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View Poll Results: For about 500 bucks, what lighting tech would you choose for a 100 gallon reef tank?
LED 5 29.41%
T5 6 35.29%
Halide 5 29.41%
Other 1 5.88%
Voters: 17. You may not vote on this poll

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Unread 07/21/2017, 10:25 AM   #1
dross11450
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Question Lighting upgrade recommendation request

Hi all,

I'm happy to be a new member to this board. I've owned a 120 gallon aquarium for about a year and have learned many good, but often hard lessons.

My question. I currently have two USA orbit led 48 inch reef lights. I'm experimenting with my first corals. I've placed a few starter corals. Kenyan tree, a couple mushroom, a zoanthid or two high in the tank. I have only a few fish, and only one, a coral beauty angel that has any reputation for being a potential coral problem. Fish are all healthy.

I'm thinking my lights just aren't cutting it. None of the corals are dying, but not thriving or growing either. All water levels are good (zero ammonia, zero nitrite, low nitrate).

If you experts out there budgeted say 500 dollars to upgrade my lighting, possibly a little more, what lighting product might you recommend? The options are overwhelming.

David


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Unread 07/21/2017, 11:19 AM   #2
Valentini89
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dross11450 View Post
Hi all,

I'm happy to be a new member to this board. I've owned a 120 gallon aquarium for about a year and have learned many good, but often hard lessons.

My question. I currently have two USA orbit led 48 inch reef lights. I'm experimenting with my first corals. I've placed a few starter corals. Kenyan tree, a couple mushroom, a zoanthid or two high in the tank. I have only a few fish, and only one, a coral beauty angel that has any reputation for being a potential coral problem. Fish are all healthy.

I'm thinking my lights just aren't cutting it. None of the corals are dying, but not thriving or growing either. All water levels are good (zero ammonia, zero nitrite, low nitrate).

If you experts out there budgeted say 500 dollars to upgrade my lighting, possibly a little more, what lighting product might you recommend? The options are overwhelming.

David
I would recommend spending a little more and getting the reefbreeders photon V2. You won't regret it from what I hear.


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Unread 07/21/2017, 12:08 PM   #3
mcgyvr
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You planning on sticking with "easy" (low-light) softies like you have?


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Unread 07/21/2017, 05:54 PM   #4
dross11450
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Thanks for the feedback, and a clarification

I appreciate the helpful responses. To one question, I'd love to move on to LPS and SPS corals, but I've dropped more money on the hobby in the last year (I do really enjoy it) than I expected to, and I have the idea that to support harder corals, I'm going to need to drop in the $1500 range to get adequate lighting.

I do have the general idea that for a given lighting level, T5's come in at the lowest cost, with Halide possibly next, and to get LED's that are actually powerful enough for SPS/LPS, you need a very expensive LED system. There's plenty of LED lights that "claim" to be reef oriented, like the one I have, but I've noticed from reviews that to really hit the levels you need in terms of total light output, proper wavelengths, and so on, requires almost $2K to really do it right in anything other than T5/flourescent technology.

Does this ring true with this expert community?


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Unread 07/21/2017, 06:02 PM   #5
dross11450
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The Photon V2 ..

Quote:
Originally Posted by Valentini89 View Post
I would recommend spending a little more and getting the reefbreeders photon V2. You won't regret it from what I hear.
I just looked into this produce and really appreciate the recommendation. Can you help me with the math here? My tank is 60" long, and it looks like the 50-V2 is recommended for that length of tank, at about $600, which seems almost too reasonable for a real reef lighting system.

Would I need two of these? My 120 gallon tank is 5 feed wide, maybe 2 feet front to back, and without measuring, I'd say at least 2.5 feet deep. I wonder if the light output of one would do the job. But I'm very impressed with the product, and had not noticed it before.


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Unread 07/21/2017, 06:06 PM   #6
Cheapreef
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Originally Posted by dross11450 View Post
to get LED's that are actually powerful enough for SPS/LPS, you need a very expensive LED system.
100% not true. Any of the "Black Box" lights will give more than enough light for SPS, just have to run enough to avoid shading.
IMO if you want to go LED on your tank with the intent on SPS go for the SB reef lights basic and get 3 for your budget. They put out a ton of PAR and have the right spectrum.


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Unread 07/21/2017, 07:11 PM   #7
Bronx19
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$500 is a tough budget to cover 48" for SPS.

MH is very old school now, too much power and far too much heat.

Chinese LED or T5.


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Unread 07/22/2017, 12:14 AM   #8
Ryan Darilek
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If you were to go with high-end LEDs on a tank that size, the most cost effective way would be to go with a DIY kit and build them yourself. You're probably looking at about $1000+ for the equipment to do so if you went all LED. If I were in your shoes, I would do a combo of LED and T-5s (fewer LED to keep the cost down and the T5s to resolve the issue of shadowing). I bet you could put together a very high quality set up for about $600-800. (I recommend Steve's LEDs for components and one of their Hurricane X controllers).

As someone mentioned above, the Chinese black boxes are another option as well and would definitely be the cheapest route ($400-500).



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Unread 07/22/2017, 04:23 AM   #9
Rtdrumz
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Zetlight Qmaven might... Call BRS and see what they say. I have a Qmaven on a 40" speed and it is performing wonderfully.

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Unread 07/22/2017, 04:41 AM   #10
Valentini89
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This is interesting. I did a poll not long ago asking which kind of lighting ppl use, and LED was the most popular, so it will be neat to see how this one turns out.


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Unread 07/22/2017, 08:17 AM   #11
Fredfish
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dross11450 View Post
I just looked into this produce and really appreciate the recommendation. Can you help me with the math here? My tank is 60" long, and it looks like the 50-V2 is recommended for that length of tank, at about $600, which seems almost too reasonable for a real reef lighting system.

...
What if you were to add the Reef Breeders unit to your existing lights? That should give you both good light spread and enough light to move into stony corals.

You may as well use what you already have.


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Unread 07/22/2017, 08:46 AM   #12
dross11450
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Smile Thank you for the awesome responses

Hey everyone that's replied to help me out. You folks are awesome. First off, there were several product lines listed above I hadn't even encountered before. As a 'newb' .. I've done most of my shopping on either Amazon or Marine Depot ...both good sites, but some of these options just aren't carried by either.

Second, I'm not hard and fast on the 500 budget. I can move up if I have to. I was reading reviews on the USA orbit lights I have, and while no one claims they're suitable to the most light demanding corals, they aren't rated bad.

I think I might see if I can find room, and I believe I can, to add a light or two. Especially the smaller box led lights. Some juggling on top of my aquarium might give me enough space.

I also could remove one orbit and replace it with a more powerful but not too wide T5, as someone suggested.

I've bookmarked some of the products mentioned. Thanks for the very helpful replies.


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Unread 07/22/2017, 11:09 AM   #13
jayball
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dross11450 View Post
I also could remove one orbit and replace it with a more powerful but not too wide T5, as someone suggested.
You could probably use both and stick a 4 bulb t-5 in the middle, you should have room at the least. If you only keep one of the orbit strips I would do a 6 bulb at least.


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Unread 07/23/2017, 09:37 AM   #14
Volcmreefer
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Check out SB reef lights. I might head in that direction soon.


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Unread 07/23/2017, 09:53 AM   #15
dross11450
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Volcmreefer View Post
Check out SB reef lights. I might head in that direction soon.
Thank you, I have been all over their web site, and I like their materials on their products very much. It also seems like a product that, given space considerations, could help me fit all together. It's not that I don't have enough surface area on my tank for two Orbits plus something else, but right now, I have everything over the standard glass covering that came with my aquarium, with the hinged hood for feeding, etc. If I choose not to invade that space, it's more difficult.

I wonder what you all felt of the AquaMaxx LED lights. I thought their longest model in their "prism" category had some appeal because it could easily fit alongside my other lights, add some additional color (right now I just have white and blue), and also be placed over my other lights so that there could be a little overlap, but not so much as to decrease effectiveness.

http://aquamaxxaquariums.com/lighting/prism/

I've already had great assistance on this thread, and consider my question well answered. Now I'm just enjoying the conversation. I have noticed my soft corals beginning to spread, just a little. Yesterday evening, under the blue lights that the timer has on in the later evening, I saw a number of what had to be very small polyps forming on another branch of live rock. That's the first time in my time with the hobby (I've been a fresh water tank aquarist for years, but only had a salter water tank for a year now) that I've seen this occur. A small success!

Thanks all.

David


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Unread 07/23/2017, 09:59 PM   #16
ca1ore
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dross11450 View Post
Would I need two of these? My 120 gallon tank is 5 feed wide, maybe 2 feet front to back, and without measuring, I'd say at least 2.5 feet deep. I wonder if the light output of one would do the job. But I'm very impressed with the product, and had not noticed it before.
You need to be a bit more precise to get a useful recommendation. The standard 120H is 60"x18"x26" - I know, because I have one. If that is your tank, then a single RB Photon v2 should suffice.


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