Lighting for Reef Tank?

[Fishkeeper92]

I have a 110 gallon acryllic tank. Im planning to go reef with this tank but it'd be a casual upgrade to reef. Im trying to decide between two 4 bulb 60" t5 fixtures or one 60" halide fixture. The tank is 24" tall and i feel like halides would be overkill especially since the fixture has 3 bulbs. Im also afraid it would slowly melt away the top of my tank since a majoriry of it is covered. Which one seems like a better choice?

 

[mr_X]

I would go with at least 6 T5s, or Those dimmable LED fixtures on ebay.

 

[Fishkeeper92]

I like LED's just not the initial cost ha. I know youre the big tank pro Mr. X, how good are the led's?

 

[mr_X]

The ones I have are working well. They were cheap ($160.00 a piece shipped). I'm no pro but the PAR meter doesn't lie and the corals are growing and are very colorful. That's proof enough for me.

 

[Fishkeeper92]

Thats not bad at all. Whats the spread of the lights like?

 

[mr_X]

They don't have any optics, so the spread is pretty wide. I would say that of a halide (2' x 2'), maybe a little more on the long end since it's more rectangular.

 

[Fishkeeper92]

Sounds like a fantastic deal to me then. Do you have a link to the leds or a brand name?

 

[mr_X]

These are the ones I have:
Aquarium Coral Reef Tank black Blue LED Grow Light 120W | eBay

And the dimmable ones:
1 PCS Free shipping New Dimmable 120w led aquarium light for marine coral reef | eBay

 

[Fishkeeper92]

Are these the lights you use on your in wall?

 

[mr_X]

Yes. The first link. The ones that aren't dimmable.

 

[Fishkeeper92]

My tank is 5 feet long, do you think those LED's could cover a good area of the tank? I can take pictures or give more measurements of need be.

 

[mr_X]

How many? 3 of them would be great. 2 of them and you'll have to raise them up a bit, and you may get some shadowing towards the ends.

 

[Fishkeeper92]

I think i can do 3 of them. Money isnt an issue, if i have to save and wait it out i will. Its a matter of making sure the light gets through the acryllic.

 

[mr_X]

These have plenty of punch. I wouldn't worry about them getting through the acrylic.

 

[Fishkeeper92]

Well then 3 it is. Thank you so much for all the help.