Whats a good lighting system for coral and fish?

[Jimmye4fish]

I curently have the light that came with the 75 gallon tank that we bought. The guy we bought it from made it with small LEDs and Im affraid its not putting out enough. I really like the Coralife Lunar Aqualight 48" but that thing is a lot of money. I saw some on ebay and Amazon but the reviews werent very good. Is T5 lighting system the best way to go? the only coral we have at the moment is a Rose Anenomie and it hasnt been doing so good the last 4 days. We have done a water change and the water tests perfect.

 

[Jake337]

Rose anemone isn't a coral and it probably isn't getting enough light. You should definitely get a better light if you want to care for it. As of now I'd take it to a lfs or something because he probably won't make it.

 

[Jimmye4fish]

Rose anemone isn't a coral and it probably isn't getting enough light. You should definitely get a better light if you want to care for it. As of now I'd take it to a lfs or something because he probably won't make it.

So you can tell Im a newbie huh? LOL Its still opening just not as much as it did the first week we got it. It does have us worried.Guess I will be buying a new light tonight or tomorrow. Just not sure which way to go.

 

[Schism]

So you can tell Im a newbie huh? LOL Its still opening just not as much as it did the first week we got it. It does have us worried.Guess I will be buying a new light tonight or tomorrow. Just not sure which way to go.

As here first before you by a light. If your buying T5's your gonna need a 6 bulb for a nem. Without enough light the nem will bleach out and die. They are some of the most sensitive critters we keep in this hobby.

Leds are cheapest in the long run but have a higher upfront cost.

 

[Psychocircus91]

Check out the thread "lighting your reef.. Best bang for your buck. It's about ten posts down

 

[oyf709]

can you take a picture of the LED chips? Also do you have any more info on that at all? like how many watts?

 

[Jimmye4fish]

Check out the thread "lighting your reef.. Best bang for your buck. It's about ten posts down

OK, I really like the TaoTronics TT-AL05 but heres my next issue. We have a canopy on our tank. It has maybe 8-10 inches of room inside. These TaoTronics TT-AL05 lights all seem to have the cooling fans on the top so I wont be able to mount these to the canopy. Any suggestions?

 

[Jimmye4fish]

Here is a pic of my current light. I will upload one of it turned off so you can see it better. Its a home made job but it does light the tank well. Obviously Im a newbie and I thought light was light............boy was I wrong.

 

[oyf709]

i can't tell wat the led brand from the picture looks like those 0.5 or 0.24W per LED chip, but my concern would the ratio on white and blue. If you keeping fish only then it is fine, but if you are keeping coral, the light would not have enough spike in purple to blue spectrum.

EDIT: I also can't suggest any fixture to you unless we know what you planning to keep in your tank.
You don't have to always get fancy fixtures if your application only is going to be FOWLR. Even with just soft coral mushrooms that you can get away with really little light.

 

[Jimmye4fish]

i can't tell wat the led brand from the picture looks like those 0.5 or 0.24W per LED chip, but my concern would the ratio on white and blue. If you keeping fish only then it is fine, but if you are keeping coral, the light would not have enough spike in purple to blue spectrum.

EDIT: I also can't suggest any fixture to you unless we know what you planning to keep in your tank.
You don't have to always get fancy fixtures if your application only is going to be FOWLR. Even with just soft coral mushrooms that you can get away with really little light.

Right now we have a few fish and just a rose anemonie (which isnt doing so good this week) but we are wanting to add more stuff to brighten it up. I would rather have more light than I need than to have to worry about what I have right now. I will get more info on those lights tonight. Its just a 75 gallon tank. 48 long.

 

[Justintotank]

HO T5s are the best for beginners, the have the watts, and can be mounted almost any position. Also can be done as an ez Dyi project. We aim for 3-4 watts per gallon of water in the tank. This changes with depth of corse.

 

[oyf709]

yes, more light is always good, but what I was saying is that you have a budget on how much you can spend from wat it looks like, spend way too much on your light could just tight up your spending on everything else. As a vendor, I don't mind my client buy the most expensive product that I have. however, as part of the community, I would rather see people get the balance when purchasing equipments.

Here is a 4 ft tank under 2x 108W LED (36x3W bridgelux) sorry the pic is really small lol

and here is a 4ft tank under 3x 90W LED (mix with 5w and 3w CREE)

What you need to becareful with some of the "Taotonic fixtures" like this
when you place right on top of your tank it has lots light

but when it move up a bit and all the light are gone

 

[Jimmye4fish]

I guess whatever lights I get if they have a fan on the top I could always cut out a hole on the top of the canopy for the fan. Took me a while to think of that. LOL

 

[oyf709]

well the one I carry doesn't have any fan on top of the fixtures, but they are not the cheapest you can get out there.

 

[PurplePolyp]

HO T5s are the best for beginners, the have the watts, and can be mounted almost any position. Also can be done as an ez Dyi project. We aim for 3-4 watts per gallon of water in the tank. This changes with depth of corse.

I have two bulbs that are 124 watt HO and 2 bulbs that are 54 watt actinics. Does this mean I'm running 356 watts to my tank?

 

[Jimmye4fish]

well the one I carry doesn't have any fan on top of the fixtures, but they are not the cheapest you can get out there.

Does that come in a 48 inch?

 

[oyf709]

yes, but do you have a center bracer tho? cuz if you do you have to use 2 x24". 1 controller can control up to 4 fixtures in total.

 

[Jimmye4fish]

yes, but do you have a center bracer tho? cuz if you do you have to use 2 x24". 1 controller can control up to 4 fixtures in total.

Yes it has a clear brace. (I assume thats what your talking about) So I could get a 24 inch for the side I have the anenomie on for now and keep using the LED system I currently have then later on get another 24 inch. Hmmmmm I just took a look at your website. Lights look really cool and the controller is sweet!


So 2 of the aQ.Pro 24" Bridgelux might work and a controller. Thats a nice set up.

 

[oyf709]

yup, same kind of set up the guy who used in the pic of that tiny picture lol

 

[Justintotank]

Yes that is your watts of light output, but remember your lighting should have some umf to penetrate the water. As you go down in your tank the light refracts, dissipates and thus lowers your total amount of lumens your tank inhabitants need. I find the 250 watt neighborhood is good for a 50 gal with a depth of 18"-24". Btw t5 lights will give you a more even spread of light, less shadows gives you more space to place those lovely corals.