Opinions on lighting

[mustangcaleb]

Hey ARC!!! I moved 5-6 months ago so had to break down all the tanks and got rid of most of the equipment. But my girl took one of my biocubes and set it up for her and her daughter. They love it but she hasnt been keeping up with water changes as routinely as the biocubes require. so weve been talking about getting her a drilled tank with a sump to help with the filtration alittle(i promise its to help her and not just to feed my addiction ). i had a skimmer in the second chamber of the biocube when it was mine but it sold before she got the tank, so her only filtration is a filter pad in the first section. but anyhow, we've been leaning towards a 24x18x20 tank and im on the fence about the lighting. all she has is some simple corals right now(frogspawn, hammer coral, gsp, zoas, etc.) but the idea of some others alittle later is always nice. so my question to you guys is what lighting would you favor? ive found a few options with used equipment for her. ive found 2x65w pc's for $50, 150 watt de halide with 14k phoenix for $100, and a 4x24w t5 for $150. ive also considered led's but havent been in hobby much in last 5-6 months so im not sure how far along those have come. last time i looked into them, they were pretty pricey. so again, more light demanding corals in future and the shimmer would be nice, but so would low heat and power usage. what would you guys recommend? all input is appreciated guys!

 

[mustangcaleb]

what is the most cost efficient leds? those eco strips i keep seeing everywhere?

 

[coolsurf]

If your handy with soldering and putting together things the DIY kits are the best route to go IMO. Here is a link...

 

[sharkbait]

LEDs are the way to go but you will be spending more on them up front. But the electric savings you will get from them is astounding. Further more LEDs don't put out heat into the tank so that's a further plus as well as they last much longer then PC's, T5's and MH's do.

 

[brynbyers]

IMO...
PC - don't bother
MH - good, and gives the shimmer effect, but is that the only source of illumination? Otherwise you won't have a dawn/dusk option (you might end up buying an LED strip to supplement, i.e. ecoxotic)
T5: not a bad option either, plus more options for bulb colors and combinations
LED - as previously mentioned, costly, but also make sure you get a fixture that will suit your needs and not just "illuminate your tank"

 

[sharkbait]

brynbyers;615676 wrote: IMO...
PC - don't bother
MH - good, and gives the shimmer effect, but is that the only source of illumination? Otherwise you won't have a dawn/dusk option (you might end up buying an LED strip to supplement, i.e. ecoxotic)
T5: not a bad option either, plus more options for bulb colors and combinations
LED - as previously mentioned, costly, but also make sure you get a fixture that will suit your needs and not just "illuminate your tank"

This. I would personally only go with LED of T5's on that tank. LED would be the way to go but will cost you more then the T5. But like I said in the long run it will pay off.

 

[hnguyen]

I run 4 of the ecoxotic Panorama LED Module on my 60 cube and I love the shimmer affect it gives my tank and the color it gives my coral, but I still don't trust LED's enough for my SPS. So I also run a 400w MH with 20k radium bulbs. I have the azoo quad cooling fan to help with the heat that my MH produces and I tell you they do a great job at it. Although my evaporation is crazy, thats what ATO's are for! I've been doing the same combo of lighting for all my tanks. IMO I would do the MH for $100 that you stated along with some LED's. It's going to cost a little but you'll love the way it comes out.

 

[coolsurf]

For the price of the LED kit, it will pay for itself. T5 bulbs typically need to be replaced every 8 months or so, LED's virtually a lifetime. Do the math and figure out how many bulbs will need to be replaced vs. the cost of a one time kit also compare the cost of running the LED's vs. the T5 and that will save you more. I run MH right now and will be moving over to LED very soon on all 4 of my tanks...2 freshy, one planted and 2 salt w/coral.

2nd choice for me is definately MH over T5 even though I run T5 on one of my reef tanks. Just like them a whole lot more along with better results.

These of course are just opinions and I respect everyone elses opinions as well.