Lighting suggestions please

[g8rorchid]

Hello everyone!

I have a 90g reef with a coralife fixture that has 2 150w MH and 2 96w PC actinics. It is time to change out the bulbs so I have been toying with the idea of going the LED route. I don't have a ton of money to spend, so I am open to used. Any recommendations - brand? how many? DIY? Any help would be appreciated! If you need any more info, please let me know.

Thanks!!

 

[firemedix911]

What are you keeping in the tank as far as corals?

 

[g8rorchid]

Anemone, zoas, palys, and lps. No sps for this gal, lol.

 

[Stylo328]

My 2-cents (and probably not worth that) go ATI T5. Great color choices through unlimited bulb combinations, great growth, lower heat than MH and usually a few used fixtures on the market.

Hope that helps.

 

[dadummy]

here's another 2 cents, if you are up for a project. Keep the coralife fixture, remove the pc components and replace with LED. You can get blue, royal blue, violet LED and drivers on ebay for cheap, probably close to the price of replacing the pc's.

 

[g8rorchid]

Thanks for the suggestions.
Stylo - I love the shimmer of MH (and from what I have read leds) and haven't seen that with T5s.
dadummy - Definitely an interesting suggestion. But if I am going to change lights, I don't want to start messing with a fixture that already works as it is. Ya know?

 

[Stylo328]

Thanks for the suggestions.
Stylo - I love the shimmer of MH (and from what I have read leds) and haven't seen that with T5s.

Correct, no shimmer with T5. It is one of the negative trade-offs. Good luck with your decision.

 

[mlivvy]

Correct, no shimmer with T5. It is one of the negative trade-offs. Good luck with your decision.

Also changing out all those T5 bulbs every year sucks. So that's 2.

 

[mlivvy]

I just gutted out a 36" housing and built my own light. I made 2 clusters of led's with royal blue/uv/white etc. It's all controllable via a bluefish mini with an app on my phone. Cost me around $350-400 but I wouldn't trade it for any commercial light out right now.

What I recommend is a T5/diy led combo. I know I said changing t5 bulbs suck but we're talking about maybe 2 bulbs not 5,6,7 bulbs. You could do a pair of multiled pucks like the aurora or the lumia which are both full spectrum or you could find cheaper (from china) alternatives. Or just make your own clusters by grouping them together like so..

or just add enough led's to cover your tank and not use t5's. I originally planned for a t5 hybrid but decided to just up the amount of led's and go full led. No need to change bulbs, ever.
I would explain/link more info but alot of the good stuff I read and follow are on other forums not allowed here.

 

[Ssteve]

The changing of bulbs is way overblown. Change two bulbs a month every other month and skip the holidays. No need to re acclimate corals and it costs very little. Better than playing the "guess the spectrum" grame with led's.

 

[g8rorchid]

Mlivvy - thanks for the idea and info. How many leds/Watts would I need for the standard 90g? You only need one white per 4 blues? Or was the pic not to be followed exactly? Any more info/thoughts? Thanks!!

 

[Ryanaquarium]

I'm selling a 48" maristar light that has 4 t5 ATI bulbs with individual reflectors and 2 phoenix metal halides 250w and comes with ballast selling everything for $250

 

[g8rorchid]

Ryanaquarium- thanks, but I have MH with pc. It's either keep what I have or go with leds.
Any opinions on brand leds? Ai, kessil, etc?

 

[mrx66699]

Radions all the way .....Sanjay just spoke of his this weekend and the corals in his dt were crazy .....

 

[g8rorchid]

Matt - do you know if pc/t5 supplementation would be needed with radions?

 

[AquamanE]

My 2-cents (and probably not worth that) go ATI T5. Great color choices through unlimited bulb combinations, great growth, lower heat than MH and usually a few used fixtures on the market.

Hope that helps.

SSteve said: "The changing of bulbs is way overblown. Change two bulbs a month every other month and skip the holidays. No need to re acclimate corals and it costs very little. Better than playing the "guess the spectrum" grame with led's."

Thats what I would do. For a 90, and what you want to keep, 4-6 bulbs in enough.

 

[mrx66699]

Matt - do you know if pc/t5 supplementation would be needed with radions?

No its not needed ....I just like the supplementation look and remember my lights are 45in or so off the bottom.....

 

[g8rorchid]

Gotcha. Anyone else? I'm not real handy so a DIY, unless real easy is probably out. Any thoughts? Also could probably pick up used units for similar price as a DIY. Besides radions, any suggestions or ones to stay away from?

 

[ravedood]

I sold all my LEDs and went back to an ATI T5 fixture. I couldn't be happier. Yes it sucks to buy new bulbs every year but the coral growth tradeoff is worth it. I only miss the shimmer but I might buy a reefbrite later on to substitute.