My head is swimming - I need to make a decision

Z

Zoregon

New member
I need help....I really, really do.......

I was going to get the Sunpower ATI 60" 8 bulb. But then started researching. Asked my online store (no lfs anywhere near me) and they said "led's have come so far they're just as good as t5/mh now. Get three Radions".

So back to researching. Hours of google, hours of RC.

I'm worse off than when I started....

Now I'm thinking MH.

This is what I want:
I want to grow sps - love the looks of the birdsnest and the montiporas just blow me away. With those I will have some softies for sure. Love the big toadstool leathers ! And of course I'm sure there will be plenty of lps that catches my eye. I want growth and the best colour I can get.

This is what I do not want:
I don't want to fry corals period. I don't want to highlight my corals to the point of where I don't see my fish. I do not want an led hybrid. I can't diy it and can't justify the price to either myself or hubby. And lastly, I do not want to have to upgrade a few years down the road because of lack of growth, colour, etc. I want to buy once, put it up, set it and be done.

I'm sure there are a lot of new reefers out there who are also feeling my pain. Can anyone recommend? Please? If you were starting all over again and knew everything you know now about led/t5/mh.....which would you choose for what I want??

Also I can't see any of these in person...rural Ontario - the nearest lfs is two hours and not worth the drive........
 
If you want to grow acropora and really color it up, then IMO LED is not the easiest choice. It can work, but it's more difficult to set up right. I have tried it, and ended up supplementing T5's. I also though LED only shimmered way too much and there was definite shadowing.

If you do not want much/any acros and your only SPS is birdsnest/montis, LED is basically fine. Same goes for LPS/zoas/soft corals as well.

I guess my answer boils down to whether or not you want to keep many acros or not.
 
I think you will find that most successful/colorful tanks (I'm talking the 2%ers here) do not use LED alone or at all..
MANY have great tanks that do though and can grow/color them just fine.. But MH/T5 are still top dogs if you can live/deal with the heat/bulb replacement cost,etc...

Its not just about light alone though.. stability/feeding,etc.. also play a huge role..
 
If your new to the hobby,i would go with metal halides, just because they will be the most "set and forget" lighting option. You can get they are the cheapest for initial setup, and best of all, you won't fry your brain swimming through the choices of t5 bulbs or Radion settings. Moreover, you won't beat yourself up when you don't get LED's right on the first try. Go LED's once you have some reefing time under your belt. Hope this helps.
 
Here I go again. ����
Would this be a good light? Plug & play? Or straight MH?

Hamilton Cebu Sun Lighting System - 72 Inch 3 x 250 Watt 20,000K Metal Halide and 4 x 80 Watt T5 HO Actinics

This is just painful I swear ����
 
Zoregon said:
Here I go again. ����
Would this be a good light? Plug & play? Or straight MH?

Hamilton Cebu Sun Lighting System - 72 Inch 3 x 250 Watt 20,000K Metal Halide and 4 x 80 Watt T5 HO Actinics

This is just painful I swear ����
Click to expand...

I ran that exact fixture with Radium bulbs and the M80 ballasts. Great fixture that will grow anything.
 
Did you read the posts? Your original post doesn't mention acropora at all so why in the world would you consider going MH?? You don't really need it for anything else unless you like using tons of extra power. I mean seriously that fixture you're asking about uses 1100 watts! A typical 15 amp circuit in a home only supports 1200 so you plug in a return pump and you're tripping circuit breakers lol
 
I have LEDs on my 90 gallon tank. My birdsnest is growing like crazy. Montipora not so much. I have no doubts the LEDs will grow them. With that said, I am going to t5s. I don't like the color from the led fixture no matter how I adjust them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I am an LED user. My Acros seem to be loving it (albeit a short time in the tank) and I really like the colors I get from the AI Hydra HD.

That said, many many people stand by the ATI T5 fixture and it is probably the most common. I used to have T5s and I really did not enjoy getting new bulbs, trying to determine when bulbs were past their prime, and changing bulb configurations if I wanted to alter the color. I can do all that easily with the Hydras. I will note that it anecdotally seems that many of the people having problems with LEDs are those who either do not have enough for their tank or who switched from T5. Switching from T5 is a big switch for the coral that "grew up" under the T5 lights. Tanks that start with LED seem to do much better, especially now that there are tried and true settings from users.
 
Potatohead said:
Did you read the posts? Your original post doesn't mention acropora at all so why in the world would you consider going MH?? You don't really need it for anything else unless you like using tons of extra power. I mean seriously that fixture you're asking about uses 1100 watts! A typical 15 amp circuit in a home only supports 1200 so you plug in a return pump and you're tripping circuit breakers lol
Click to expand...

He says he loves SPS.
He called out birds nest and monti but what if he wants to get some acros too?

BTW, that fixture is not going to be even close to tripping breakers.
As far as running costs, my electricity was cheap at around 8 cents/kwhr, but when i switched from 4 radion pros to that fixture, my calculated electricity costs went up about $100-200/year. If you want comparable coverage with LED (just using a radion for example purposes) you would need 5-6 units. Total wattage ends up being really close with both setups.

Now if montis truly are the extend of the sps, I totally agree... LED should work. I'd still make sure I had plenty of coverage though. You don't want bald montis and birds nest in all those shadow areas.
 
I'm sorry I'm not more specific on my sps. I don't know all of the names & types yet. Yes I looked up acropora and they are among the sps that I do like.

What I want is a light than can grow whatever I decide to stock. I don't know all the different corals and their needs yet. I am still working up this very steep learning curve.

I thought the previously mentioned light would do that. I'm not knocking LED by any means and they were my first choice, but in researching them I've realized there is a very steep learning curve even for experienced reefers which I am not. Water chemistry and stocking lists are enough right now without having to deal with all the ramifications of PAR. If I am wrong on my perception of LED, please feel free to correct me.

For the Radions it was recommended I purchase 3 - Radion Pro 15W. Tank is 72 x 24 x 24. I feel like it would be 'under-lighted' for want of a better term.

I don't want to get something that I am unable to 'dial in' or that I will have to supplement down the road because it's incapable of supplying the necessary light to chosen corals.

I also understand MH/T5 do cost more to run, but, with the amount invested and going to be invested a few dollars more on my electricity bill is really nothing at this point lol.
 
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If you like acropora and think you want to keep it, I would not go with LED only, which it seems you are not into doing anyway. Like d2 mentioned and has been said before you can certainly do it but you need a ton of fixtures. Four Radions or Hydra 52's or whatever is not exactly inexpensive.

So, that leaves a MH/T5 hybrid fixture or a T5/LED hybrid fixture, or T5 only. Any of them will do what you want (grow and color SPS) so from there it just comes down to cost IMO. The only real disadvantage to T5 is they don't shimmer, if you like that. What a lot of people do is buy a six or eight bulb ATI T5 unit, remove the two middle bulbs, and replace them with an LED unit like a Hydra 52 or something. This give you control of spectrum and the look of the tank, allows you to have moonlighting, some shimmer, etc.

Your previous mentioned light is absolutely fine, in fact it's very good. It may just be a little old school, IMO there are more efficient ways to accomplish the same task.
 
Zoregon said:
For the Radions it was recommended I purchase 3 - Radion Pro 15W. Tank is 72 x 24 x 24. I feel like it would be 'under-lighted' for want of a better term.
Click to expand...

For SPS you'd want at least 3 of the new 30W G4 Pros.
If you go with the G3 Pros, I'd get at least 4.
Before I put up the Hamilton fixture over my 84x24x24 tank I had four 30w Pros and I probably needed two more.

Forget the 15's unless you have a nano.
 
You keep mentioning steep learning curves. Considering how overwhelming this seems, have you considered buying used equipment to start with?

Find a used MH or T5 light and start with that.

Is there an aquarium club local to you? That is always a great place to start when you are new to the hobby, as there are lots of people willing to help you get started and figure things out.
 
I wish there was Fredfish. The closest lfs is a few hours away. Chain store 'Big Al's'. I wouldn't trust any of the teens there for advice.
The only others are about 3 hours away. No local fish groups. I can't even buy frozen food within an hour of here.
The hobby is not well supported in Ontario. There is not one single light or piece of equipment for sale used on our classifies site. It's pitiful.
In fact as far as lights go I have two to choose from for MH and only the Sunpower for T5.
Any other lights I'll have to order and pay a premium for as our dollar is crap.
We don't even have a decent forum which is why I joined RC.
 
Zoregon said:
I wish there was Fredfish. The closest lfs is a few hours away. Chain store 'Big Al's'. I wouldn't trust any of the teens there for advice.
The only others are about 3 hours away. No local fish groups. I can't even buy frozen food within an hour of here.
The hobby is not well supported in Ontario. There is not one single light or piece of equipment for sale used on our classifies site. It's pitiful.
In fact as far as lights go I have two to choose from for MH and only the Sunpower for T5.
Any other lights I'll have to order and pay a premium for as our dollar is crap.
We don't even have a decent forum which is why I joined RC.
Click to expand...

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=31

I find that a little hard to believe but admittedly canreef is mostly out west. All the larger Canadian online coral shops are in Ontario though. Also online through reefsupplies, petsandponds or J&L you can get most lights you would ever want.
 
Zoregon said:
I wish there was Fredfish. The closest lfs is a few hours away. Chain store 'Big Al's'. I wouldn't trust any of the teens there for advice.
The only others are about 3 hours away. No local fish groups. I can't even buy frozen food within an hour of here.
The hobby is not well supported in Ontario. There is not one single light or piece of equipment for sale used on our classifies site. It's pitiful.
In fact as far as lights go I have two to choose from for MH and only the Sunpower for T5.
Any other lights I'll have to order and pay a premium for as our dollar is crap.
We don't even have a decent forum which is why I joined RC.
Click to expand...
Are you in northern Ontario?

There are quite a few active clubs in south western Ontario.

You could try gtaaquaria.com. You get posters from all over Ontario.
 
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