So currently I have two Kessel a360 X's on a 75 gallon tank. I'll be upgrading to a 120 standard 4x2 footprint. I realize additional lighting would help considering I'd like to keep SPS at least at the top half of the tank. I don't want to spend an arm and a leg, yes I realize the hobby I'm in, lol. It doesn't have to be fancy and it will be in a canopy so I don't care what it looks like. I realize t5's are what everybody runs to but I'm not the best DIYer and I'm trying to stay away from the $450 aquatic life setup if possible. Does anybody think adding one of the cheap black box LEDs would be sufficient or is there another option I'm not thinking of?
Lighting question
- Thread starter Dmac
- Start date
Ryan from BRS has decided to go with Kessil + ReefBrite for his 10year tank. something to look into for you.
My honest opinion is that the hybrid fixture is the best option, it's easy. Trying to go cheap on lights never work for me in the past, you get what you pay for.
Also look at the Orphek LED bars-
orphek.com
OR3 150 / 120 / 90 / 60 Reef Bar LED Light • Orphek Reef Aquarium LED Lighting
OR3 150 / 120 / 90 / 60 Reef Bar LED Light For optimal SPS/LPS coral growth, color and illumination, replacing T5/T8 lighting technology for aquariums.
orphek.com
Or you could take a look at these
Led Aquarium Bar Light 54w/81w/108w 470nm Blue Spectrum Strip Light for Tank | eBay
Spectrum: All Blue color 470nm Wavelength. PopularGrow LED Aquarium Lamp. Led with CE/UL/RoHS Certification. No Risky Led Light. What You Get With PopularGrow LED. What You Don’t Get With PopularGrow LED.
www.ebay.com
I like that option too Steve. I'm not trying to have an SPS dominant tank I would just like to have a few for diversity. Once I cross over the $200 mark to me I might as well just go with the t5 hybrid. would like to add supplemental lighting for less than 200 if possible.
Orphek has new OR3 reef bar light, I recently picked up 4 of these to supplement my Gen 5 Radion's over 2'x4' tanks. I like running these over T5s, more PAR.
orphek.com
OR3 Reef Aquarium LED Bar •Orphek
Orphek OR3 Reef Aquarium LED Bar, OR3 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 for Coral Pop Fluorescent Color Growth and Illumination – 5Watt Dual Chip LEDs
orphek.com
I recently switched from the generic eBay strip lights Steve provided a lint to and a 6 bulb ATI t5 sunpower unit. That was a serious lighting setup to grow SPS and I got pretty good color too. For the last year and a half I had been concentrating on light in the 380 to 500 nm range, I only ran ATI blue plus bulbs in the T5 fixture and that generic LED strip light from eBay was 470 nm.
Then the new Radion GEN five units came out that focus most of the light on the blue range so I picked up two GEN 5 x15 units for each of my 2 x 4’ tanks. Then I took a look at the Orphek OR3 deep blue strips and decided to pick one up and try it ouT. After seeing the PAR and high PUR reading I was so impressed I bought 3 more. The OR3 strips act like t5 bulbs blanketing the tank with light, I have them flanking the radion gen 5 units.
Then the new Radion GEN five units came out that focus most of the light on the blue range so I picked up two GEN 5 x15 units for each of my 2 x 4’ tanks. Then I took a look at the Orphek OR3 deep blue strips and decided to pick one up and try it ouT. After seeing the PAR and high PUR reading I was so impressed I bought 3 more. The OR3 strips act like t5 bulbs blanketing the tank with light, I have them flanking the radion gen 5 units.
kessil is good, you just need to supplement it. Ryan from BRS is using kessil+reefbrite in his new tank.
if you look at kessil+t5 hybrid on r2r, you will see a lot of success stories. plus it's unlikely that you will do anything wrong with this combo. can't say the same for other LED makers.
Ahh, my delema. lol
I can't afford to put 14-16 XR15's or 8 XR30's over my tank. I've been looking at the Reef Bright's for supplemental for a couple months and I'll have to research the Orphec's too. I've been a big fan of led/T5 but want to avoid the bulbs too. I'll probably use them in the fish room but phase them out over time.
For the main lights I'm leaning towards Kessil. But I think I'm going to buy a Noopsyche just to tear it apart and see what I'm dealing with inside. If I can get pucks made that will work with this housing I may very well go that way. If I can get my hands on pucks or find a way to easily remove leds I'll be customize the spectrum. Call it an upgrade.
Blanck pucks will most likely be the easiest.
The BRS vid yesterday pretty much confirmed my thoughts.
I can't afford to put 14-16 XR15's or 8 XR30's over my tank. I've been looking at the Reef Bright's for supplemental for a couple months and I'll have to research the Orphec's too. I've been a big fan of led/T5 but want to avoid the bulbs too. I'll probably use them in the fish room but phase them out over time.
For the main lights I'm leaning towards Kessil. But I think I'm going to buy a Noopsyche just to tear it apart and see what I'm dealing with inside. If I can get pucks made that will work with this housing I may very well go that way. If I can get my hands on pucks or find a way to easily remove leds I'll be customize the spectrum. Call it an upgrade.
Blanck pucks will most likely be the easiest.
The BRS vid yesterday pretty much confirmed my thoughts.
I literally just installed metal halides(again), we are cooking with gas now! 
I got the metal halide fixture, bulbs and ballasts for the same price as 1 G5 pro fixture, it just makes sense to me.
I only added 2 (for each tank), 1 on each side of the Radion's. You can see in my pictures, one picture of each tank.
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