Light question

[jaydm93teg]

Hey everyone,
I have been in and out of the hobby for a while. I have never found the lights that make my tank look like the tanks I have seen when everyone post all of these great tank pictures. I have had T5's MH's and now am using LED's. The colors on my coral just dont seem to pop like they do in other folks tanks unless I am just running the Blue LED's... Does anyone have any suggestions for lights that arent crazy expensive or do u really need the $500-$800 Leds to get that nice pop on all corals? I dont mind spending the money on it, but would rather not if others have had success with other fixtures.

Thanks!

 

[bhodges82]

What size tank?

 

[jaydm93teg]

55 gal.

 

[bhodges82]

You could probably add some reef brite xho bars or the ebay equivalent that uses the same blue spectrum. The pure blue led is a very nice visual complement to corals in the evening viewing hours.

PopularGrow 54w/81w/108w LED Aquarium Light Bar Blue Bulb Fish Tank Plant Coral | eBay

PopularGrow LED Aquarium Lamp. What You Get With PopularGrow LED. What You Don’t Get With PopularGrow LED. Leds View Angle: 120 Degree. Net Weight: 1.5kg/1.8kg/2.1kg. Led with CE/UL/RoHS Certification.

www.ebay.com

 

[jcook54]

What are the level in your tank in terms of water quality? I know this is a question about lights but for the last 2 years I've become more and more convinced that lights are a much smaller part of the equation than I previously thought. I've seen some great colors from light setups that are cobbled together out of 3-4 different fixtures with what I would consider low PAR levels. I personally have invested in LED/T5 combo units to duplicate what I've seen on other setups and my colors were all washed out. As soon as I started closely monitoring (and adjusting) nutrient levels, the colors really started popping. Same lights, different water parameters.

 

[mdumet]

You could probably add some reef brite xho bars or the ebay equivalent that uses the same blue spectrum. The pure blue led is a very nice visual complement to corals in the evening viewing hours.

PopularGrow 54w/81w/108w LED Aquarium Light Bar Blue Bulb Fish Tank Plant Coral | eBay

PopularGrow LED Aquarium Lamp. What You Get With PopularGrow LED. What You Don’t Get With PopularGrow LED. Leds View Angle: 120 Degree. Net Weight: 1.5kg/1.8kg/2.1kg. Led with CE/UL/RoHS Certification.

www.ebay.com

Do you know if these are also good for growing corals or is it mainly for the nice coloration? I am starting a frag tank in the next few weeks and would love to add some lights without breaking the bank. Thanks!

 

[dball711]

I've been growing some corals with nice color using those. They have a 470nm spectrum.

 

[mdumet]

I've been growing some corals with nice color using those. They have a 470nm spectrum.

That's good to know! just to double check, you're talking about the ebay LEDs?

 

[dball711]

Correct, I’m pretty sure I was one of the first ones on the form that was using them. I’ve been using them for almost 2 years now.