Light?

[Stop_drop_adam]

I have a well established 37 gallon tank and was wondering what kinda light i should get for cheap. I nedd one that will let coral and anemones live well. I was wondering if the 165w dimmable would be a good choice?

 

[geridoc]

As you probably know by now, "cheap" and "salt water fish keeping" don't go together very well. That said, there are choices you can make that will limit your costs and still work OK. HO fluorescent lighting is probably the minimum I would consider. It is more expensive to run (electrical costs $), but the purchase price is moderate. You must replace the bulbs twice yearly (which can be expensive), even if they look allright to your eyes - those wavelengths that you can see are not the ones the corals and anemones need. More expensive to purchase are LED lights. These are less expensive to operate since they draw far less current than fluorescent lights, and they produce less heat, too. They have long life expectancy, effectively for the lifetime of the fixture (often quoted at 50,000, but who really knows). You can find less expensive LED fixtures on the auction sites, but they are controversial. If I had to vote, I would say that these cheaper lights would be OK for less light sensitive organisms, but if you want SPS or the like, you will probably need the more expensive LED systems. It is also reported that the cheaper LED systems have a shorter life expectancy. Shop around, make some preliminary choices, and report them here. Many lights look good in ads, but just won't work well for reef systems. For example,there are 165 w dimmable lights that are the wrong wavelength for reefs (even if they say they are "reef ready), and others that will work fine. Look for the PAR and PUR values. We will give you our opinions, which will be at least honest since we don't sell anything and have no axe to grind.

 

[pegasus]

I agree with doc. Cheap Chinese LED's are hit-or-miss when it comes to keeping corals. They are made of cheap components, under less-than-stringent quality control conditions. I wouldn't dare spend my hard-earned $$$ on something that "might" work with my corals. I have a pile of money sunk in my corals... I have softies, LPS, and SPS corals. If I were going to buy LED for my tank, I'd have to spend over $1K to buy a fixture that had been proven to give corals exactly what they need. I built my system on a budget, and since I'm not rich, I went with time-proven T5 HO lighting. I have no regrets, since I have seen growth in all my corals... even Acroporas. I bought a 6-bulb fixture just for SPS, but mainly because I wanted to grow Acros. While I can't keep the most light-demanding of these corals, I can keep quite a variety of the moderate-to-high light Acros. If I had planned to grow the more demanding Acros, I would have gone with an 8-bulb fixture. Buying the lamp, and replacing the stock bulbs with quality bulbs, I have less than $300 in it. Oh... and it has a timer as well. The moonlights come on first, then the 3 "morning and evening" light, and midway through the photoperiod, the 3 "midday" lights are on. Doc said bulbs should be replaced twice a year, but high-quality bulbs are good for 12-18 months. I use ATI bulbs, but Geisman and DD make excellent bulbs as well. Like LED fixtures, T5 HO bulbs are not created equally. You have to buy the best to get the best results.

A dimmable LED is the last lamp I would waste my money on, unless it is dimmed by PWM. Voltage reduction dimming changes the spectrum of the emitters, which are already questionable to begin with when it comes to cheap(er) LED's. Using T5, I can change the spectrum by simply changing the bulb(s), and know it (or they) will be producing the proper wavelength.

 

[Stop_drop_adam]

I was thinking about doing a dual t5 ho fixture. Would that be enough? Also i would appreciate good brands for led lighting. Sunspect, MR, Wellpar?

 

[pegasus]

Not familiar with those brands. I'd go with a 4-bulb fixture. If it turns out to be too much light, you can always take out a bulb if necessary. Not likely, but still an option.

 

[Stop_drop_adam]

Thank you guys for all your help. Could anyone point me towards the right bulb combo to use? I know there is purple, blue, coral grow, and 12k.

 

[pegasus]

12K and Actinic is a decent comibination. If you are going to go with 4 bulbs, I'd use a combination of different lights. 12K is a daylight bulb with a hint of blue, but not really noticeable. Actinic gives the deep blue spectrum that corals can use. Coral bulbs give high PAR and proper spectrum for corals, so that's a good choice. Purple makes colors "pop", but not sure if it provide much benefit other than visual appeal. I use ATI bulbs, which include Aquablue Special, Blue Plus, and Coral Plus. It's a fairly bright light combination, and my corals appear to be doing very well with it. I'll probably add an Actinic or Actinic Plus bulb to the mix during my next bulb add a deeper blue tint to the tank... or I may stay with my time-tested current combo and add an Actinic LED strip. Just looking for something a little bluer...

Mandy111 uses Geisman bulbs in her reef tank, so she may be able to give a combo suggestion if you message her...

 

[Stop_drop_adam]

Would a combo of actinic, 12k, a coral bulb, and purple be a good combo? I also have 2 nems in another tanks with leds i wanna move over so their needs are just as important as corals and i need to make sure their light needs are met.

 

[pegasus]

That combination should work great. Your nems may move around a bit until they find the flow and light they prefer, but hopefully it'll be where you can still see them.

 

[Stop_drop_adam]

Right now i have an actinic and a 10k in. Is that ok for my nems for now?

 

[pegasus]

I never had much luck with 10K. A coral plus bulb will give a better spectrum that the nem can use, and a blue plus will give higher PAR. If it's true Actinic, then it's okay, but it needs to be supplemented with something else, like one the two I mentioned.