thoughts on led lights for deep reef tank?

[smb2415]

I have a 7' long 36" wide and 32" deep tank. It is a mixed reef, or at least planned to be. Currently Im lighting it with 3 GHL Mitras at about 8" off the water. I can go as high as about 12" off the water.

Im running the lights at around 85% during highest period. Im just not convinced there is enough light for proper coral growth. I know that I'll need to keep SPS at the top.

Lately I have been reconsidering my selection in lighting choice. I can buy more Mitras (prob 3 more would be needed). However at that point of running 6 300watt lights Im getting close to comparable traditional lighting. Ive been thinking of kessel and ecoxotic pendants. Im thinking I might have better spread per watt than with my current setup.

Thoughts?

[ca1ore]

I am unfamiliar with the GHL lights, however, when I switched from a 24" tall 90 to a 30" tall 265, I simply swapped out the lenses on my Photon32 light for a narrower beam .... And bought a second fixture. No issues growing SPS lower down in the tank (though not right on the bottom). Until a few months ago I was supplementing with MH, but those have now been replaced with Kessil spots.

[smb2415]

Correction: my tank is 42" tall
So the tank is 7' long x 36" wide x 42" tall

I don't see any other tanks on herewith similar height other than the huge tanks... so this is now leading me to believe I'll need lighting similar to ones they are using.

[cleverbs]

400w Halides would be your best lighting. you could do LED's but you will need TONS of fixtures.

[dave.m]

Ecoxotics makes LED cannons for big boys' tanks. Also check out Orphek.

Dave.M

[shocker444]

Im thinking the same thing as well my tank is 40 deep and was gunna use led's but I'm not sure now

[smb2415]

Dave M > have you seen ecoxotic used successfully for a reef tank? My concern is that they would work for softies but not so sure for SPS. Also I'm not clear as to how many I would need to "do it right" for my setup. Any clue on this?

As for Orphek, I haven't been impressed by the reviews Ive read. Logically Im placing Ecoxotic as the leader (I may be mistaken on this) and possible the "best" for the intended purpose. Not to go into a whole Chevy vs. Ford but my mind says its more like a Honda vs. Acura. Does that make sense?

[acrohead500ppm]

I know you have overhead space limitations, but if it were me trying to light a 40" tall sps tank.

I would do 3x1000w halides in wide lumenarcs running these bad boys

https://www.customaquatic.com/estore...ct=LT-RD100020

Given the size of your tank, particularly the width/length, you are going to spend a fortune on LED cannons as you would need a bunch of them.

[smb2415]

Originally Posted by cleverbs

400w Halides would be your best lighting. you could do LED's but you will need TONS of fixtures.

If I don't go with DaveM route of Ecoxotic or Orphek this would be the "traditional" route I would need to resort to.

If I go this route I thinkin I would need 3 with good reflectors to get optimal spread.... and so 3x400 = 1200watts.

My GHLs are 275w and I would need 6 (a guesstimate)so 6x275=1650w
**Im not focusing on bulb replacement at this point.

[smb2415]

Originally Posted by shocker444

Im thinking the same thing as well my tank is 40 deep and was gunna use led's but I'm not sure now

FWIW I had put a good amount of time into research before buying the GHLs and they claimed to be able to meet the need with only 3 lights... not so much....but not horrible either...but just not "right".

Back then and now I believe there are truly only 3 options (excluding the mitras, for reasons stated above) for deep tanks. Ecoxotic, Orphek, and MH. Kessels might be possible however Im not positive. For us limited few with overly tall tanks, the options are limited and with so few of us it is hard to find us in the crowd to share experiences.

[cleverbs]

Id agree that probably you need 1000w MH, I said 400w based on the 32" tall tank. I would probably do 1000w if its 42" tall. you have a big tank you are going to need some big lights. I agree with the above statment that LED's will cost you so much money to light the tank its not worth the "Savings" you could do 3x 1000w MH's and even with price of energy and bulb replacment you will get 5+ years till you MAYBE match the price of LED"s and even then Im betting you would be way below that cost of LED

[jrb466]

Orphek gets my vote. I just upgraded to the Atlantik V2.1b's and love them. They make a a narrow deep lens that should fit your needs.

[acrohead500ppm]

Originally Posted by cleverbs

Id agree that probably you need 1000w MH, I said 400w based on the 32" tall tank. I would probably do 1000w if its 42" tall. you have a big tank you are going to need some big lights. I agree with the above statment that LED's will cost you so much money to light the tank its not worth the "Savings" you could do 3x 1000w MH's and even with price of energy and bulb replacment you will get 5+ years till you MAYBE match the price of LED"s and even then Im betting you would be way below that cost of LED

Yup

3 of these guys with 1000 watt radiums and some vhos or t-5s
https://www.sunlightsupply.com/shop/...oled-reflector

[anbosu]

Have you borrowed a par or lux meter to test? Might be worth doing before you swap out the lighting.

[dave.m]

Originally Posted by smb2415

Dave M > have you seen ecoxotic used successfully for a reef tank?

Check out pmrogers' build here on RC. He hasn't updated in a while but I think his tank qualifies as deep enough to compare with yours. I'm finding manufacturers' claims to be totally out of whack so I think you're right to be skeptical and look for real world examples. I know Mr. Wilson has been working with the Ripley's Aquarium in Toronto using Orpheks but I haven't been able to go there to see for myself yet.

Dave.M

[adamPL]

I'm interested in other tall-tanks opinion too. I have 96x42x36 high tank, and have 4x GHL MItras 6200, didn't do research enough before bought them, only statement on their web.
I think the biggest problem for us with GHL is to find right combination of colors, which they don't provide. If I run their original program (yellow, ugly colors) on 100% - I burn corals, If I start playing with colors, corals not doing good - not enough light!
There is a lot people around that will tell you go with Orphek or Kessil etc, but not many people have them on tall tanks.
I'm thinking to go back to HQI ,but still looking for more answers

[dave.m]

The tallest tank I had 2 x Orphek PR156s over was 36" tall and worked fine for LPS down to 6" from the bottom.

Dave.M

[shocker444]

Originally Posted by smb2415

FWIW I had put a good amount of time into research before buying the GHLs and they claimed to be able to meet the need with only 3 lights... not so much....but not horrible either...but just not "right".

Back then and now I believe there are truly only 3 options (excluding the mitras, for reasons stated above) for deep tanks. Ecoxotic, Orphek, and MH. Kessels might be possible however Im not positive. For us limited few with overly tall tanks, the options are limited and with so few of us it is hard to find us in the crowd to share experiences.

Looking forward to what you come up with my issue with MH is i only have 2 feet of head room little tight for big MH

[smb2415]

Originally Posted by shocker444

Looking forward to what you come up with my issue with MH is i only have 2 feet of head room little tight for big MH

Same here, I don't have more than 2' even 2' is close.

[smb2415]

Originally Posted by dave.m

The tallest tank I had 2 x Orphek PR156s over was 36" tall and worked fine for LPS down to 6" from the bottom.

Dave.M

And therein is my concern... as you pointed out manufacturers claims and often time the data is falsely misleading. I also don't want to have almost nothing on the bottom so its important the get something that will permit growth at least LPS on the bottom.

I know ecoxotic can get the levels of light but are they in the correct spectrums, etc to support "good" SPS, LPS corals at varying depths?

[acrohead500ppm]

Originally Posted by smb2415

Same here, I don't have more than 2' even 2' is close.

Its close, but I have used mylar ac ducts on sunlight supply fixtures for cooling many times on tanks that I maintained, however most those tanks were acrylic and needed a chiller anyways.

If your display is glass, I bet you could get away with fans on rancos

[smb2415]

Originally Posted by adamPL

I'm interested in other tall-tanks opinion too. I have 96x42x36 high tank, and have 4x GHL MItras 6200, didn't do research enough before bought them, only statement on their web.
I think the biggest problem for us with GHL is to find right combination of colors, which they don't provide. If I run their original program (yellow, ugly colors) on 100% - I burn corals, If I start playing with colors, corals not doing good - not enough light!
There is a lot people around that will tell you go with Orphek or Kessil etc, but not many people have them on tall tanks.
I'm thinking to go back to HQI ,but still looking for more answers

I too fell for the "sale" Im a bit taller than you and I also had 0 experience prior to this tank. For a long while I didn't know if it was me or the lights.... heck, Im still not totally convinced its not me..ie water params or something else.

The GHL Mitras 6200 are great lights and look wonderful on my tank however they just don't support good SPS results. FWIW I am running the Great Barrier Reef program.

I don't have a PAR meter to get true readings and even if I did Im not sure Im confident enough to know how to accurately interrupt my readings and equate that to identify the best light.

[cshore]

I have 3 400w halides to sell. 1 for $100 electronic ballast with a high end reflector and 2 nice Hamilton cayman de. I only run the 2 Hamilton the other is a back up i never used. I also have new tombstones for the Hamilton. $200 each for the Hamiltons, $500 shipped for everything. My tank is 30" tall and I can grow sps 4 " from the bottom and keep sps alive at the bottom.

[mm949]

i run 6x160w razors of my tank...have them 12" above the water and tank is 48" deep.
no problems growing a 12" clam at the bottom.
started with 6x400w MH then reduced to 250w and noew the LED's.
mixed reef never looked better!

[Osteoclast]

My tank is an AGE hybrid with a PVC bottom and is 46.5 inches from the water line to the bottom. The sand depth is 1 inch, so I have 45 inches approximately to penetrate. AI sol blues were used initially three years ago when I set up the tank and had good penetration. In fact, like many LED users I was bleaching corals from using the lights at too high a setting.

I switched over to Radion pros last year (gen 3) and did this primarily for the color spectrum and after reviewing others experiences. Currently the lights are mounted under a platform which is at 16 inches above the water line. I have my platform suspended under a chandler lift which allows further height adjustments as needed. My lights penetrate to the bottom with Par at around 100-125 at a 50% intensity. I have 6 radions lighting the tank. I think my lights on the radiant growth program at 55% to maybe 60% will be my ultimate set point. The greatest challenge with LED is the intensity and all the myriad of possible adjustment options. Ecotech has been helpful to me but you do have quite a few good lighting products available as others have stated above. Good luck with your system.