Been out for 10 years, SPS lighting help

nbd13

nbd13

New member
Hey everyone,

Been out of the scene for 10 years, getting back in and have the added benefit my 3 year old loves fish and watches the Blue Planet instead of cartoons!

I need some help though as the equipment has changed! I used to use MH and supplement with T5s (that's right when they were coming out)...but now all these LEDs are out???

I see hybrid units with LEDs and t5s, just LEDs, seems some are still using MHs.

I am going to keep mainly an SPS reef, but I don't like the real blue look I've seen with some straight LED tanks....Are there LEDs that more mimic the look of MHs with supplementation?

What are the best LED fixtures out there?

What are the best LED/t5 hybrid fixtures? I've been looking at the ATI one and that seems decent?

I'm trying to decide between a 120 gallon (4'x2'x2') or going something custom and doing 48" x 28" wide x 24" tall.

Any help would be great!

Thanks

Nick
 
I would do something with T5s and LEDs. The ATI fixture is nice or the cheaper aquatic life hybrid works too. You can run blue plus and actinic bulbs and run your LEDs on the whiter side. The kessils have a great shimmer similar to MH. Also the radions with the diffusers look good.

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Knighthawk said:
I would do something with T5s and LEDs. The ATI fixture is nice or the cheaper aquatic life hybrid works too. You can run blue plus and actinic bulbs and run your LEDs on the whiter side. The kessils have a great shimmer similar to MH. Also the radions with the diffusers look good.

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Click to expand...

Are the kessils and radions just LED fixtures?

Is the aquatic life hybrid fixtures as good as the ATI in terms of lights? The PAR is similar?

Thanks,

Nick
 
The kessils and radions are just leds. I would look up some of the bulk reef supply videos on lighting. They cover most of the new fixtures pretty well.

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You can't get a good T5 look with LED only IMO, unfortunately.

While not the best fixture the aquatic life T5 hybrid looks like a great start as you can put Kessils or Radions between the T5's without paying the extreme price of the hybrid fixtures. Go to BulkReefSupply.com and search for Aquatic Life. First fixture listed.
 
For that size tank I'd go T5 as the main lights and LED for bling/supplementing.

Sunpower 6 or 8 bulb with two LED strips. I wouldn't worry about adding the LEDs till your acros are growing and doing well. Orphek has some nice LED strips and you can customize them. Plus by the time you're ready a dimmer option will be available.

ATI makes a nice T5/LED unit that has proven successful but is going to be pricey.
 
Big E said:
For that size tank I'd go T5 as the main lights and LED for bling/supplementing.

Sunpower 6 or 8 bulb with two LED strips. I wouldn't worry about adding the LEDs till your acros are growing and doing well. Orphek has some nice LED strips and you can customize them. Plus by the time you're ready a dimmer option will be available.

ATI makes a nice T5/LED unit that has proven successful but is going to be pricey.
Click to expand...



Any link to this Orphek LED strip. Sounds interesting.


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nbd13 said:
Hey everyone,

Been out of the scene for 10 years, getting back in and have the added benefit my 3 year old loves fish and watches the Blue Planet instead of cartoons!

I need some help though as the equipment has changed! I used to use MH and supplement with T5s (that's right when they were coming out)...but now all these LEDs are out???

I see hybrid units with LEDs and t5s, just LEDs, seems some are still using MHs.

I am going to keep mainly an SPS reef, but I don't like the real blue look I've seen with some straight LED tanks....Are there LEDs that more mimic the look of MHs with supplementation?

What are the best LED fixtures out there?

What are the best LED/t5 hybrid fixtures? I've been looking at the ATI one and that seems decent?

I'm trying to decide between a 120 gallon (4'x2'x2') or going something custom and doing 48" x 28" wide x 24" tall.

Any help would be great!

Thanks

Nick
Click to expand...
I was in the same boat as you. I got back into the hobby and so much changed in a short amount of time. When I got back in, I went straight leds and it was fine till the frags started to grow. Then I noticed a lot of shadowing on my sps due to the pendant type lighting. Then the aquatic life hybrids came out and I added the t5 supplements and they actually work really well and really have no complaints. My tank has done really well and has since outgrown my current tank. I have decided to go a bit bigger tank and was thinking of going w a 8 bulb ati dimmable fixture w/ led bars since I have seen some spectacular tanks in person w/ this setup. You can't really go wrong with this. The only issue I had was the T5's was the bulb changes, extra heat as compared to leds and the form factor was less appealing vs leds. Watched some of brs videos and saw the orphek atlantik v4 test and it seems as it gives you the benefits of the leds along with the spread of the T5's and decided to go this route. New tank is cycling, but overall light looks promising. Planning on doing some par test in the next couple weeks do directly compare to my hybrid setup.

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