Infamous lighting question

[wookiefever]

Hey everyone,

So I am by no means anywhere close to having corals but I was hoping to put some in the tank a few months from now.

I was wondering what some good starter corals are: seems like the softies are the easiest to deal with.

Also are there any decent lights out there that wont cost me a pretty penny and can be used for corals.

I was thinking of starting with a current USA marine led light for my 55. Would this be strong enough for some corals? (probably low light corals).

Also do you guys know of anywhere there is an easy to understand article explaining lighting and not full of technical jargon (i.e., PAR, PUR...)

Thanks

 

[rsain]

Try this thread for inexpensive yet tested and effective lighting over SPS. Myself and many other owners are happy with the lights (or style) referenced. Modifications are suggested though. It's a long thread. LOL.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2474870

- ryan

 

[Sk8r]

Softies and stonies are not an easy fit together: they don't like each other. There are easy and hard ones of each sort. I would advise take a good look at pix, figure out your personal preferences, then come back and ask about easy softies and easy stonies.

 

[dragonsong]

I bought one of those 165 watt black box LED's off eBay, I think it cost like $75?? And I have a bunch of different corals doing good so far, ricordea, zoas, star polyps, duncan, acan, hammer, birdsnest & pocillopora so a nice mix of different types. Everyone is staying alive and a couple, most notably the duncan and star polyps are growing super fast.

I found the exact light & seller I used, price has gone up a tad but here it is if you're curious. For a 55 you would probably need 2 as I have only 1 on my 29 and its just right, slightly dimmer on the far edges but I have corals everywhere depending on what intensity they like.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/165W-LED-Aq...113350?hash=item2a34d6b786:g:9h4AAOSwHjNWAM-N

 

[wookiefever]

At this point all I know is that I really like the acan's. I don't really know anything about corals though.

 

[sticky polyps]

Do yourself a favor and don't get anything that might be good enough for softies. You will most likely end up replacing it for something brighter. I would not suggest the marine land......anything really. There is much better equipment out there for a comparable price.

For lights I use aqua manna 156w COB modules (x2) on my 65 with really no complaints. They are dimmable so you could keep anything. I believe they are about $100 each. Hope that will help..

 

[sticky polyps]

Sorry, misread.. I don't know about the current USA lights, but my statement is still pertinent.. GL

 

[Ron Reefman]

The Current and Marineland fixtures are NOT worth spending your money on. They use leds driven at 0.3 to 0.5 watts per led and try to make up for the low power by using lots more leds. The result is a fixture that barely does anything at 24" deep. Even Current's own website states they only get a PAR of 5 at 24" deep.




There are good Chinese led fixtures that run leds at 2.2 watts/led and get a PAR of 200 at 24". Even the MarsAqua uses 1.8 watts/led which is not as good as most, but good enough for zoas and softies at 24" deep.

 

[sticky polyps]

^exactly my point.

 

[rsain]

^^ my link above regards the Mars Aqua lights.

Swapped fans for super quiet operation and changed a few leds to my liking (and added some new WLs).

-ryan

 

[wookiefever]

Awesome thanks so much guys. I am slowly reading through that article but it is still pretty complex. As for the PAR what would you be wanting around 20"? I think for now I will just do a FOWLR tank and use a cheap light and in the future when I get corals to go and use the Mars Aqua. How easy is it to upgrade the fans and what not. I do not have any electrical skills/soldering skills.

 

[rsain]

How easy is it to upgrade the fans and what not. I do not have any electrical skills/soldering skills.

Nothing in that list was REQUIRED to swap out. An LFS here didn't even switch out the greens and reds. Everything in that thread is about your desire to improve the light. Some folks really like to tinker.

To your question:
Fans - requires the following skills: ability to use a cross head screw driver, ability to unclip a clip (maybe attach a new one, depending on replacement fans).

LEDs - requires the following skills: ability to use a cross head screw driver; ability to hold a soldering iron semi steady, ability to hold pliers or hemostat steady. Easy to some, more challenging to others. There was a video of it being done.

- ryan

 

[wookiefever]

Thanks so much Ryan. The more I research the more I think a FOWLR tank is better suited for me because I dont have the $$$ to give corals a proper environment. The urge to resist corals due to me not being set up to give them ideal conditions is hard though... Ah the joys of fish keeping.

 

[azcrazy]

I bought a pair of the 300w mars aqua,
they decent lights for the price, still not beat my MH and super atinic combo