Reef Tank Lighting

[gclackum]

I have a 6’ 125 Gal tank. I’ve decided it’s time to modernize my lighting. I’m currently running (2) two 400W 20K Hamilton Fuxtures about 4hrs/day with Reefbright actinic led strips 12 hrs/day. They are on/off controlled with my Apex (classic). My setup included an inline chiller but using the MH 4 hrs/day it never activates (temp 77 to 81). I’ve been hesitant to change for a few reasons. Initial cost, I’ve never been an early adapter in technology and I enjoy the shimmer the halides provide.
That being said it’s almost bulb replacement time, I saw my power bill and I understand LED is aging well.
I’m looking for some upgrade suggestions. What are the club members using to light their tanks. It was suggested that I light with two Red Sea 90’s?
I’m 60yo and definitely not leading the tech world, but have learned to operate most of my smart equipment.

 

[billyocean]

Plenty of leds to choose from. Ypu don't have to go high end on them for them to be great lights. Orphek, radion, Kessil, ai, reefbreeders, noopsyche are all great lights. Don't know much about the red sea fixtures. A great med range light with excellent reviews are the reefbreeder lights. I have a 6' 125 with 2 300 watt viparspectras over it and it grows everything great. They are pretty low budget too. Kessils will give you more of that metal halide shimmer if you like that. Then again, depending on what you're growing...you may want to stick with metal halides. Plenty of people have gone back to MH and t5 or led supplements for sps growth

 

[picoreefguy]

I’ve been using radions since the first generation came out and they’ve been excellent all along the way. I’ve had gen 1, 3 and 5 and each is better than the last. Plus they last a very long time, i have a friend running his first gen radion over a bio cube and i believe he’s been running it since 2013 with no issues so far. I’ve tried a couple others along the way and almost any led fixture will work to grow your coral and get decent color but radions still hold the top spot imo. That said the ai lineup has very good coloration and has good build quality as i think its made by the same company as the radion. Iirc ecotech bought out or merged with ai a few years back. Only real difference i think you’ll see is going to be the power you get from ai fixtures vs ecotech fixtures. But you could buy 6 ai primes for less than the cost of two 2 radion xr30s right now so its something to consider. I’ve never personally used the Red Sea lights but i have heard good things. Depending on what coral you’re keeping and how deep your tank is you could get away with 3 ai primes or 3 red sea reefer 90s or 3 of the radions. if your tank is shallow or youre doing lps/softies then id say go for a few primes. But if you’re doing really high end sps that have insane colors that you want to show off then go for radions. Some of the kessil lights are pretty amazing as well and you can get away with two of the ap9x on your tank rather than 3 as it has a max coverage of 4 ft.

 

[enderg60]

Personally I would get something like a Reefbreeders photon(mid range LED) and just add it to the halides, though it could be a total replacement depending on what you keep in the tank.

You will miss the shimmer, and growth from the halides. Also factor in the fact that power in Ga is pretty cheap so spending 2K+ on LED's isnt going to "pay off" any time soon.

 

[gclackum]

I have been looking at the Radions but at 800.00 a piece. I’m not real high on the tech curve. So I would probably start at a earlier gen. Maybe catch somebody up grading. Right now I’m running two 400 watt halides, one at each end the middle of the tank has a 2’ wide glass brace but the Halide cone seams to lite it up pretty well. Eventually I’ll probably want some nice sps. So I will move forward with that in mind.

I definitely like the shimmer but I’m fixing to spend a couple hundred on MH Bulbs.
Those still lighting with Halides what’s the go to bulb I’m using 20K now

 

[gill]

I have a 6 foot long 180 tank, and I use 3 AI Hydra 52. Has been great, best money I have spent on the tank.

 

[TTTony]

I’m on the lower end with the two viper specs set on 5 for white and 50 for blue on a 95 gallon tank every coral is popping with basic color etc. torches, incredible growth, 15 beautiful bubble tips small but happy growth , small sps decent growth but I’m not getting any of the orange light! I’m not sure if it’s worth it to upgrade to that? I’m setting up a huge tank fish only with live rock so I can move the Viper specs to that one an upgrade my Reef?

 

[billyocean]

I’m on the lower end with the two viper specs set on 5 for white and 50 for blue on a 95 gallon tank every coral is popping with basic color etc. torches, incredible growth, 15 beautiful bubble tips small but happy growth , small sps decent growth but I’m not getting any of the orange light! I’m not sure if it’s worth it to upgrade to that? I’m setting up a huge tank fish only with live rock so I can move the Viper specs to that one an upgrade my Reef?

At 14" I'm hitting 150 par at the sanded with only 72% blues and no white on with 300 watt viparspectras. They can grow anything any other light can.

 

[TTTony]

At 14" I'm hitting 150 par at the sanded with only 72% blues and no white on with 300 watt viparspectras. They can grow anything any other light can.

Thank you I never bothered to check par , I really just wanna have the orange pop! I got a couple new torches and I don’t think the vipers specs enhance the orange

 

[TTTony]

Orange torch but not under vipers

 

[billyocean]

Orange torch but not under vipers

Weird.