What LED to choose?

Douggie-Style

Douggie-Style

New member
I am so confused.......

Do I go with LED as that is agreat light for every coral. But what do I go with?

I al looking to cover a 48"x24"x30" reef with LPS and softies. Maybe SPS but not sure yet...

What is everyones opinion to keep the cost under $1,000.00
 
Under $1000 for a 48" wide tank, about all you can do is a pair of Apollo fixtures or AI Sol if you want high output from a reputable manufacturer. You can probably put together a decent DIY setup for under $1000, the big problem is light penetration 30" deep with LED, everything will be blown away in the upper half of the tank to get enough useable light to the bottom.

AI Sol blue, you could get 2 fixtures and a controller for around $1000 and have dimming control, but stuck with the icy look. Apollo being a smaller company can work with the customer, and modify the light board to your preference, if you want both warm and cool white led they can do that, if you want a few red, green or purple LEDs in your fixture, they can do that too, it's a lot to think about but spending a few days obsessing over research on them, I'm sure you will figure out just what you want.
 
AI sol will have to be turned way down for a softy/lps reef. At that level your 2 fixtures won't provide even close to the coverage you need (turned all the way up they still won't).

At your price point look at 2 Apollo fixtures with 2-4 red, 2-4 green, and 1-2 UV LEDs would be a great option.

P.s a quick scan down the lighting page you'll have resulted in you finding this thread:

http://www.chicagoreefs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1983
 
Led

Do you think it is better to go with a T5 and MH combo unit?

I know the cost for electricity will be much higher but if it will look brighter and better in the long run.........

I was told by AI that I would need 4 units to drown out the "flashlight look" but that is 1700 plus tax

A combo unit on eBay runs about 400.........
 
:heeeelllllooooo:
Douggie-Style said:
Do you think it is better to go with a T5 and MH combo unit?

I know the cost for electricity will be much higher but if it will look brighter and better in the long run.........

I was told by AI that I would need 4 units to drown out the "flashlight look" but that is 1700 plus tax

A combo unit on eBay runs about 400.........
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A combo unit for 400 is likely garbage. If I were you I would look for a used ati power module. In a 30" deep tank you need to look at fixtures with very nice reflectors to get good intensity on the bottom. If you are truly going to stay with lps/softies you can probably get away with a nova extreme pro in a 30" tank.

Halides are nice but you are looking at 500w MINIMUM in that tank in just the halides alone before you consider t5 supplementation.
 
I still like mh lighting for reef tanks but im old and set in my ways lol, My 180 has t5's on them though and growth is looking great. I still hear bad things with led from pros so i still am not going to try them yet.
 
Douggie-Style said:
So long story short......What LED do I go with AI and just bite the bullet?
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No! Have you seen them in person? Go look at an AI SOL tank (or any other white/blue only led tank) and then look at a full spectrum led tank. You will quickly realize that they are not an investment that you want to make for your tank long term.

With the pace that RGB led fixtures are hitting the market it be a very bad choice to invest in a fixture that is already obsolete. Never "bite the bullet" when picking tank equipment. You will just have to pay again later down e road to get what you really wanted.
 
Douggie-Style said:
So long story short......What LED do I go with AI and just bite the bullet?
Click to expand...

A pair of custom order Apollo over a 48" wide tank will do you just fine for soft corals in a 30" deep tank, keep your higher light corals between 12"-18" below water, and your lowest light corals like shrooms and zoas from that point down. You can "cheat" the system a bit and do like a 5"-6" deep plenum sandbed to bring your tank depth up a bit.
 
FishBeard said:
A pair of custom order Apollo over a 48" wide tank will do you just fine for soft corals in a 30" deep tank, keep your higher light corals between 12"-18" below water, and your lowest light corals like shrooms and zoas from that point down. You can "cheat" the system a bit and do like a 5"-6" deep plenum sandbed to bring your tank depth up a bit.
Click to expand...

Exactly.
 
I will look into the Apollo......

What would you guys suggest for SPS.....If I ever decide to go that route...I doubt it but in this hobby, you never know! LOL!!!
 
Ok. I had seen them and sent them an e-mail for a quote. I was wondering if they you think two units would be enough to cover my footprint.......48"x24"x30"

Thanks again for all the help!
 
Current gen are not, the newest ones being released will be Dimmable by apex or their own controller (which is far behind schedule) With as deep a tank you will have them over, you won't need to worry about dimming, you will lose a significant amount of useable light deeper in the tank if you do dim them enough your eyes notice a visual difference.

2 units will be more than enough, really. You only need one for up to a 24"x30" footprint.
 
Awesome! I will do some more reasearch on them....The AI guys suggest 4 units over my 48" and that is almost $1800.00 for lights! CRAZZZZZY!!

Thanks for all your help!
 
Douggie-Style said:
Awesome! I will do some more reasearch on them....The AI guys suggest 4 units over my 48" and that is almost $1800.00 for lights! CRAZZZZZY!!

Thanks for all your help!
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No kidding they recommend that many, they have a lot of obsolete stock to move before the new Phoenix comes out and no one wants the Sol anymore. 4 Sol won't provide anymore light penetration than 2 would over your tank, you would just have twice as much useable light for the first 12" or so...
 
Do you know of a way to mount the Apollo lights form the tank and not hang them from the ceiling? Do you think I could buy an AI rail system and rig it to work. I want it to stay below the canopy.
 
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