Getting back into SPS reefing, any tips

[stevedola]

SO...after about 2.5 years of no tank I am going to be getting back in.

My father has had enough of this hobby and said I could have his red sea max 250. We set it up about 3 years ago with a lot of the equipment from my old 60g cube. I had a tank from 1999-2015 that were mostly sps reefs. Ive been gone a while and wondered if LEDs have come along in the last few years. I like the tank's appearance and size but the T5's are a little under powered and dull (IMO) for SPS. I am a huge proponent of ATI t5's (seeing I had an ATI sunpower and tx5 for most of my reefing years) and believe in that lighting. However, Ive heard that AI leds have come a long way since I first tried their old white bricks. Seeing this tank has some heat issues and Im not replacing the hood someone had mentioned that I could probably fit a couple hydra's in the hood space for the T5s.

I guess my question is would 2 Hydra 26 HD's inside the red sea hood be sufficient for SPS? Does anyone have experience with this setup on a similar sized tank (38l/21w/26h)? Has anyone seen or heard of this being done effectively?

Ill be starting a thread on here or boston reefers to document the move and reset of the tank. Im starting to plan it out...and as usual the lighting is top priority on my list of things to decide and buy.

 

[codydemmel4]

I unfortunately know nothing about LEDs only ever used T5s, but wanted to wish you good luck with the move and setting up the tank!!

 

[jda]

There have been no real enhancements of value since 2014 in LED... different diode configurations, reflectors, etc. The old white bricks are 2010, or so. Since they are still getting changes every cycle, this should tell you about how good they are. I think that you might be able to get to 80% of what you could if you run ATI T5s, but that might be OK if you want to adjust them on your android from the couch or show your friends some thunderstorms. My new opinion for light for SPS is that LED are more for you and T5 or MH are more for the corals.

 

[stevedola]

The models look different but you're saying that the leds are the same? My old Sol had 1 color of bulb dont these have many different of varying spectrum?Ive seen a bunch of sps tanks on RC that are beautiful with LEDs. I get what youre saying about the novelty aspect of LEDs with the different modes and programs (all things I dont necessarily need).

 

[jda]

Your SOLs are not from 2014. 2014 panels are an upgrade from the SOL.

 

[Geeray]

I wouldn't think 2 hydra 26s would give off more par then an ATI sun power. I can confirm that the AI hydra series fixtures are good fixtures but I'm not so sure they're better than ATI T5's

How long is the tank? With a 21" width you should consider the hydra 52s not the 26s. I would recommend 1 H52 per foot. The cost starts adding up real fast... Lol

If you go with too few fixtures you'll end up a statistic and post a "LEDS SUCK I'm switching back to T5" thread.

 

[stevedola]

the thing is that the red sea max have a stock t5 ballast and weak reflectors...not like my old sunpower which i loved. so it has to come and fit into the hood of the rsm 250.

 

[bif24701]

A combo of; quality LED for shimmer, color, punch and some good T5 retros for shadows, illumination, and spectrum. The very best systems I have seen used Kessils with T5s, very hard to beat when you get both together.

I don't understand why more LED users don't at least consider adding a few T5s. How many MH users don't have any supplemental lighting of some kind? Not too many.

 

[abhishek@1985]

A combo of; quality LED for shimmer, color, punch and some good T5 retros for shadows, illumination, and spectrum. The very best systems I have seen used Kessils with T5s, very hard to beat when you get both together.

I don't understand why more LED users don't at least consider adding a few T5s. How many MH users don't have any supplemental lighting of some kind? Not too many.

Well I use 2x250 watt Radiums run on magnetic ballast over a 30 in x 30 in x 18 in tank . No supplements used . Somehow , radium makes the tank look perfect without any supplementation for acros only.

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[bif24701]

Well I use 2x250 watt Radiums run on magnetic ballast over a 30 in x 30 in x 18 in tank . No supplements used . Somehow , radium makes the tank look perfect without any supplementation for acros only.



Regards,

Abhishek

In that case I could see that, however not many go that route with MH. Those ballasts are not easy to find and using another one make the bulb too white.


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