What is the best light for me?
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EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal
Just another girl who likes fish
Things to Consider When Choosing a Lighting System
My Thoughts on Reef Aquarium Lighting Generally, I avoid answering questions such as ‘Which light is best?’ or ‘Need advice on lighting.’ Let me explain why and provide some thoughts. Will ‘T5’ lamps adequately light a reef aquarium. Yes (T12s too, for that matter.) Metal halides? Of course...
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Selecting a LED Fixture - By Steven Pro
Selecting a LED Fixture In a previous blog entry, I showed some limited testing I performed on some LED fixtures and one metal halide fixture of the same approximate size and wattage. Having demonstrated that LED’s can produce good intensity lighting, I now want to give a few tips on...
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disaster999
Active Member
budget? With your tank being almost 30" tall, I would look for lights that can penetrate that depth and still be bright enough to keep whatever you keep at the bottom alive. If you are on a budget then noops k7 v3 would be a good option.
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vcnt
Well-Known Member
Budget would probably be in the mid range, as i dont wanna get something cheap that will break but then also dont want to spend 1000 on a light
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vcnt
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Ive already got t5s, but i heard they will be phasing out due to lack of demand and the eu passing something about them
vetteguy53081
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Three noopsyche K7 pro lights
Or
Three Orphek OR3-129 light strips *2 sky blue and one blue plus)
OR
three Ai Hydra 26 or 32hd
they’ll grow your corals like weeds. I’ve done it with an ATI fixture
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vcnt
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EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal
Just another girl who likes fish
You heard wrong.
If you decide to stick with T5s, I wouldn't go lower than an 8x54W. But IMO, 29" is begging for a good LED set up.
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vcnt
Well-Known Member
Coild I be good with 4? The guy who sold me his setup said he had his tank running for many years running great and he had the 4 bulbs
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Shhhh the secret is to purchase a few years worth of t5 bulbs to keep them going. Buy replacement ballast also.
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vcnt
Well-Known Member
in the future i might get a t5 led hybrid fixture
As an idea of pricing..
2 100W Nicrews plus controller is $355 total from amazon.
Power (translated as directed par) meets or exceeds the ability of the 4 t5's.
You can debate spectrum, shading, shimmer, looks (dynamic vs static) and control, or lack of all you want.
Point is its not $1000...There are other lights in that range.
300watts $437.
4 50W plus controller $437.
Nice pucks to add to a hybrid..
Current 4 tube hybrid frame (no leds) is about $450
That t5 fixture looks sort of ancient or one with a single reflector and that brings up the quality of the reflectors and its ability to get light deep. Well t5s aren't really known for that anyways.
I could def. be wrong on my guess.
Sacrifice depth penetration for distribution.
Maintenance costs would be about $100/18 months (or less) and hoping no ballast fails. Though 4ft t5 ballasts aren't very expensive.
Light replacement would be cheaper if you stuck with the white/actinic as you have shown. 6500k bulbs (when you can find them) are cheaper than reef bulbs in general.
Nicrew discussion w/ some par data..
Nicrew Hyper Reef Led
Ok, So I just ordered 2 of the 100W version along with a Kessil Spectral Controller X. I will be using these over my 40B. I should have the lights in a couple days and will get PAR readings by next weekend. How did this turn out?
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EDIT- that t5 looks like it doesnt have individual reflectors. I would upgrade to a 4 foot aquatic life hybrid t5 and add 1-2 LED fixtures (2 AI Primes for example) if you want higher PAR at the bottom. You don’t need 8 bulbs of quality t5 if you go t5 only. 6 will do the trick on an 18” wide tank. All this can be found used if you are patient.
I would also suggest the following for a 4 foot long tank. This is an unbelievable deal:
48" 6x54W ATI SunPower T5 High-Output Light Fixture
Find premium aquarium supplies at Aquacave. we offer top brands like Tunze, Ecotech, and more. Free Shipping available!
aquacave.com
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EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal
Just another girl who likes fish
I'd go with this, assuming you'll have similar types of coral. Why fix what ain't broken?
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