T5 and LED combo questions

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haleyf1024

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I'll start by saying that I have no idea which forum to put this in, so if the LED specific or the DIY groups woyld be better, I'll move it :) So I am finally able to switch to ATI bulbs from the crappy stock lights that come with AquaticLife fixtures. The light is 60" and is only 4 bulbs. I plan on getting a Blue+, a purple, and a coralpro bulb for sure. The fourth bulb will either be an actinic (to run at night) or another coralpro (I am not a fan of blue tinted light, I prefer very white lighting.) I feel that the 4 bulbs isn't enough and want to add LEDs to supplement. I will be doing it DIY, following The King of DIY's tutorial on youtube as it seems the most efficient and cost effective. How many watts should I use? The tank is 110 gallons, 60"x20"x21" and I have/plan on doing a mixed reef. Also, would you recommend getting an actinic bulb to run overnight, or using blue LEDs instead, and using the fourth spot for another coralpro? My tank gets some form of light at night (1 actinic up until now) and only gets a 2 hour period of absolutely nothing in the early morning, and I want to keep it that way. I'm leaning towards the coralpro and using dimmed blue LEDs.
 
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kingston.buck

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I haven't seen the led mod but I would run the leds for the night and on the lowest setting. The actinic bulb may not look very bright but it's still giving off par. It would be better to not have it on and let your coral rest or do you plan to just run the actinic for an hour or two then lights out for the night?
 
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gus6464

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King of diys light builds are for ambient lights mostly. If you want actual growing power you will need to go with a puck style build or strip type is possible but you will need high power strips like blueacro or nanobox strips.
 
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kingston.buck

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The center two bulbs came out and that's where the nanobox retrofit went. I'll try and get a better picture when I get home this is all I have on my phone.

1481058380101.jpg
 

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