Need lighting help

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atlcpa

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I'm a noob working on my first saltwater tank. I've researched it to death, bought a used stand, canopy and 55 gallon tank that all need some rehab work. I'm going to post a build thread soon.

Anyhoo, one of the several things I'm having some difficulty with is the lighting situation. I have zero lighting as of right now.

Can I buy a basic T5 lighting hood with fairly basic bulbs and upgrade them later? I don't really want to come right out of the gates with a $800 lighting setup, but I would like the option of significant bulb upgrades later if I get going with some corals. I'm starting with fish, but figure I'll go down the coral route eventually if I make it that far. In the wine business they say you can't make good wine with bad grapes. Is it the same with lighting?

Same question really for LED.
 
Yes and no

They have some leds for fish only that are cheap, but there is several economical options for leds that grow corals as well.

Here's a list I've made for fellow reefers of bottom to top. (Since this list there have been new releases and this consist of one's I've used personally to grow all kinds of corals)

Standard black box led (usually found on ebay) (blue and white only) Cheap, dimmable, down side is they weaken after about 9 months

Mars Aqua Led (found on ebay and Amazon) price varies from 89-129 dimmable, cheap, full spectrum, descent par for first year.

Ocean revive
Price 129-179
Full spectrum, dimmable and control able just didn't like the spread

Reef Breeders Value fixtures, full spectrum, great par, great customer service, descent price

AI sols more control, great colors (didn't run long enough to know coral growth) a little pricey

Reef Breeders photon series
Great growth, colors, user friendly, controller, great customer service price 349-599?

Radion Mac daddy, deep pockets lights 😉 great control but just to pricey for my blood


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Since you have a canopy I would recommend you just get a t5 retrofit kit for now... http://www.aquacave.com/48-2x54w-miro-4-t5-retrofit-kit.html?fee=1&fep=5209&gclid=Cj0KEQjw88q9BRDB5qLcwLXr7_sBEiQAZsGjazqayhXlm3Sezw_a45XG7YZbW7KKHJbhmkx9VHU_ZnAaAlj08P8HAQ">like this one or something similar.</a>

It'll be enough for now and will still be useful later as supplementary lighting to whatever primary source you get.
 
Since you have a canopy I would recommend you just get a t5 retrofit kit for now... http://www.aquacave.com/48-2x54w-miro-4-t5-retrofit-kit.html?fee=1&fep=5209&gclid=Cj0KEQjw88q9BRDB5qLcwLXr7_sBEiQAZsGjazqayhXlm3Sezw_a45XG7YZbW7KKHJbhmkx9VHU_ZnAaAlj08P8HAQ">like this one or something similar.</a>

It'll be enough for now and will still be useful later as supplementary lighting to whatever primary source you get.
 
excellent help guys. I appreciate it. I will looking into these options
 
BrandonMason;1094479 wrote:
Ocean revive
Price 129-179
Full spectrum, dimmable and control able just didn't like the spread
Click to expand...

I'm really liking mine. I just have it set up on the legs, however tall they are, and it seems to get decent spread to the corners of my 30x30x27 cube. It's casting enough visual light and the couple of corals I have in the corner don't seem to be reaching too much.
 
I am ready to buy lighting for my 90 bowfront as well. I do not want to hijack this thread, but it seems to be on the same topic. I am leaning towards Mars Aquas, maybe 2 or 3 since my tank is 27 inches deep. Are these remotely controllable, IE if I add a RK or Apex some day?
 
SaltWaterWannabe;1096433 wrote: I am ready to buy lighting for my 90 bowfront as well. I do not want to hijack this thread, but it seems to be on the same topic. I am leaning towards Mars Aquas, maybe 2 or 3 since my tank is 27 inches deep. Are these remotely controllable, IE if I add a RK or Apex some day?
Click to expand...
Not controlable, they operate on "pot"

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So they coumd be setup with on-off times but not dimming. Do you ramp them up by turning alternate ones on at different times ... or just let them all come on at once?

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That come on to whatever you set the dimmer knob. They do not ramp up or down unless you turn the knob.

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Thanks. Being not quite as wet behinfmd the ears as a year ago. It is my understanding that it is desirable to ramp up the overall intensity in the am and viceversa in the pm. Assuming I have 3 of these, would putting each light on different timer switches (ie cheap dial timers) be necessary to mimick the ramping...or is the ramping unnecessary?

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Ramping is not needed. You'll get natural Ramping from room light. When I ran Mars Aqua over my 210 the blue come on an hour before the whites and the whites went off an hour before the blues. I ran my blues at 100% and my whites at 20%

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I did a lot of research on lighting myself. With my nonexistent experience and limited funds I went with the Basic 16" light from SB Reef lights. They're really just a Chinese black box, like the Mars, but with a better spectrum and thicker heatsink. They cost a little more than the Mars at $129 but they're distributed out of Pensacola and have a 2yr warranty. SB also sells a full pcb for $70 as an upgrade to other black boxes.

This is what I've seen so far. With a 6500k led flood over my fuge in the sump. There is GHA growing down there and I've just about got rid of a cyano outbreak in there as well. In the DT neither of these showed up. About a month ago Ricky gave me a Duncan, a shroom and a small Yellow Mille frag. All are currently doing well, the Mille has encrusted to the base rock and has grown a bit as well. About two weeks ago I added a Hammer, it's opening up nicely sitting on the bottom. I know this doesn't prove much but I'm happy with the SB's so far.
 
Still looking....would a 30 inch sBox Elite or 32 inch sBox Elite light my 48 inch bowfront tank well enough near the ends? In my opinion, it has a rather large overflow box, so the last 9 inches of the tank is not particularly suited to placing rock or coral next to the overflow. The available area in front of the last 9 inches where the overflow box is located ranges 6 to 8 inches wide. I am thinking the actual usable area for significant coral will only be 37 inches wide. Would a single 30 or 32 inch fixture cover the area?
 
SaltWaterWannabe;1096524 wrote: Still looking....would a 30 inch sBox Elite or 32 inch sBox Elite light my 48 inch bowfront tank well enough near the ends? In my opinion, it has a rather large overflow box, so the last 9 inches of the tank is not particularly suited to placing rock or coral next to the overflow. The available area in front of the last 9 inches where the overflow box is located ranges 6 to 8 inches wide. I am thinking the actual usable area for significant coral will only be 37 inches wide. Would a single 30 or 32 inch fixture cover the area?
Click to expand...

If can pickup an RKL and a pair of Mars Aqua for roughly the same price as the sBox pro then I am thinking this would be a better option. While I understand the Mars Aqua is not controllable, I am guessing that a RKL can operate lights in lieu of a timer. Is this correct?
 
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