My brain is going to explode! (220 LED Lighting)

[Vapour1ze]

So, after a year with 3x Mars Aqua eBay crap fixtures over my 220, I want to upgrade. I have a ATI x8 Dimmable over my 93 cube and love it! However, there is no dimmable 72" version.. or 60" for that matter. I'm sick of bulb changing anyway. Long story short, MarsAqua just isn't for me. The fall off is insane, once out of the fixture, PAR is 0. My gig anemone suffered big time over the past few months and I need way more light.

I've spent the past week researching Kessil A360WE ( which doesn't look like that intense of a light )

I've played with ideas of going T5 again over this with a 60" non dimmable fixture.

I've had Radion's in the past... Was ok, but not great...

At this point, I need to figure out what LEDs I need for moderate coverage of 72x24x30H...

I just started peeking into Hydra HD 52s as well...

I'm honestly at this time, lost. I don't know which road to take. Everything's expensive and I don't want to have to buy and return everything... I wanted to slowly purchase everything. I can't afford a all at once 2k-3k upgrade.

If anyone can chime in, I would appreciate it...

 

[toothybugs]

BML just shut down their aquarium line. People might be bailing out for a "new" product, I would watch for a set of 48" strips (in-line with the strip the lenses are 120 degree so end-spread is pretty good). These days, they're probably going to be rather cheap.

 

[WaReefer458]

The 360we's are actually very intense. So intense that when I added a second one over my 40 it bleached all my sps overnight. I didn't think to turn it down after doubling the lighting. Oops. When I do my tank upgrade to a 200dd I will be using my kessils in the front pointed back a bit for ramping and shimmer. Then I'll get an 8 bulb t5 for main lighting. T5's are great but they lack the shimmer and that's a deal breaker for me. I figure that will be my most efficient way to do it with my current equipment. Either way you look at it you will be spending a butt load of money to light that tank with quality fixtures. If you have a hood to hide them in you could get away with just doing 3 360's and a t5 retrofit kit( 2 bulbs in the front and 2 in the back). That would be a legit setup.

 

[Mark426]

Over the years I have used everything from VHO to high end LED's. If I could do it all over and had a 72" tank you would see two 36" ATI hybrids hanging from my ceiling. Still pricey though. My second choice would be just two standard 36" ATI T5. All LED options for a 72 incher is big money.

 

[Lostinthedark]

I just ditched my LEDs and went with the ATI 8 x80 over a 225. I'm sorry I didn't go this route from the start. I actually like the look better then with the LEDs. There is no shimmer, but there is no disco effect either. The fish have better color and the tank looks crisper.Its only been a week but I am already seeing more polyp extention and growth where there was none before.
I know the LEDs lost par overtime and caused a lot of issues and I would rather deal with bulb changes then have to resolder diodes and change ballast every year.

 

[Vapour1ze]

I just ditched my LEDs and went with the ATI 8 x80 over a 225. I'm sorry I didn't go this route from the start. I actually like the look better then with the LEDs. There is no shimmer, but there is no disco effect either. The fish have better color and the tank looks crisper.Its only been a week but I am already seeing more polyp extention and growth where there was none before.
I know the LEDs lost par overtime and caused a lot of issues and I would rather deal with bulb changes then have to resolder diodes and change ballast every year.

I'll agree with you there... I went from LED to T5 on my 93... The switch was awesome. Colors are great. I love everything about it... PAR was superior. I don't mind the no shimmer... It's whatever to me, really... I honestly may do the same.... 8x60" ATI fixture.

 

[DavidinGA]

So, after a year with 3x Mars Aqua eBay crap fixtures over my 220, I want to upgrade. I have a ATI x8 Dimmable over my 93 cube and love it! However, there is no dimmable 72" version.. or 60" for that matter. I'm sick of bulb changing anyway. Long story short, MarsAqua just isn't for me. The fall off is insane, once out of the fixture, PAR is 0. My gig anemone suffered big time over the past few months and I need way more light.

I've spent the past week researching Kessil A360WE ( which doesn't look like that intense of a light )

I've played with ideas of going T5 again over this with a 60" non dimmable fixture.

I've had Radion's in the past... Was ok, but not great...

At this point, I need to figure out what LEDs I need for moderate coverage of 72x24x30H...

I just started peeking into Hydra HD 52s as well...

I'm honestly at this time, lost. I don't know which road to take. Everything's expensive and I don't want to have to buy and return everything... I wanted to slowly purchase everything. I can't afford a all at once 2k-3k upgrade.

If anyone can chime in, I would appreciate it...

I have the same setup as you (3 ebay boxes), but I also run 4 80w T5 tubes. T5's added on make a world of difference imo...

 

[oblio]

So, after a year with 3x Mars Aqua eBay crap fixtures over my 220, I want to upgrade. I have a ATI x8 Dimmable over my 93 cube and love it! However, there is no dimmable 72" version.. or 60" for that matter. I'm sick of bulb changing anyway. Long story short, MarsAqua just isn't for me. The fall off is insane, once out of the fixture, PAR is 0. My gig anemone suffered big time over the past few months and I need way more light.

I've spent the past week researching Kessil A360WE ( which doesn't look like that intense of a light )

I've played with ideas of going T5 again over this with a 60" non dimmable fixture.

I've had Radion's in the past... Was ok, but not great...

At this point, I need to figure out what LEDs I need for moderate coverage of 72x24x30H...

I just started peeking into Hydra HD 52s as well...

I'm honestly at this time, lost. I don't know which road to take. Everything's expensive and I don't want to have to buy and return everything... I wanted to slowly purchase everything. I can't afford a all at once 2k-3k upgrade.

If anyone can chime in, I would appreciate it...

The line about the Kessils not looking intense enough. You are mistaken on that. I have 2 360we's over a standard 90 and don't run over 40%. I do run a couple of t5 for the shadowing but those things will most definitely drive 30" deep.

 

[Lostinthedark]

I had the Ocean Revives and they were plenty powerful to hit the bottom. The problem was that they lost a lot of par overtime until they eventually burned out. They also had huge spectrum shift. It's a very common problem among the Chinese black boxes that everyone is becoming aware of now. It seems that the top end don't have this issue as they use quality parts and last longer. If you go the LED route again it seems you have to pay top dollar or it will cost you more in repairs and dead coral in the future.

 

[thegrun]

For what it's worth I'm running three Hydra 52's over my standard 120 SPS mixed reef and the lights are great. With your 30" height I would use four units if you went the Hydra 52 route.