would theses work for sps?

I

ilikepie777

New member
Don't use the Marineland light. Not even within the same universe of the led power needed for SPS. The T5 may work, but with your cube being 15 inches by 15 inches, it would over hang an extra three inches. There are sites that sell custom LED retrofit kits for the biocube that can be used. Check these out for example:

http://www.rapidled.com/biocube-14/
 
A 4 bulb t5 over a shallow tank should work just fine for even sps corals.

And I'm going to do my best to be fair here. I have 4 tanks and ran MH, t5 and 1 brutally expensive led fixture over my frag tank. In the past 6 months I've switched over completely to leds (even over a 180g DT with sps & lps). I also had a Marineland fixture like this over a early version of a frag shallow frag tank. It wouldn't even keep colors in sps corals 6" under the surface! They lived, but just barely. And at 1 year old the female power cord plug corroded out. And the 'wire' legs are very shaky if you stretch them out more than 25% of their stated length. Oh, and the kegs corrode as well. I wouldn't use a Marineland led fixture if you gave it to me for free!

The 2 bulb t5 is getting a bit iffy for sps growth and color as well. It might work, but it's a tough call IMHO.
 
ilikepie777 said:
Ok so will this one do because I kind of want to keep a price limit of not going over $100 so check this out:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+13822+23646&pcatid=23646&r=488
Click to expand...

All your lighting picks have bad reviews.. You need to take some time & do some research on SPS & lighting. Its going to be hard enough growing SPS in a tank that small as it is, take your time.
Dont expect to get much out of them if you aren't willing to pay more. A couple SPS frags can cost more than the light.

I think the rapid led retro kit (Dimmable) is your best bet and choosing easier lower light SPS like birdsnests, orange digis, pocilipora etc... is a good start.
 
ilikepie777 said:
Cant this one work:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+13822+23753&pcatid=23753

the smallest size is twenty inches long so it should fit pretty nicely above my tank, the only problem is I dont know if this will be bright enough for sps to grow and actually keep color. Basically I just want to be able to keep some sps in my biocube thats all.
Click to expand...
No its not even close to enough for sps. You need a 4 bulb for sps.
Like Michigan Mike said, look into rapid led retrofit kit.
http://www.rapidled.com/biocube-14/
 
+1 ^ you get what you pay for. SPS need lots of light, flow, and very consistent proper water conditions to thrive. You should research around and gather as much info on sps tanks as possible
 
Kessil a150 and be done with it. Yes it costs more but you will spend that extra money on T5 bulbs within 8 months.
 
Do LEDs like the kessil or DIY ...or a 70w halide like aquamedic or fishneedit & use 20k bulbs, you will grow SPS with this. Heat shouldn't be an issue, Ive seen 5g tanks with them but a small clip on fan works wonders if your house is hot already. Halides are cheap if you find them used.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/sj/index.php

This is in our price rangehttp://fishneedit.com/75w-metal-halide-pendant-ligh75.html

I have to go but I found this too...http://aquasythe.com/Products/70W-Metal-Halide-HQIbr-Parabolic-Reflector-with-Lens__LT-TAM-MH-REF-HQI70.aspx
 
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