Lighting discussion for my 125

[anarchy]

So anyone who knows me knows ive been a halide guy since day 1. With that being said I know nothing about leds or t5 for that matter. What I do know is reef light pricing is rediculous. $600 for a led fixture that only covers 2'x2' wow not for me, but some can afford that and thats great. Right now im running a mixture of lights over my tank for 2 reasons.
1) theres an awkward drain pipe from the sink upstairs that drops down right above the tank and makes hanging a halide there. (Stupid plumber)
2) I don't have a 3rd halide

Lately I've been thinking about changing up my lighting. I love my halides but it would be nice to save a little money on the electric bill not to mention if i stick with halides I need to buy another DE reflector, ballast, and 3 new bulbs. Then there's 750w of halides over the tank which will increase the electric bill.

Other option is buy the sun blaze 4' 8 bulb t5 for $165 then bulbs for $160 and a 2' 8 bulb for $150 and $160. Which is $635 before shipping blah blah blah

Potentially crazy option. Actually seen a 90 gallon mixed reef tank with sps all the way to softies lit by 3 35w coral compulsion bulbs. Found similar bulbs that were 54w each for $20. I could run 6-9 of them over the tank to make sure there was no shadowing. Could this work? Not sure how well they'd grow coral if at all.

OR

Thinking about ordering a couple of these par 38 bulbs to try out. What do you guys think?

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[maidia]

Those E27 leds are not bright and low par..for chaeto macro algae is ok but for reef then forget it.

 

[#theMatrix]

I think you would have to get 12 of those bulbs or more and you would still get shadowing unlike led fixtures with changeable optics those will be like spot lights. I may be wrong but if you spring for 8 (your number) thats 160 lower end number plus shipping plus tax. Plus you would have to rig a number of brackets or get a light bracket from ikea for painting lighting that holds 4 bulbs two of those and you can angle your par pulbs. Depending on height of ceiling id say you would not get much par.

Your best option with a long tank. Is to run t5. I have a 6ft long and had to get 3 fixtures. They wernt doing what i wanted.

My reef breeders crapped out last month its probably just the headunit needs to get replaced. So i had a spare standard non dim high par fixture that i had to use.

So now i have 2 dimable( its nice but looking back now i could care less with trying to grow sps the dimming factor isnt something id need) and the other two fixture are high par ecoray fixtures.

The ecorays were not insure untill the 6ft upgrade. Would you believe me if i told you the 1st time i saw coral growth on my sps was where the ecorays were placed. Prior when i just had the dimable led they just encrusted...

If i could start over. Id get 4 ecorays and possibly one suplemental t5 to flood the tank with light.

Did i help? Probably not. The only use i had for a led bulb like the one you mentioned was to grow algae in my fuge. Its like a flashlight with a brightness circle .....brb im going to google par38 bulbs on long tanks

 

[anarchy]

Those E27 leds are not bright and low par..for chaeto macro algae is ok but for reef then forget it.

Wow really i have a 18w one from home depot thats brighter than my halides. Not as much coverage but definitely visible through the halide and thats only 18w figured the 54w would be better

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[madjoe]

What ive found with lights is u get what u pay for . They do make 5ft t5 lights that way u dont need to get two fixtures. Ive been tank shopping looking to get a 6ft tank most likely a 180 im gonna stick with my 4 ft light and same rock structure the extra two foot will be for the fish to swim . I guess if u dont mind wasting some coin u can try them on half your tank and see what happens but most likely u will be buying something else

 

[Sawdonkey]

I'd look into the Reed Breeders Photon IIs. They aren't crazy expensive, you could get one fixture that will cover your entire tank (less cords, brackets, clutter) they are wifi enabled so you can control from your phone, and they use CREE and other high quality diodes (combo of 3W and 5W). Plus the fixture itself just looks sexy.

I have a feeling that if and when I get new lights, this will be my choice. Might find them cheaper under the Evergrows badge with names like IT5080 etc.

 

[Paulip]

I have bought the bulb from that vendor. It is absolute garbage. That wattage rating is extra headroom for the bulb. It is not the real output. A bulb is useless without proper drivers.

I am running an ocean revive on top of a biocube 14 at 30%...effectively 30 watts? It does not even come close in brightness (and most likely, spectrum).

If you want to save money, get the ocean revive. Small, compact reef lights that are useable is actually an expensive luxury.

 

[anarchy]

I kinda figured they'd be trash. I'll probably end up buying the sun blaze 4' 8 bulb and call it a day

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[Kevin Says]

There is a huge thread on Mars Aqua 165W on Reefcentral. Apparently, people had pretty good luck with it. Might be worth a look.