LED lights for 75 gallon

[FreedR]

Hi reefers,

I currently have a 75 gallon box of air that I'm about to convert back to a box of water—and corals. It's been defunct for three years (alas!) but I need to upgrade the electric and lights before I can just add water (and salt and rocks and dollars).

What's the latest on LEDs? What LED setup do you recommend? I was previously running 2x 175 watt metal halides and 2x T12 VHO actinics.

Thanks in advance.

[FreedR]

no one?

[gus6464]

Budget?

[gone fishin]

FWIW I have been using 3 maxspect razor 420R 16k units for about 18 months now. I am happy with them. I have some leathers, LPS, easier SPS and gorgonians.

[Rubasu]

If you're on a budget, I love my MarsAqua (chinese black box LEDs.) They are pretty cheap and they have a decent spectrum. Check them out on eBay

[FreedR]

Budget? In this hobby? What's a budget? ;)
Seriously, though: I'm just trying to get a feel for what to expect.

[FreedR]

Thanks gone fishin and Rubasu. I will check out the maxspect razor and the MarsAqua.

Back in the old MH days, the rule of thumb used to be 6-8 W/gal, minimum for mixed reefs (which is what I want to have). Over my 75 gal I used to run 175W x2 MH + 110W x2 actinics. What's the recommendation with LEDs?

[shifty51008]

Why not stay with the 2 mh's?

But if you go led you will still want to add in a couple t5's to prevent shadowing. If you want the shimmer look of mh's with led's i would suggest looking at kessil's. A couple a360w's or the ap700. Should work fine along with the t5's.

[first29gallon]

I have the Galaxyhydro, it's another Chinese LED but you can control it with your smartphone through wifi. Very customizable for white blues ramp up and ramp ddown. Also has moonlight for night time if you choose to have it on. All three are fully controllible either manually or automatic timer. I love mine

[FreedR]

Why not stay with the 2 mh's?


Because the ancient ballast that drove my old MH's finally gave up the ghost, and I'm basically starting from scratch with the wiring on the hood. Clean slate. Wanted to see what's out there, and figured LEDs were probably more energy efficient in the long run, no?

[FreedR]

I have the Galaxyhydro, it's another Chinese LED but you can control it with your smartphone through wifi. Very customizable for white blues ramp up and ramp ddown. Also has moonlight for night time if you choose to have it on. All three are fully controllible either manually or automatic timer. I love mine

Control with smartphone? Man, a lot has changed in the past four years! Excited to be getting the tank back up.

How many of these Galaxyhydro LEDs would you put over a 75 gallon?

Also, first29gallon: do you run just LEDs, or also T5s? Would love to see some pix for inspiration....

[shifty51008]

and figured LEDs were probably more energy efficient in the long run, no?

plenty of threads out there about this, all in all they may be better for energy but deff not as much as people think. and people are now finding out they need twice as many led's as first thought.

[FreedR]

plenty of threads out there about this, all in all they may be better for energy but deff not as much as people think. and people are now finding out they need twice as many led's as first thought.

What kind of lights are you running over your 75g, shifty51008?

[shifty51008]

I run dual 250 watt MH's and 2 VHO's. will be switching the VHO's to T5's during the next bulb change though as VHO's are getting harder to find.

[chilli_reef]

Personally I like my reef breeders (evergrow) 48" photon.
Its plenty bright enough for any coral.

[Indymann99]

For budget +1 on the Reefbreeders LED fixture.

my 0.02

[Hatonhed]

The reefbreeder light is now only available in the V2. 650 bucks is kind of spendy, are there any more economical options available?

[LQT]

How about a couple of Ocean Revive T247's? I've heard pretty decent reviews on that light, supposedly better spread and color than the Mars Aqua fixture. They're $200 a piece. Sometimes, they go on sale for $158 a piece.

[win]

I would recommend Zetlight, probably the 6600a or 6800... Been following Tanked and they got it set up without burning the budget