40 gallon breeder lighting , t5's plus,..

[duanegraham]

Hi all, I'm getting back into saltwater reefing again, converted my 90g to freshwater and setting up a 40g breeder tank with a 20g fuge. Currently playing the waiting game and populating my live rock with copepods and rotifiers before getting 3-5 small fish and some softies and lps. Currently I have a dual bulb 36" t5ho fixture with white and actinic bulbs but I would like to add a small wattage led strip/hood, whatever to give the corals some extra "pop". So t5's for growth and led's for vibrance, my budget is somewhat flexible, but I'd like to keep it under 300$ if you've any suggestions I'd love to hear them.

Side note I've seen the viparspectra, good price, too much wattage, current usa loop lighting system, good wattage, nice system, but a bit pricey and not sure it will give the desired look.

 

[Diana A]

Mars Aqua on ebay

 

[duanegraham]

Thanks for the suggestion Diana, I see a few setups from the 165w "blocks" to the more attractive for longer tanks strip which is 300w. By seeing reviews in coverage area I'd likely need two "blocks" or one strip. That has massive overkill as far as wattage goes considering I'll already be running around 80 watts of floursecent tube lights. Granted they are dimmable but I'd prefer higher quality over higher output personally.

 

[duanegraham]

But of course with quality comes a higher price tag,..

 

[Diana A]

They are the same light output quality. With the other brands, you are paying for options

 

[duanegraham]

Hm interesting, I never thought of that before. Could they can be brought down to about 10% or 30 watt output for the 300 watt fixture?

 

[Diana A]

There are two knobs...one for white and one for blue...both can dim

 

[duanegraham]

Awesome, thank you very much Diana, I'll definitely look into them some more.