72" 210g Lighting - please help

[bundybass]

I have spend pretty much all day on this forum reading different post and I'm no closer to my lighting set-up than when I started. Current home made fixture has 2 250 MH, 4 3' T5s, and 2 2' T5s. Halides keep blowing through ballasts so for now they are not running at all. And the t5s are not keeping my sps happy. I've added two 60" old t12s to help but all they seem to do is grow algae. My problem is I cannot afford to change to leds. I also don't think new ballasts and bulbs for the halides is reasonable since I don't know why the last ballasts only lasted 6 months. Something definitely wrong here. I was thinking about going all t5s. I have 2 ARO VHO ballasts and the end caps and wiring for a retro fit. Plus the ballasts and deflectors from the current t5 bulbs. I know t12s are out of the question, but I'm fairly sure I can run T5HOs on same ballasts and end caps (may need inserts).

So in your opinion would I be ok adding 4 60" T5HOs to the 4 3' T5s? That would give me the same as a 6 bulb t5 fixture. Will this be good enough to grow a mixture of sps, lps and softies?

I appreciate all and any help from the pros. Thank you.

 

[Stomatopod1701]

That might not be enough for really light intensive corals and it may not be sufficient to punch all the way down to the bottom of your tank (I think your tank is around 30" deep) so bottom dwelling corals would have to require less light.
Another option would be to add two 24" photon LEDs, but that would be far more costly.
If you could add two more 60" t5s (and if all your bulbs are high quality and have good reflectors) I think you could grow pretty much anything. I also think your original idea would work if you did some research and did not purchase the most light intensive corals and arranged corals carefully with high light at the top and low at the bottom.

 

[theReefKing]

There are some DIY LED kits which can be exceptionally affordable, and use the same high output LEDs they are putting in the AI and Radion units.

I would go this route as you can keep your upfront cost down AND the maintenance and energy consumption is much cheaper.

 

[bundybass]

any suggestions of an affordable DIY kit to go with?

 

[pja24]

any suggestions of an affordable DIY kit to go with?

I went with rapid led for my new 210 gallon. . Kits for 180 but just change optics. I think $930. I like it because you could change your LEDs to your liking. All kinds of options with DIY. Just my opinion.