T5 LED setup

[Lincoln 993]

Hey there everyone. Sorry for the lack of activity, life has been busy. Anyway, on to the situation.

I'm doing a 75 gallon build. I'm wanting a mixed reef (mostly stony corals), with maybe clams and anemones in there too. We'll see down the road. But, I do want it to be SPS and LPS dominant. So I have most everything figured out with the major exception being the lighting.

In the past, I've only used LEDs over my reefs. I was mostly experimenting, and really didn't have a clue what I was doing. Never heard of PAR, the whole thing. But, for this system, I'm cramming as much research as I can. Most people seem to be in the camp that a T5 Halide combo would be the "gold standard," in the words of the BRS TV channel on YouTube. However, for me, halides in particular are a bad idea. I don't have the funds to replace halide bulbs every X months, I live in New Mexico (which is partially in the subtropics) so the summers are quite warm, and I have a personal wish to be environmentally conscious as much as I can so the high wattage is a turn off for me.

With the research I've done, I definitely want T5 HOs over the tank. But I'm split on a T5 HO only system, or a T5 HO system with LED supplements. Currently my options are to get a 6 bulb T5 fixture (all individual reflectors), or to get four single bulb t5 fixtures and a second Kessil a150w (I already have one). So, for all of you, what do you recommend? Four individual T5 HO reflectors with two Kessil a150w's, or a single 6 bulb T5 HO fixture? I'd get a unified fixture, but I have a budget of $200/month for this whole project.

Sorry for the lengthy post. Just wanted to limit the amount of neglected information. Thank you in advance for your comments.

 

[Mishri]

I would just get the 6 bulb T5 fixture. but you'll still need to replace the bulbs each year just like MH. I ran 2x 150w MH 14k phoenix, over my 75 gallon and it did fine, and looked great.. didn't add much heat to my tank, but, they had some good fans cooling them down and blowing air out the sides... and the bulbs were only like 30 or 35 dollars, so $70/yr vs $120 to replace 6 T5s. The wattage of the MH depends on how deep your tank is. you'd need a seriously deep tank to need 400w, and 24" deep tank to go to 250 watt. As long as you keep the room the fish tank is in below 80 degrees you wont overheat your tank with a good 150w MH fixture.

No matter what you use you'll end up around 300+ watts... even LEDs... in some cases the LED's would be even more power consumption. (as you need more LED's than what companies recommend to keep SPS)

I don't believe LED supplements are very useful.

 

[Lincoln 993]

Mishri,

I hadn't even considered 150 watt halides, that does sound attractive to me. The only reason to go for the LEDs instead would be because I already have a kessil module I'm not using (though I suppose I could use it over like a frag tank or coral quarentine or something). I definitely want to do some T5 lighting, so would you say two T5's and two 150 watt halides would be ok over that tank? I don't want to Death Star my corals with too much light.

 

[Mishri]

that definitely wont be too much light. you can go up to 250w MH and be fine too, but 150w should work well based on what you said you'll be keeping mostly SPS and LPS, i'm assuming lps near bottom and sps near top. Supplementing with T5 is fine too.. you can fine prebuilt T5/MH fixtures that are 48" easily... but I dunno how easy it will be to find one that is 150w. 250w is more common.

 

[Lincoln 993]

Mishri,

Yeah, that's the hope.
The best fixture I've found for this (within my budget) is a fixture with four T5's and two 250 watt halides. Looks like $295 (which is cheaper than any other option I've found).

The only other option would be to purchase several separate fixtures. That would put my timetable back a few months, but I could do it.

 

[Lincoln 993]

I should also mention I'm getting a Seneye monitor to check the PAR. Just to get me in the ball park.

 

[Mishri]

for $295 I'm guessing it doesn't include the ballast or the bulbs. generally they cost around $1,000...

 

[Lincoln 993]

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post links to Ebay, but the posting is "MH 48" Metal Halide T5 Aquarium Light 716W Coral Reef Marine LED 2x 250W Bulbs"

It claims to come with bulbs, ballasts... everything. Though there's only one review, 4 stars.

 

[Mishri]

yeah I found this thread discussing them.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2093554

seems like I might even look into that for my 300, i'd just need 2. But like they say in that thread, replace with a good phoenix 14k bulb for the MH instead of what it comes with. I also can't vouch for whether or not it will heat up your tank, you might need a small fan blowing across the top of your tank on hot days if this fixture doesn't vent well(with an ATO it wont be a problem).

-I will probably end up going with just 4x 250watt pendants for my tank, ones with a reputation for good quality reflectors... will cost about 1100. you could do the same, only need half as many.

 

[Lincoln 993]

I do have an ATO system, and I am designing a cooling system for the tank too (most likely evaporation with the low humidity we've got). I think we've found a winner so far. Thank you!