How can anyone be happy with the lighting options out there?

[RCS82]

Honest question, what do you like about this MH over other options?

Oh this is too easy.
I'll try to keep this short. 6 months ago I set up a 60g cube. On my old tank I had 2 metal halides plus 2 gen4 XR15s, I added these for fun, before that I had an XHO Reefbrite but thought the ramping up/down would be nice. So the new cube I'm using one metal halide with one gen4 pro with it. Price wise, the Radion is more money and about a third of the wattage. Based on running it not full out usually around 60 or 70watts. Compared to 250watts from the metal halide. I know efficiency and all that comes into play but these are simple numbers. I have a 12"x12" reflector, and it throws the light around. I like daylight viewing, not windex viewing, so the 14k spectrum is perfect. Output, blending, spread, coverage, natural shimmer, the Radion doesn't compare. I'm going SPS dominant and if I were to go all Radion I would have 3 XR15s or 2 XR30s over my tank to match my single metal halide. Aesthetics wise, looks fine to me, either way something is going to be hanging over my tank lol.

Not a good pic but this shows the aesthetics. I've since lowered the setup down a couple inches to around 12" above the tank.

 

[Tony the Fish]

Go with reefbreeders photon v2

 

[McPuff]

You'll have lots of options if you look at used fixtures. Gen 3 pro Radions are very good lights and can be had for $300 pretty regularly. There are numerous other used options for $200 or less.

Orphek are fantastic. If you can find one of these for a good price, I'd jump on it.

 

[dohc97]

There are many ways of skinning this particular cat as you have seen by everyone's responses. Decide what you want out of the light, then go find something that fits your requirements and that is reliable, expand your search by looking at used, good equipment can be found. If you want the Windex glow in the dark look by all means go led, nothing else will do. If you want more of a natural reef look your options are wide open...

 

[jd371]

Puck LEDs - Expensive. Either spotlights or disco ball. Kessils are great but $$$ and are known to go out after 2 years. Maybe Redsea 50's?

I haven't heard of them going out after 2 years and I'm sure if that was a common problem it would be reflected in this forum. I've had my 4 160's now for 5 years with no problems. I have the T5 hybrid and love the shimmer from the Kessils and the T5's help with the shadowing.

 

[EMeyer]

Does the Disco Ball go away with 3 of them? Disco really bothers me.

People often complain of disco effects with black boxes. I have found that removing the lenses solves this problem, at least enough for me.

I have removed lenses from all my black boxes and find I get better spread this way, with less of a hot spot directly under them. Of course it also reduces PAR substantially but these things generally have more PAR than we need anyway. As a side benefit, this also seems to have removed the disco ball effect for me.

 

[91yjeeper]

I haven't heard of them going out after 2 years and I'm sure if that was a common problem it would be reflected in this forum. I've had my 4 160's now for 5 years with no problems. I have the T5 hybrid and love the shimmer from the Kessils and the T5's help with the shadowing.

That's great! Do you clean them?

 

[Fakegolfnews]

Somebody talk some sanity into me. Seems like every lighting setup has some major flaw. I have a 29 Gallon -

and I am have the HARDEST time finding a good lighting option. I just can't pull the trigger on ~$600 when I'm not confident I'll have success.

T5's - Simple success, but are just as expensive as some LEDs, have no shimmer and no controlability. Bulb replacements arent so bad I guess.
Metal Halide - Old, power hungry, unsightly, but give great results.
Puck LEDs - Expensive. Either spotlights or disco ball. Kessils are great but $$$ and are known to go out after 2 years. Maybe Redsea 50's?
Strip LEDs - Economical. Not many newer models out there. Some have huge paneling on them. Barely generate enough PAR for SPS. Just as expensive as pucks, but look worse.
LED + T5 Hybrid - Performance king. BRS recommended. But can't help wonder why I would spend $$$ to add LEDs in later if they are just for aesthetics? Plus, who wants a HUGE fixture above their tank?

I've narrowed it down to:

Budget option - 1 or 2 Orbit Marine LED Strips - $150

Economical option - Maxspect Razer X R5 - $450

Ideal option - 2xRedsea Reefled 50's - $520

Dream option - 1xRadion XR30 G5, or Orphek v4 compact

What am I missing here?

2 AI primes with $20 3d reefing diffusers. No disco ball at all, and to3u have plenty of light even if you're doing acros. Under $400 with used lights. Someome is selling a prime hd used one day for $140 right now on here.

 

[Mrtakeoff53]

What about a ReefBreeders 24" panel? Right around $400, so not a wallet buster, but many have good results with them.

I just changed my lights and went with the 24” Reefbreeders. I had a Kessil A360WE before. The Reefbreeders is AMAZING. My corals are growing faster than they ever have and coloring up like crazy! Go with Reefbreeders!

 

[CoralVue_Marketing]

I haven't seen any lights recommended here that won't grow coral. I've used cheap strip lighting like the Skkye Light ($78), NemoLight ($103.04), and Aqua Air ($149.99) and they've all grown corals in my small mixed reef tanks. Even easy SPS like Montis and Birdsnest. I've had the most success with metal halides.

 

[Backreefing]

You have an amazing tank! Well done, I'm super jealous, but your logic comes off as "I bought a Corvette, and I'm happy. Check out my burnouts." ...It's not so helpful when I'm looking for the Honda Accord of reef lighting.

hahaha

 

[Backreefing]

The original thread was about lighting a 29 ? I had a 37 with the same footprint. 30”/12” . If I had to do a 29 , I would get a Hamilton Bimini sun fixture . And throw a led bar on for some pop . That will cover everything and grow anything. My 2 cents.

 

[Ameer214]

2x prime hds/16s.

 

[91yjeeper]

I just changed my lights and went with the 24” Reefbreeders. I had a Kessil A360WE before. The Reefbreeders is AMAZING. My corals are growing faster than they ever have and coloring up like crazy! Go with Reefbreeders!

Do you get any disco with Reefbreeders?

 

[lexinverts]

$2300 is no small amount of cash for lights. I'm glad you are happy with them.

Extremes are $650 each with the ReeFi Love discount code, so $1950 for three. With ReeFis, you get what you pay for. I have three and love mine. No disco, great par, and great colors.

 

[Mrtakeoff53]

Do you get any disco with Reefbreeders?

Not really. If I get really close to the tank to inspect a coral, I see a little. But viewing the tank from normal distances I don’t see any.

I really can’t day enough good things about this light. In 24 days, I had my WWC Green Birdsnest coral go from a normal sized frag to a monster frag that’ll be a colony in no time. My Purple Stylo loves it too. It is capable of some some really high PAR as well. I only run mine at 50% at peak. This light is amazing.

 

[Steven Garland]

Just go with a 24" 6 bulb dimmable t5 and add 2 lumen bars from ReefBreeders.

 

[91yjeeper]

Just go with a 24" 6 bulb dimmable t5 and add 2 lumen bars from ReefBreeders.

Way too deep of a fixture for my tank. It's 30wide x 12deep x 14tall.

 

[VR28man]

Obivously, this is a question fraught with opinions. I'm not going to read each page of this thread....

..but honestly, the answer is heavily dependent on what you keep.

If you're going for softies or most LPS I'd just go with a cheap LED. Pacific East Aquaculture claims they use Reef Brite T247s in their zoa/softie/lps vats and highly recommends those. I'd imagine montipora capita would also grow decently under these.

I previously owned a 29G (until my tank crash). I would not recommend Kessils for SPS due to shading, and that I never had success with two kessils and any kind of branching SPS.

I had good success with T5s (two Coralife 36" T5 fixtures for 4x T5s) and acros. They are a bit too long to smoothly fit a 29G, though. (don't bother with the 30" T5s). I ran those for 8 hours plus an LED bar from 21LEDUSA for 8 hours, the latter basically for ambient lighting. (OP if you are interested in this PM me)

And, honestly, I'd dump the 29g for a 40 breeder if at all possible for a permanent tank. The 40B has many better options and is more flexible, IMO.

The original thread was about lighting a 29 ? I had a 37 with the same footprint. 30”/12” . If I had to do a 29 , I would get a Hamilton Bimini sun fixture . And throw a led bar on for some pop . That will cover everything and grow anything. My 2 cents.

I would also recommend this. The Hamilton fixtures are supposedly much better than the old ones, and the Bimini sun fixture is a very slim option.

 

[Steven Garland]

13.4" wide,so that would literally put the bulba directly over the tank. Think how the fixture is made,you'd never even notice the extra 1.5" width.

That would be the outer concave of the fixture,but just a suggestion.