WHATS THE BEST LIGHTING?

[ShAgMaN]

I'm exhausted at trying to figure out how to economically light my new 150 gallon tank (72X18X29). It's basically all I have left to decided, but its driving me crazy.

I'm torn between t5's, metal halide, and LED's. The best deals I've found are on Ebay. I was surprised to find each type of lighting to coast $200-300 for around the equivalent of 350-500 watts.....which leads me to the next question.

How much lighting do I really need? Before you ask, I want to eventually put Clams or pretty much anything else that takes good lighting within reason. I figure its safe to go with a little more than less and regret later..........but.........I don’t want a hot system that will create the need for a chiller.

Picky huh? The more I'm looking into it, LED's seem sweet, but do they really work well? Please give me your expertise here. Thanks!

[DrMark]

Difficult question, likely with many different answers, no wrong answer.
My opinion, briefly:
If you want to not be limited in what you keep, clams, sps, etc., then I think two 400watt MH are where you need to be with a 29 inch deep tank.
Bad news is likely will need chiller unless massive fans, not enclosed canopy, high evapration, etc.
We have had experience with a $4000+ LED, this expereince and many others are that its no good for having SPS thrive (survive w poor colors, maybe, but not thrive).
T5s are an option, but again do create heat, and IMO cant do what MH do for SPS.
BigBird can discuss his experience with T5s and switching to MHs.
I am sure there are many who will disagree, just my opinion. Halides and chillers are what I like.
Mark

[wesheltonj]

I use LED's they will keep and grow SPS, maybe not as fast as MH. They are an expensive upfront cost and at 72" very expensive. I have one SPS frag that at the bottom of my 30" deep tank I have a 3" sand bed. I put it there when I bought the lights. I am getting growth out of it, its slow. You be will alright w/ LED if you keep them about mid-tank or slightly above. Do not get them too close to the top, they will bleach it out in nothing flat. I am not talk about the low power LED's its the top dollar ones.

[ShAgMaN]

So are these a joke?

http://cgi.ebay.com/LED-Aquarium-Lighting-Reef-Corals-Tank-Grow-Light-Panel_W0QQitemZ370237554514QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_D efaultDomain_0?hash=item5633e0bf52&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

[wesheltonj]

I do not know if joke or not but 1 watt is not enough power. Here is mine http://www.aquaillumination.com/specs.html
http://www.aquaillumination.com/par.html

for 72" http://www.reefgeek.com/manufacturer/AquaIllumination/72_inch__6x90W_Modular_LED_Light_System_w!_Control ler_by_AquaIllumination

[jc]

That seems like a really low price. The diy forums I've read on LED seem to have a higher cost. They also use large heat sinks that the LED are attached to. Something seems fishy about those ebay lights.

I use t5's overdriven with icecap ballast. You will definitely need fans to keep the bulbs cool. My tank is 180g with six 5' t5's in a wooden hood. Just to give you an idea what to expect my tank is 82 degrees and the ambient temp in my house is 74. I've never used MH so I can't compare sps growth to them. However, my sps grow steadily with t5's.

[Mr Cob]

I have used Power Compact, VHO, MH and T5. I prefer T5 with PowerBrite LED modules to add the shimmer of MH. IME, T5's do not run as hot as MH, but my only problem was missing the Shimmer effect, so I added a LED PowerBrite module and I got the shimmer back and it's great actinic supplementation.

I personally have had faster growth and better colors with T5's but that could be due to the fact that I had 2x 250w MH on a 24" deep tank when I could have easily used 2x 400w MH since the tank was so deep...but I did not want to have a chiller. To this day I have never had to use a chiller.

Hope some of this input helps. Good luck in deciding.

[uriah]

T5s overdriven on an IceCap ballast sounds good to me:) Suprised nobody has mentioned the potential for a wide range in color spectrum w the T5 bulbs. There are many different choices in bulb color and performance; nice to be able to "plug and play". Another conciederation is the reflectors. If you have individual reflectors and an IceCap ballast, you shouldnt have a big problem with depth. You mentioned not wanting a chiller; dont go w MH. Depending on your lighting cycle and power of the bulb, they will surely heat up your tank. T5 gets hot, but easier to manage w small fans in the canopy or on the lights.

[DrMark]

A friend has a 6ft solaris LED used about 2 months or less someone could buy real cheap........

[ShAgMaN]

PM'd you.

[phippsj]

This might come in helpful... http://www.local1259iaff.org/T5setup.html

I already have MHs, and have ordered the parts to add 4 T5s (60" for the 72" tank).

[cpreefguy]

Lighting is such a broad topic. A lot of great options out there, but it will just depend on what you want, what you're keeping, and how much you want to spend.
I've had experience with VHO, T5's, Halides, and a combination of T5s and Halide, and VHO and halide.
Again, all really depending on what you're going for.
Personally, I love T5's, but currently run a 250w 20k in a Lumenarc pendent over my tank, go figure :D

[recoiljpr]

On my 65 I am running 2 175W MH lights. I have a 3/4 enclosed canopy with one fan on it. My temp on the tank runs (after running the lights for 8 hours) about 79.5. I made the canopy extra tall so my lights sit about 12" or so off the water. I use Lumenbright reflectors which work better higher up then closer to the water. I don't run a chiller and I only run one 3" fan in the canopy.

My upstairs biocube has 144W of PC lighting in it. Going between both tanks, it is no contest at all as to the major brightness difference between the two types of lights.

[uriah]

Interesting... glad to hear your MH work so well and dont heat your tank hot. The tall canopy is something I hadnt thought of.

[Big_Pun]

i just picked up some t5's and im never going back color is great and the options, im running a open top now with the unit about 3 inches above the water and no heat issues, its dropped 3-4 degrees from the stock biocube setup.

[uriah]

Agreed. T5 IMO is the way to go.

[Beverly]

I have MH and have for years now. Im tired of fighting the heat and have decided to get the T5's. If I could do it all over again, I would have started with them...

[OrionN]

Watt or watt, you will produce about the same amount of heat by variuos light fixture. 500W light over your tank will put so much energy, thus heat, into the tank. What type of light does not mater that much. If you put so much energy into the tank, all of it will eventually end up as heat. Your job as a reefkeeper is to remove these energy from the system to keep the temperature down.
The advantage of MH over other light is that it produce a point source of light and heat. Heat wise, it is easy to get it out of the tank by ventilation. Point light source let me keep a variety of animals, even the most light demand species but get it closer to the bulb. I like to keep anemones and clams. Nothing keep a H. magnifica from wander better than a MH bulb.
You also need to change MH bubs less often that of PC, VHO or T-5.
BTW, T-5 is just another florescent light bulb, same technology. The different here is that the diameter of the bulb is smaller thus reflectors are much smaller and more effective at reflecting the light than the larger bulbs of PC or VHO. In order to benefit from T-5 bulbs (over VHO or PC), each bulb need to have individual reflector. We can also cram more watt under the same space due to the small-ness of the bulbs.

[JimD]

Agreed. T5 IMO is the way to go.

I agree, as long as you're using them for actinics that suppliment a good 10k halide. :)

[recoiljpr]

Interesting... glad to hear your MH work so well and dont heat your tank hot. The tall canopy is something I hadnt thought of.

Yeah, I was reading a lot from people testing with the lumenbright. They operate so much better being 12"+ high off the water. For the higher wattage bulbs (250W, 400W), mounting them between 18" and 22" are recommended. From reading on reefcentral, reef keeping and others it's because of the way the reflectors focus the light into a smaller area, while the lumenarc spread out the light, which means you have to mount them lower. In my mind that was the big reason for me getting the lumenbright, higher off the water+less heat=No Chiller.

Here is a link to a good article
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-06/review/index.php

[ShAgMaN]

Well, after some great info and opinions, I'm much more educated and informed. However........ I think I'm gonna do what no one recommends. :eek: I'm going with my instinct on this one.........LED's. I could be totally wrong, and likely so with so little experience compared to all of you, but today I saw the most awesome LED light at a LFS and it clinched the deal. I'll give you an update in a week or two, but please don’t say I told you so. I just gotta learn the hard way, or rejoice in success. :wink_smile:

[uriah]

Good luck! Are you getting a good deal?

[ShAgMaN]

Yah, ridiculously good deal.

[Europhyllia]

I have a 72" T5 fixture over my 125g tank and love it. My tank is shallow enough (under 24" deep) to where T5s are adequate. I was happy that I could avoid Metal Halides because I don't care for the heat output and energy consumption of the MTs.
If I could do one thing different about the T5S though I would go with a fixture that takes shorter bulbs.
Mine sort of alternately stacks several 60" T5s (overlapping in the middle and alternatingly cover the remaining 12" on the ends).
60" bulbs are super tough to come by and since they are so thin tend to break in shipping. I had a tough time getting a replacement after one bulb arrived broken.
So if I had to do it over I'd get a fixture that takes 36" bulbs end to end.
You can always find those. With the 60" bulbs I am much more limited.

Have fun with the LEDs. Would be cool if it worked out.

[ShAgMaN]

I have a 72" T5 fixture over my 125g tank and love it. My tank is shallow enough (under 24" deep) to where T5s are adequate. I was happy that I could avoid Metal Halides because I don't care for the heat output and energy consumption of the MTs.
If I could do one thing different about the T5S though I would go with a fixture that takes shorter bulbs.
Mine sort of alternately stacks several 60" T5s (overlapping in the middle and alternatingly cover the remaining 12" on the ends).
60" bulbs are super tough to come by and since they are so thin tend to break in shipping. I had a tough time getting a replacement after one bulb arrived broken.
So if I had to do it over I'd get a fixture that takes 36" bulbs end to end.
You can always find those. With the 60" bulbs I am much more limited.

Have fun with the LEDs. Would be cool if it worked out.

Thanks for the input and advice. BTW I'll PM you right now about the mandrin.