Lighting Help

[ThePaliga]

Hey everybody,
So I've been trying to decide what kind of lighting system to go with for my new tank build. It's a true 50 gallon (36"w x 18"d x 19"h) and I don't plan on trying this petsmart led pod system with coral. I don't want to spend thousands of $$$ but I do want to buy the right thing. I plan on keeping sps and an anemone. Any thoughts?

 

[Nighthawk26]

Talk about a post opening a can of worms for a post. Ha. DO you know at least the type of lighting you want to go with? Will you be hanging them? A canopy? MH, LED, T5, hybrid of any of the combinations? You will get answers all over the map. Great place to start for you would be the BRS 160 video series on their site, or you can find them on youtube. They have 4 videos regarding lighting options. One is generalized of all options, then the other 3 much more detailed on each option.

 

[Luke.]

I would personally would run 2 kessil tuna blues 160's i think they are 289 a peice amazing lights I have one in my tank for about 6 months and you'll never find another light that makes the water shimmer like the ocean ! If you wanted to spend i little more kessil had the tuna Blues 360s I think they run around 499 each , but the kessil tuna blue 160 I use at 65% power because any higher I feel my corals would burn so it dose have a lot of power and kessil makes their own led soft wear so no Chinese peice of shit it's the best bang for your buck it's its smaller then a pop can! I love this light personally but there's many options out there !

 

[ThePaliga]

See I wanted to keep my options open, hence why I asked such a general question . LEDs, t5s, metal halides.. I don't know which way to go and I don't want to go buying something just to replace it the next year.

 

[Luke.]

Leds last a long time t5s you replace the bulbs anywhere from 30-60$ I believe i did the same thing you are about 6 months ago I wasted over 600$ in 2 types of lights till I came across kessil leds, but t5s will grow anything if you have the right amount of bulbs !

 

[ThePaliga]

The Kessil looks like a beautiful system! And that price point doesn't look too bad at all! Comparatively, it seems pretty on point with t5 systems...

 

[monizb]

Hey I'm happy with my black box led unit off ebay my corals are just happy and get the shimmer effect as well great unit

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

 

[ThePaliga]

Monizb... Do you have a link to the ones you bought? Or something similar?

 

[Nighthawk26]

Do yourself a massive favor.

Watch this, then the 4 videos after it.

 

[Kevin Tran]

I am selling this one led fixture that I believe will cover your tank. 240w will grow sps with no problem $300 firm.
I am just putting this out there, but have no idea where your location are. Pm me if interest

 

[monizb]

yes Ebay item number is 161718959578 they are local from mississauga free shipping as well

 

[scubasteve]

i run the ai sol blues ai is pricey but well worth it. personally i will always use led the colour they give off plus the amount of controllability is just amazing. plus most units have a 10 yr life expectancy and you never have to change a bulb and the amount of power savings is insane.

 

[EricTMah]

I'm a big believer in leds. They may cost you a bit more for start up. But the money you save in energy and bulb replacement will more than make up for it.
I run two maxspects with two vertex illumilux blue over my dt. And I feel I've got decent growth and colour.
Couple options to throw out there are the Chinese led black boxes like what monizb is running(I use two over my frag tank). These are probably your cheapest option.
Another route would be the new kelo led. Exactly like the Kessels but lower price point. @unibob sells them here.

Sony Xperia Z3

 

[Nonuser]

yep @unibob is a good guy and has always looked after me. I was skeptical on the kelo led but when I saw them in london I was impressed. LED are big money but in the long run not so much. I'm ;earning to buy quality and only buy once is cheaper in the long run.

 

[kapelan]

Let's compare:
Kevin offer(led): 240W for 300$
t5 240W = 4 bulb
Replace t5 every year = 120$ every year. On a second year you will hate the fixture and a person who gave you this advise.
The same story with MH.
So the choice is basically only one: LED.
Just find the right spectrum and right power.
With not good spectrum you may pay 200$ for 200W and have only 100W useful light means waist money and energy and the light will not satisfy your needs. You will steel need to by some additional light, everybody is coming to this tramp.
There are a bunch of articles about spectrum. it's actually a big topic.