 hybrid brs just did a video on with the kessil a360 or xr15

Wrasse-cal · Nov 23, 2017

justingraham said:
What is this???? Good for u many deserve it

What’s ur evaporating like Broadfield I want to say my 90 gallon 120 total volume evaporates less then a gallon a day

And me op a 12 volt fan is three inches at most u should be able to fit that in ur stand

If I were u I would go halide esp since U want an sps tank top to bottom ur not going to do that cleanly with leds I don’t think and the geisman fixture is sleek If u look on the web there is tons of ways to make hanging ur light nice u can use a wall mount for a tv and Corals are very adaptive if you set it up where u want it and leave them alone they will survive I have a torch in 250 par getting blasted with flow that has doubled its heads

But if u really want the led route I would got with the t-5 hybrid brs just did a video on with the kessil a360 or xr15

Thanks. Out of curiosity, why not the Orphek?

Velcro · Nov 23, 2017

The Giesemann is amazing if you don’t have to worry about heat.

Here’s what I’ve had on my 93 cube:
Giesemann spectra
8 bulb ATI with reefbrites
Reefbreeder photon v2 (2x24”)
And now currently, 6x retrofit t5 with 2x kessil a360we

My current setup is by far my favorite but it depends on what you are looking for. If you like the bright more natural look of halide, then the spectra is amazing. I’ve grown to like my SPS tank more heavy blue, focusing more on fluorescence. 4x blue+ 2xactinic and the kessils is the perfect combo for this imo since you get the shimmer from the kessils and can adjust the whiteness from the led.

Ati + reefbrite was probably my least favorite because of how flat the tank was. The reefbrite shimmer isn’t NEAR as good as the kessil shimmer.

If you want to go LED only I highly recommend the photon v2 hung HIGH

Zoaeasy · Nov 23, 2017

I have a Orphek compact V4 . I have photos on my build thread .I have both Kessil and Orphek and I can say that there is no disco ball effect with Orphek. It has shimmer but the thing like about it is the blanket of light Like a Halide . Id say it has moderate shimmer. I don't think a 360 Kessil would cover the 60 . perhaps the AP would.