bump it

[kstyle13]

Ok so I'm throwing it all out the window. I bought led lights. They are color changing and dimmable. I'm keeping my T5 actinic bulbs but everything else is gone. May throw in a metal halide as well but we shall see.

 

[ringo®]

Lol.....at least you have all the bases covered now.

 

[kstyle13]

Yup. You can never research too much lol

 

[hnguyen]

I've always used metal halides and T-5's in the past but for some reason when I got back into it about a year ago I went with LED's. I started out with the AI Sol blue, then switched over to the radion then finally the AI Vega. Non of which showed any good results. Needless to say, I now have a 250w metal halide over my tank again as of a week ago. I can already see a difference in my SPS and nems.

 

[kstyle13]

Ok I turned on the leds and they were broke. I looked closer at the wiring and they were not even connected to the circuit board. They will be returned and I snatching up some metal halides that another guy is selling. How high above the tank do I need to mount them? I built a canopy but I'm thinking about rebuilding it to hang from the wall instead of ait on my tank. I just don't know how high to place it.

 

[indecloudzua]

From my experience. The worst thing I did was rush it. I bought equipment that was cheap but ultimately I had to redo basically my entire set up and so it costed me way more than if I took my time and got the right pieces of equipment. I'll be taking my time on the next one. That being said, make sure MH is the route you want to go. You might have to add a chiller and for a tank your size that will be pricey. I'd look around and try to copy other people's setup and then modify it as needed. This hobby can get extremely frustrating and expensive if you rush it.

 

[kstyle13]

Exactly why I took everything back and returned it. Because I rushed the lights and wasn't happy. A kind of humbling experience I may add. I spent all night looking at different lighting setups and how different people have them set up. From what I've read most people like mh. On reef central there was a pole that people took and most of them said placing between 8 and 10 inches off the tank gives you the best shimmer and appearance. Can someone explain the shimmer to me? Also what is the majority opinion on how high to place them. Can the glass lids go on the tank with these lights as I don't want any jumpers. Or should I get the light grate?

 

[fishlips]

Wow,I'm trying the hyrda with the director.I didn't give up my ati t5 fixture.With full control of the spectrum,I think you can get what you need.The director is very easy to use.You can be sure,if this light dose not grow my sps after trying all that i can do with this hydra,I will let it be known.I still need to buy two more units for my 180.As of now.I got my sunpower ati fixture over it with a 1 hydra.

 

[indecloudzua]

I always prefer the clear netting covers that you can get from bulk reef supply so I can still get plenty of air moving over the water.

 

[hnguyen]

Mesh cover is always better then glass. Glass top will limit your gas exchange and that's no good. The height of your lights will depend on how strong it is and how deep your tank is. I put a cross brace over the center of my canopy where my lights hang and added a 4" J bolt with a wing nut. That allowed me to adjust my lights if needed by 3". Here's a picture of some ideas.





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