New Light for 40 breeder SPS Dominant suggestions…

Arthur

Arthur

Member
I downsized from 125 to 40 breeder 6 months ago. It is mostly SPS tank. I got 2 Chinese Led boxes over that tank and SPS doing ok. Color is good, grow ok but not crazy. I know Light Industry is changing all the time.. but Im looking for one good light over that tank to keep my SPS ( 36" long) Any suggestions will be appreciated. I'd like to go with LED or maybe combo LED T5? Heard good things about them. I always used MH and T5 over my old tank and was happy but also had a Chiller. Also having 2 different Chinese Boxes I don't have the same color spectrum on my tank. One half is bluer then other. I'd like to do research, safe money and make a purchase in next couple months. Thank for all help in advance.
 
Arthur said:
I downsized from 125 to 40 breeder 6 months ago. It is mostly SPS tank. I got 2 Chinese Led boxes over that tank and SPS doing ok. Color is good, grow ok but not crazy. I know Light Industry is changing all the time.. but Im looking for one good light over that tank to keep my SPS ( 36" long) Any suggestions will be appreciated. I'd like to go with LED or maybe combo LED T5? Heard good things about them. I always used MH and T5 over my old tank and was happy but also had a Chiller. Also having 2 different Chinese Boxes I don't have the same color spectrum on my tank. One half is bluer then other. I'd like to do research, safe money and make a purchase in next couple months. Thank for all help in advance.
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budget ?
 
2 radion xr 15s, buy them used and you can get best of the leds for about $700


Or wait for a used kessil ap 700, might be in that ball park :)


Sent from my iPhone
 
Kessil a360we and an a150 sky blue or other, beautiful plus spectral controller. Two a360's approx $700.
 
Mjl714 said:
What is it you don't like about Kessils?
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Shading, shading, shading, and more shading. if all your coral is flat on the sand/rock , like LPS or zoanthids, then a kessil is a great light (as long as you like shimmer a LOT). If you have an SPS tank with any decently sized colonies (or even frags as the thread I just added above shows) they just aren't going to cut it. I suppose if you really want to go with all Kessils in an SPS dominated tank you could add a few extra fixtures to point at different angles but even then you won't get the same spread as T5/Halide and will pay so much more than even the best hybrid fixture.

To clarify, I believe this is an issue with ALL LED fixtures but it is most prevalent with single lens dense matrix fixtures like the Kessil.
 
Thanks for all suggestions. I really appreciate it. Yes, I heard that combo of T5 and LED is the best as lot of people stating online. Just that ATI fixture is so expensive. Either I have to wait for price to drop < might take a while but for sure it will> or look into other options…
 
Price will not drop, actually now is higher then when i bought mine 2 years ago. Basically ATI hybrid is a Mercedes Benz of all fixtures. If you want something that grows your SPS and keeps great colors get regular 6 bulb ATI Sunpower and then you can add a strip or two of Reefbright led, this will give you that extra pop in your corals and will not break your bank. :)
 
MMreef said:
Price will not drop, actually now is higher then when i bought mine 2 years ago. Basically ATI hybrid is a Mercedes Benz of all fixtures. If you want something that grows your SPS and keeps great colors get regular 6 bulb ATI Sunpower and then you can add a strip or two of Reefbright led, this will give you that extra pop in your corals and will not break your bank. :)
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Even easier to add supplemental led's to ATI T5 now that Reefbrite has released new brackets for attaching their XHO strips directly to the ATI fixture.
 
When I looked at lighting in the last several years, I was surprised at the T5 cost, and very surprised by the annual maintenance. High end users replace their bulbs, I believe annually. On the other hand, today I was at a fellow reefers house, and saw his 220g all Led lighting, and his tank was arguably one of the best I've ever seen.
 
Mjl714 said:
When I looked at lighting in the last several years, I was surprised at the T5 cost, and very surprised by the annual maintenance. High end users replace their bulbs, I believe annually. On the other hand, today I was at a fellow reefers house, and saw his 220g all Led lighting, and his tank was arguably one of the best I've ever seen.
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It is no where written that one kind of lighting is arguably better than others, i like halides the best and after that i like leds .. T5 may be better for coral and may grow coral with out shaded areas but same can be achieved with leds spread out across evenly ..

I have seen more than couple tanks that are awe worthy and are grown under leds, from among the members on here .. Ed ( forgot his screen name ) has a full grown sps reef used 4 kessil a150s grew everythinh into beautiful colonies in 2 years and then switched to ai sols, Mai [MENTION=454]maidia[/MENTION] used diy leds and his sps tank looked awesome, josh [MENTION=1277]jrpark22000[/MENTION] uses ai sols and his sps colonies are big and beautiful.

I am not gonna get into the argument of led vs t5 again and again but well to each their own.. Do what you like and not follow what others preach blindly.

Again lighting is not the only thing that makes you a successful reefer and if you know what you are doing you can have a beautiful reef under any lighting ( provided its strong enough to grow the kind of corals you are looking to grow.

949c0b51cc09a25a374e26a910f363d3.jpg



Sent from my iPhone
 
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