What sort of lights should I get?

O

oolongmonk

Member
Currently in the middle of setting up my 140 gallon reef tank. I'm fairly oblivious when it comes to lighting.

The unit I bought came with a 5 ft hood with two tubes in their. I have no idea what kind of bulbs they are. This hardly seems sufficient though.

I current run some high intensity LEDs on my 30 gallon.

I would like to go the LED route. What type of LEDs? I assume that there are all sorts of different variations.

What I had in mind was to add an LED unit to the bulbs unit and run both at the same time. Is this sufficient?

Also, I am in the market for some LEDs so if you have them, PM me the specs and let me know.

All the best, thanks for all your help friends.

John
 
trackfast

trackfast

Princess Trainer
Hi John. What r u planning to keep? SPS, softies, a combo of the two? With a 60" tank you'll need at least two led fixtures or 5 par38 bulbs.
 
yogoshio

yogoshio

New member
I would HIGHLY recommend getting a few of these and then get supplemental color strips from there. These have AMAZING color, depth, and intensity, are able to keep SPS, nems, and softies all happy.

3 of these over a 60" tank should do it. Or 2 of the 350 watt equivalent.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Aquarium-Reef-LED-Lamp-30W-20000K-White-250W-Metal-Halide-alternative-Light-/271140100329?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f213598e9

The same seller makes LED strips in all sorts of colors as well. Then you can put them on a driver, or timers, to your hearts content.
 
tkh

tkh

New member
Sorry for the thread hi-jack! I've got to ask though... How many of those would you recommend for a 4 foot - 90 gallon tank? And why would you add color strips?
 
yogoshio

yogoshio

New member
You don't have to add color strips, but if you wanted to tweak the color of the tank at all you could, whether with more blue, or red, or green, just to get the color you like.

I'd get 2 of the 250 watt equivalent and try it. 2 of them over a 75 of the 150 watt equivalent is what Prov3:5 has over his tank, but the 90 is quite a bit deeper.
 
FishBeard

FishBeard

New member
Just food for thought, I have been long considering making the switch to LED. I currently have an 8x80w 5 foot Tek fixture over my 180g tank. If you consider going the T5-HO route I would be happy to make a deal with you on the fixture. I have 10 bulbs for it, all ATI and KZ except one GE 6500k, all varying between 2-10 months of use. It would also come with a 48" royal blue led strip and a 4x royal blue led moonlight kit. Just putting this out for you to consider since its not often a 5 foot long fixture comes along for sale.
 
Lil BamBam

Lil BamBam

Premium member
Contact CR sponsor CC




A 5ft tank you will need 3 fixtures or 4 will be over kill but corals might will be wearing shades :cool:

4ft you can do 2 fixtures
 
brettz16

brettz16

Member
yogoshio said:
I would HIGHLY recommend getting a few of these and then get supplemental color strips from there. These have AMAZING color, depth, and intensity, are able to keep SPS, nems, and softies all happy.

3 of these over a 60" tank should do it. Or 2 of the 350 watt equivalent.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Aquarium-Reef-LED-Lamp-30W-20000K-White-250W-Metal-Halide-alternative-Light-/271140100329?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f213598e9

The same seller makes LED strips in all sorts of colors as well. Then you can put them on a driver, or timers, to your hearts content.
Click to expand...
You might wanna read this before considering these led's
http://reefbuilders.com/2013/01/30/cheap-chinese-led-causes-fire/


PM "Kratos"
He has amazing 32" led fixtures he got from a group buy that cover every part of his 6' tank. they also have great spectrums and lots of features.
 
Herbie

Herbie

Banned
Lil BamBam said:
Contact CR sponsor CC




A 5ft tank you will need 3 fixtures or 4 will be over kill but corals might will be wearing shades :cool:

4ft you can do 2 fixtures
Click to expand...
+1 my corals love my CC unit. Jimmy is the man and takes great care of us. Check my 45 build thread if you want to see it lit up, but the full spectrum is perfect.
 
tkh

tkh

New member
Good to know, thanks for the info guys! When time comes to upgrade out of the T5 HOs I have I'll be sure not to skimp, hehe... Good luck John, I hope you find a fixture that works well with your setup!
 
O

oolongmonk

Member
Im probably just going to have softies, LPS, anemone.

Ive given up on SPS. I never seem to have any luck with them.

Really, 3 of those Aquarium Reef LED Lamp 30W 20000K White will be sufficient? I was afraid I might have to spend upwards of $1000.

What color strips would you recommend and how many?
 
O

oolongmonk

Member
trackfast said:
+1 on Coralcompulsion.com. Jimmy is even in Lisle.
Click to expand...
Thanks all for the feedback. I ended purchasing three unit. The knobs are pretty cheaply made, one broke off and a couple of them stripped but the lights themselves seem good.

For those of you who have CC lights what do you think the optimal settings (blue/white) are along with optimal time. I had them going full blast and that seemed like over-kill.
 
frostyjay1

frostyjay1

Active member
oolongmonk said:
Thanks all for the feedback. I ended purchasing three unit. The knobs are pretty cheaply made, one broke off and a couple of them stripped but the lights themselves seem good.

For those of you who have CC lights what do you think the optimal settings (blue/white) are along with optimal time. I had them going full blast and that seemed like over-kill.
Click to expand...
I run my cc120 blues on at 9am full lights at 12pm then back to blue only at 6pm till 8pm. My blues are at about 85% and whites about 60%. How that helps

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2
 
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