Impulsed buying with these light fixtures

[coolxborg]

Im a couple of weeks into cycling a 100 gallon tank with 30 g sump and decided that i need to start looking into buying better lights. The fixtures that have been installed in the used canopy that i bought are designed for Freshwater.

Anyway, I made a couple of purchases without really knowing what im doing.

- Two 24" Current USA Orbit Marine LED Saltwater Reef Lighting System
from my LFS which is actually cheaper than i can find online.

- Two 24" Coralife Aqualight HO T-5 Dual Lamp Aquarium Light Fixture from DrsFoster&Smith.

My aquarium is about 5' but the canopy is designed to hold 4 24" fixtures.

- Also bought this for my refugium:
Wave-point 6-Inch 8-Watt Super Blue and Daylight Micro Sun LED High Output Clamp Light


Now my questions are:
1) Are these good light systems? I havent opened any of them so I can return if folks here tell me they're not good systems.

2) If they are worth to keep, would the lights be sufficient for:
a: Inverts such as bubble tip anemones (will definitely get this)
b: Soft Corals (may or may not include but want to plan for right lights, just in case)
c: LPS (may or may not include but want to plan for right lights, just in case)
d: SPS (may or may not include but want to plan for right lights, just in case)

3) Lastly, will the refugium LED light that i bought enough light for this refugium starter kit that i will buy from liveaquaria:
- Chaeto, Red/green Gracilaria, Ulva algae
- Amphipods and Tisbe biminiensis

Thanks in advance!

 

[andrek787]

I would suggest returning the lights and doing some research before you try again. Lights are one the most important parts of a reef tank since corals especially SPS get majority of their energy from photosynthesis. With the lights you bought you get 50w of LED and 50w of fluorecent. For comparison, Photon 480 Long designed for 5' tanks, packs over 300w of LED power and costs only a bit more then what you spent on the 4 fixtures.

 

[brianr24]

If it were me. I would return everything and invest in good led unit appropriat for your tank. Easy for me to spend your money haha. But I think u will be happier in the end.

 

[banthonyb71]

Not sure how the canopy was designed but if you have a 60" tank, you want to get lights 60" in length. So with a total length of 48" in t5's your tank will be getting shorted 12" in length. Unless you are running high quality t5s with high quality reflectors with leds that are designed for a wider spread. such as an ATI powermod.

If you cant afford some leds designed to be suspended higher and cover a wider area then your best bet is finding a 60" retro t5 kit.

 

[banthonyb71]

b: Soft Corals (may or may not include but want to plan for right lights, just in case)
c: LPS (may or may not include but want to plan for right lights, just in case)
d: SPS (may or may not include but want to plan for right lights, just in case)

This is a huge may or may not.

If you dont plan on keeping corals than you wont need better lights. If you plan on a reef tank, as others have stated this is one of thee most important components.

 

[coolxborg]

Ok. Thanks for everyone's input. Knowing myself, I will end keeping corals so I'll go ahead and ditch those lights and get better ones.

The mistake I'm making here is having the canopy dictate the lights that I buy so Ill need to make modifications to the canopy to be able to fit a 48-60in lights.

After searching at the LFS and online, i came across this:
http://current-usa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Orbit_Marine_Light_Specifications.pdf
http://current-usa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Orbit-Marine-Pro-Sales-SheetV2.pdf

Im planning to get model 4113 (should i get two? LFS actually said only need one even for SPS).

 

[banthonyb71]

If you dont plan on having corals anytime soon and especially if you have other things to buy, absolutely just get the one. no need to drop the bank for something you can easily add down the road.

Im not an experts in these fixtures but from the price tag I see on these, there are certainly bigger names that can be had for your dollar. from the lack of reply, I dont see u have interest in the kessils, pucks or anything else I mentioned.

If you are going to figure it out on your own, atleast do strong research, I strongly recommend against going on the word of the LFS "alone". No matter how convincing or knowledgeable they seem.

 

[andrek787]

Sounds like you are intent on buying from your LFS, but I will give you my 2 cents. Feature wise they look ok, but $500 bucks for 67w fixture is overpriced especially for a mid-range brand. For the price of 2, ($1000) you can get 3 top-off the line AI Hydra26 and a director, which will give you 270w vs 154w and web\cloud based control interface. I am positive that a LFS specializing in reefs won't even carry those lights.

 

[Dmorty217]

Words of wisdom... Impulse buying in this hobby never ends up being a good thing, do what you will with that.

 

[hobbzz]

You don't need the lights to match the legth of your tank. You will find this to be true when you start your research for new lights. ATI, the leader in T5, doesn't even make a 6 foot fixture. Generally speaking, a fixture one foot shorter will cover the tank just fine.

 

[MRCYCS805]

At I makes a 6-8-10x 80w 60" bulb fixture sunpower and power module I would get the 6 bulb Sun power if running t5 as you can add a reefbrite led bar later down the road if thats ur thing for shimmer etc or 3-ocean revive arctic t247 units if on a budget I'm running a 60" ledzeal malibu s400 unit 4- channel ramping from 0-100% custom layout and dig it

 

[banthonyb71]

You don't need the lights to match the legth of your tank. You will find this to be true when you start your research for new lights. ATI, the leader in T5, doesn't even make a 6 foot fixture. Generally speaking, a fixture one foot shorter will cover the tank just fine.

ah. that is true to an extent. is definitely depends on what fixture you buy, how many bulbs etc. If your buying an aquatic life fixture for a 48" tank, you definitely do not want to get their 36" fixture. ATI is a totally different story.

 

[banthonyb71]

Sounds like you are intent on buying from your LFS, but I will give you my 2 cents. Feature wise they look ok, but $500 bucks for 67w fixture is overpriced especially for a mid-range brand. For the price of 2, ($1000) you can get 3 top-off the line AI Hydra26 and a director, which will give you 270w vs 154w and web\cloud based control interface. I am positive that a LFS specializing in reefs won't even carry those lights.

agreed and I was actually going to suggest the 26's to him but I didnt think the Hydras would have the depth he needs for his tank.

 

[banthonyb71]

he already mentioned he was concerned about money so I didnt think he would even want to talk about anything ATI has.

Honestly I've already mentioned id once but, If I where OP,,,I would strongly look into a retro t5 kit. start out with 4 bulbs then add 4 down the road or add some LEDS down the road.

You can have 2 sets of 2 pair of a 3' retro kit for around $400 this will give you enough to cover the 72"8 bulbs total, 4 on each side of canopy.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/3-ft-...fit-kit-e6da32eef072f987685b6eddca072d4f.html

 

[MRCYCS805]

Is ops tank 5' -60"- or 6' -72"-

 

[banthonyb71]

Is ops tank 5' -60"- or 6' -72"-

my mistake. he did say tank was 5'

 

[coolxborg]

Perhaps, as mentioned earlier, I'm letting my canopy dictate the lights the i get. I keep looking at those fixtures because it would fit nicely into the canopy after some minor modifications. From everyone's response here, it sounds like if I'm willing to spend the money, then i should be looking at Kessils/Hydras. This is something i need to think about.

With regards to purchasing from my LFS, its not because I'm intent on buying from them. Its because I will have credit with them once i return the lights so i figured it would be easier just to spend there. In short, Im not married into buying from them.

FWIW, my tank dimensions are 60"L X 18"W X 22"H. Prior to returning the LEDS to LFS, I went ahead and tried them out. Here's a pic:

 

[FlyingPigNJ]

Funny how I always went through the process like that, too.
My LFS had those light cheaper than Amazon. (plus $10 store credit, each!)
I saw the wattage, I thought they were pretty weak, but I figured I would double them up and put them next to my T5.
After reading this forum, I decided that it would still be way under powered for the corals. I wasn't going to do a fish only tank, so I did some more research on lights and finally settles on a nice light from china. Long story short, that fell through, I still end up with a chinese light, but this one is from amazon. They told me it would take a month to ship from china, but I ended up getting it in a week from california. That was literally a pleasant surprise.
There, end of my story. Please do not take any of my comments as advise. I'm just a noob.

 

[banthonyb71]

With regards to purchasing from my LFS, its not because I'm intent on buying from them. Its because I will have credit with them once i return the lights so i figured it would be easier just to spend there. In short, I'm not married into buying from them.

I would never ever discourage anyone from supporting their local fish store and I don't think anyone here is implying that either. In fact, I think the LFS should be a first choice barring their prices are at least somewhat competitive. It is your community after all.

However supporting your LFS and being directed by your LFS is 2 different stories. What we mean is, more often than not the LFS will generally push you into a product that they stock, or that they can get, or that they know.

Do your research first, make a small list of possible options on the lighting you want. find out if your LFS carries any of these products or if they can get any of these products,
next go into the LFS well informed. If you are not informed it will be easy for them to make you second guess your choice and push you into the direction they want you to go.

Be firm on your stance of the product you want and see if they can get it for you, if they can at a good price. absolutely go with them!..If not, then look to an online source or another LFS.

One of the things I love and main advantages about the forums is that there are no ulterior motives here. The opinions you get here will be for the most part unbiased and unmotivated by profit.

You have a huge weapon in the forums that the general public doesn't have. Purchasing power. Use it to your advantage.