Light Options 6 ft tank

[ryanremle]

Tank is a 215 gallon 72"x24"x29"

Thinking of getting t5's with LED supplement lighting for shimmer and color pop. I wanted to be able to do a dawn dusk program and was looking at the ATI dimmable sunpower, but they are only dimmable up to 48". Will it really matter getting the 60" non-dimmable ati sunpower, and what LED's would be a nice cost effective options? Have debated though, should I just get a cheap t5 fixture to supplement the led lights as the main lighting? Mainly have lps corals know. but would like to add some sps.

 

[ryanremle]

Anyone know anything about these led lights?

 

[jc_k]

I'm getting the evergrow d120's leds off ebay. They suppose to work great.

 

[jdwells]

2 of these.

http://reefbreeders.com/shop/photon-32/">http://reefbreeders.com/shop/photon-32/</a>

That's my plan anyway. I only have 1 on there right now and it looks sad. lol

 

[atcaw94]

Your gonna need 3 LEDs for a 72" tank. I just took one down, two are not enough. Either 3 LEDs or you an buy my 72" Coralife MH fixture....

 

[atcaw94]

JDWells;967394 wrote: 2 of these.

http://reefbreeders.com/shop/photon-32/">http://reefbreeders.com/shop/photon-32/</a>

That's my plan anyway. I only have 1 on there right now and it looks sad. lol[/QUOTE]

$449 apiece? Times 3? $1350 in lights? ****.

Or you can get 3 full spectrum, dimmable LEDs off of Ebay for $450 and they work great. My son has had them over his tank for quite a while, and they work great. He has a tank full of SPS that grow like crazy under those "cheap" Ebay LEDs.

 

[jdwells]

atcaw94;967398 wrote: Your gonna need 3 LEDs for a 72" tank. I just took one down, two are not enough. Either 3 LEDs or you an buy my 72" Coralife MH fixture....

Well the tank is 72" long, so fitting 3 32" fixtures in it could be problematic.
2 of the Photon 32s would be plenty of light for most reefs. Maybe if he's planning some really sick SPS he would need more, I don't know. But I doubt that too.

 

[jdwells]

atcaw94;967399 wrote: $449 apiece? Times 3? $1350 in lights? ****.

Or you can get 3 full spectrum, dimmable LEDs off of Ebay for $450 and they work great. My son has had them over his tank for quite a while, and they work great. He has a tank full of SPS that grow like crazy under those "cheap" Ebay LEDs.

Yeah they're pricier than the Ebay LEDs but they're programmable and have a great warranty. I'm sure the Ebay LEDs work fine, but I really enjoy the sunrise and sunset feature, but I don't have an Apex to do it for me.
Since when was this forum against Reefbreeders?! They're awesome!

 

[atcaw94]

JDWells;967400 wrote: Well the tank is 72" long, so fitting 3 32" fixtures in it could be problematic.
2 of the Photon 32s would be plenty of light for most reefs. Maybe if he's planning some really sick SPS he would need more, I don't know. But I doubt that too.

My bad, didn't realize they were that long. That's still $900 for 2 LEDs. Too rich for my blood. But I'm just an old retired guy....:yes:

 

[atcaw94]

JDWells;967401 wrote: Yeah they're pricier than the Ebay LEDs but they're programmable and have a great warranty. I'm sure the Ebay LEDs work fine, but I really enjoy the sunrise and sunset feature, but I don't have an Apex to do it for me.
Since when was this forum against Reefbreeders?! They're awesome!

I'm not "against" anyone, I just stated I thought $450 apiece was a little steep. But if they have the features you want, and that seems like a fair price to you, then go for it.

I was only stating that I've seen many tanks with "cheap" Ebay lights that grow SPS just fine.
As far as warranty, I contacted the seller to ensure that the repair facility was in fact in the
U.S., and he gave me the shipping address if needed. I felt a one year warranty was as good as you were gonna get on aquarium equipment. I bought 3 at $120 per.
I have two cheap $49 LEDs from Aquatraders over my 29 nano and grow SPS just fine. I had the Panorama Pro modules over it and they lasted 6 months, and were way more expensive than the one's I have now.

 

[jdwells]

Oh yeah they're huge! The 1 I have was growing SPS in my 90 until the tank went down and I'm wanting to get another for the 6 foot tank now. As far as how pricy it is, you have to prioritize the features. Like I said, I'm sure the Ebay LEDs are great for light, but they're typically not programmable at the normal price points.
And for comparison, you would need twice as many AI or other high end lights to get the same spread and from what I've read on forums (which is not proven, just anecdotal I think) you'll get at least the same par as those fixtures. So end of the day you're spending a lot less money. For LEDs anyway.

Sorry to jack your thread, but maybe this info was helpful? Good luck in finding what works for you!

 

[jdwells]

And for the record I'm not downing the "cheap" lights at all. If they work well, that's awesome! All I'm saying is that the programmability options are great to have and the "cheap" lights don't have them.
And you can't even convert them to do it without a major overhaul including replacing the drivers usually.

 

[ryanremle]

would one of the photon 48" or reefradiance 48" lumentek pro 360's work? My initial guess is no-I would like a programmabel option that has dawn dusk-maybe have to wait for the reefbreeders superlux-, which would be around $600 for 3 of them?

 

[ryanremle]

any good sites for used lights?-i can't really find any used reefbreeders, reefradiance lights for sale, it seems like there should be some out there somewhere/

 

[jc_k]

ryanremle;968151 wrote: any good sites for used lights?-i can't really find any used reefbreeders, reefradiance lights for sale, it seems like there should be some out there somewhere/

Hmmmm... Their is this one site and I think it goes by the name " atonata reef club" lol... Their is reef central... But then you would probably have to get it shipped.

 

[ryanremle]

Just haven't really seen these leds for sale recently=guess I should post in the WTB section and see if anyone has them-was really still trying to figure out options at this time though.

 

[jc_k]

I have an AI SOL blue.....

 

[mikesmith34]

Very hard to find used reefbreeders because everyone really likes them I would guess. 2 photon 32's with maybe some t5 supplementation. That's a big tank

 

[jdavid]

JC_k;968152 wrote: " atonata reef club"

Never heard of them

 

[jc_k]

Omg....... Can a mod please delete my post.... Lol j/k haha. I a haven't got much sleep in the past couple days so I'm kinda tired and I turned off spell check on my phone idk lolz.