Frag tank lighting

Spartanman22

Spartanman22

Well-known member
Hey everyone hoping I can get some input. I'm in the planning stages of setting up an 18×18×8 frag tank tied into my main system. I currently have a MH/T5 fixture and a par38 20K. I kinda want to stay away from the MH/T5 bc of heat and electricity costs but also want the best growth possible, which from my experience is from MH. Also my DT is run by a Kessil so it'd be nice to keep it LED in order to prevent color changes.

I've been considering the evergrow D120 full spectrums too. Any input on those? I know several people use them. How have they done in the long run with coral growth and coloration. The frags will be a mix of everything SPS, softies, LPS, clams, anemones (my blue haddoni has been on the move :mad:).
 
Why not another kessil ? A kessil a150 sky blue would be plenty for it


OT: Curious what are the dimensions of your dt and what/ how many Kessils you use ? And what kinda corals you keep in dt ?
 
My DT is an 18×18×18 cube on a deep blue series 48"×24" stand so the frag tank would sit right next to it. I run one Kessil a350 and have been very pleased. I did get better growth with halides but color is great and slightly slower growth isn't such a bad thing in a small tank. I keep everything wi th softies and zoas on the bottom half and SPS on the top. I also have a deres a on the sand bed. Once the frag tank is setup all zoas will be moved over and the DT will be strictly SPS.

I don't want to get another Kessil bc of costs. I'd like to keep the costs down to just the tank and maybe a D120 if that's a good option. The D120 are selling for like $85 currently.
 
I think you could just use the Par38 bulb for the frag tank. I believe that with 90 degree optics it would give you a 18"x18" spread.
 
You do not need a "Full Spectrum" for growth. The tertiary LEDs are to tweak the colour.

I've grown SPS Frags Using only Cree Royal Blue LEDs. You can add a few whites for looks.

You want to see 200-300 PAR with a sunrise an sunset.

420-460nm is your primary grow spectrum.

Too much Red may reduce growth.

Bill
 
I do have a spare par38 20K bulb laying around, but I didn't seem to have good growth with sps last time I ran it
 
Idk off the top of my head but it's a coral compulsion par38 and it did great with softies and LPS and sps colors were good just a bit slow on the growth side
 
Only a PAR measurement will tell. A spectrograph is way too expensive.

Just shooting from the hip, but if all is equal and SPS are not growing well and LPS are it could be Intensity, Water Quality or Both.

I know when I get busy and neglect my water quality my SPS suffer but my LPS does not.

Bill
 
Ya it could have been water quality. It was a 5 gallon pico in my dorm room when I had that going. But they weren't suffering. Color was great, PE was great, they just didn't grow quickly. I had my rke setup on that tank dosing Ca, and Alk so I know that was good (I would test weekly), did weekly water changes, and had an mp10 on it so good flow (this tank was a 5 gallon on steroids!)

Regardless I think I've made the decision to either go with a evergrow or OR T247 on the frag tank
 
Spartanman22 said:
Ya it could have been water quality. It was a 5 gallon pico in my dorm room when I had that going. But they weren't suffering. Color was great, PE was great, they just didn't grow quickly. I had my rke setup on that tank dosing Ca, and Alk so I know that was good (I would test weekly), did weekly water changes, and had an mp10 on it so good flow (this tank was a 5 gallon on steroids!)

Regardless I think I've made the decision to either go with a evergrow or OR T247 on the frag tank
Click to expand...

Curious .. how long did you have the tank running ??

i have observed that most sps take atleast a month or 2 before they settle in and start growing..

especcially millis, they seem to take forever to get used to but once they start growing they grow nicely ..
 
I would go with another kessil if money I s not an issue. If not par38' give good growth and color imo. Or diy led kit.
 
Eventually down the road I would like to get a kessil simply because the DT and frag tank sit next to each other and I think it'd look nice if they matched (the ocd in me). However for now I've narrowed it down to these two:

OR T247 or Evergrow D120.

Is the controllability really worth it? I have no doubts I'll grow coral with either my only question is is the ability to program the ramping up/down of the LEDS a worthwhile feature? I had a kessil A350 and it had manual dimmers so I just don't know the effects of programming leds
 
Mai what is that? It looks like a controllable D120? Is it a CC120 or reefbreeders?

I'm not concerned about the ability of the evergrow to grow coral I just don't know the value of a dimmable fixture.

Then there's the fact that the OR only has one cord and visually looks a little nicer than the 120 but at twice the cost
 
Spartanman22 said:
Mai what is that? It looks like a controllable D120? Is it a CC120 or reefbreeders?

I'm not concerned about the ability of the evergrow to grow coral I just don't know the value of a dimmable fixture.

Then there's the fact that the OR only has one cord and visually looks a little nicer than the 120 but at twice the cost
Click to expand...


It a intel-150 watt sunset sunrise programmable from the GB. Corals seem like it. I think it under 225 now.
 
If your going with no canopy, I'd do the ocean revive because the look slick, have one cord, have built in timer, and are wide, so you get good front to back spread.

If you want to go with a canopy, go with an IT model or the super affordable non-controllable evergrows. I do like the sunrise sunset on my IT2060s because I can have lights on in my tank until really late at night, but not be blasting the coral. I get to enjoy my tank for a longer period of time. I know you can dim the cheap evergrows, but it would become a hassle to do it often.
 
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