Upgrading the lights in my tank for corals.

wartooth1

wartooth1

Member
Hey all,
So I'm thinking way in advance here but eventually I would want to upgrade the lights in my tank so that I could support corals. The tank that I own is a 40 gallon tank made by Jebo and its called a R375. It came with lights and a filtration system. What I would like to do is have some information for which lighting system out there would be appropriate for this model tank (as in, lights that would either fit on this tank or can fit inside of the hood that came with this tank. I googled for parts for my particular tank and unfortunatly not much came up... so I am now turning to the saltwaterfish community for help lol...
Thanks is advance :)
 
travelerjp98

travelerjp98

Active Member
what are the measurments of the top of the tank? a pic of the hood would be good.
for corals, you could look into various T5s, LEDs, and Metal Halides.
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
I would look into the company that specializes in Nano tanks and upgrades to them.
google nano and tuners together.
T
 
wartooth1

wartooth1

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by travelerjp98 http:///forum/thread/386075/upgrading-the-lights-in-my-tank-for-corals#post_3388901
what are the measurments of the top of the tank? a pic of the hood would be good.
for corals, you could look into various T5s, LEDs, and Metal Halides.
Pics of my tank are posted here... https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/forum/thread/386045/my-40-gallon-tank-pic-thread
The LFS I originally got the tank from said that they can get me upgraded lights and if I exchanged the lights that came with my tank they said it would only cost me $30 for the exchange. They claim the lights are made to support all corals... the problem is I can't find any info online regarding lights that fit into the hood of my tank... All lights I can find online made by Jebo would would require me replacing the hood, which I would like to avoid doing if at all possible.
I guess I'll just have to wait for the LFS to open so I can give them a call and get the exact specification of their light so I can do some comparing.
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
for 30$, I wouldnt do it. you get what you pay for in this hobby and 30$ just doesnt match up to good lights. do you want to keep the hood? if you lose the hood, you've got a much wider range of products.
 
wartooth1

wartooth1

Member
Its not that the lights are $30... they are $30 more than the lights that I currently have.. what happened is the LFS set me up with a complete system but they did not have the lights at the time so they set me up with my current lights and said that I can exchange it when the good lights became available. Like I said I would like to keep the hood if possible. When the LFS is open I'll call them and get the exact specs for the lighting system they want to exchange and post them here... Then the experts here can tell me if these lights would be fine or if I should keep looking :)
I'm willing to replace the hood but only if the lights that can go into the hood are crap.
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
i understand that its a 30$ more light than what you have. but it still doesnt make sense that a good lighting set up would only be 30$ more than what you have. this same thing goes for the nanocubes and other all in one systems. their upgrades are not 30$. thats going from pc to mh.
alot of people just put in a heatsink and put LEDs for the all in one, but if you're not willing to build your one it cant be an option. the reason i'm advocating for something without a hood is that itll allow for better gas exchange and would be better if you choose the MH route. another plus for losing the hood is that you can get quality fixtures over retrofitted parts that dont use good reflectors and ballasts
 
wartooth1

wartooth1

Member
Actually i have a couple of pics that hopefully illustrate what I'm looking for:

Thats what the unit inside the hood looks like, so it would need to be a lighting sytem that could fit in there.

This is the control panel on the top of the hood. I suppose if I would require a system that consists of more than 2 bulbs then I would have to get a new hood anyway lol.
 
wartooth1

wartooth1

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by nikeSB http:///forum/thread/386075/upgrading-the-lights-in-my-tank-for-corals#post_3388972
i understand that its a 30$ more light than what you have. but it still doesnt make sense that a good lighting set up would only be 30$ more than what you have. this same thing goes for the nanocubes and other all in one systems. their upgrades are not 30$. thats going from pc to mh.
alot of people just put in a heatsink and put LEDs for the all in one, but if you're not willing to build your one it cant be an option. the reason i'm advocating for something without a hood is that itll allow for better gas exchange and would be better if you choose the MH route. another plus for losing the hood is that you can get quality fixtures over retrofitted parts that dont use good reflectors and ballasts
Yeah, I get what you're saying... a different LFS is recommending the same thing... the only problem is every different LFS I go into has their own method and of course THEIR solution is the best and the "other stores and guys on the internet don't know what they're talking about" which to me translates to "don't listen to anyone else... buy OUR products" lol.
Oh, I'm willing to get rid of the hood if I have too... I'm just looking for info on lights where I wouldn't have to lose the hood... and either these lights don't exist or I dunno what to look for because that info is tough to come by.
Regarding LEDs, do you mean adding LEDs to the lights I currently have without neccessarily replacing the whole system? If thats what you mean thats can be an option.
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member

if you can build and fit something like this into your hood, then you wouldnt have to get rid of it.
heres what other guys do with the nano cubes and biocubes. they fit the heatsink inside. mind you this will be a costly upgrade but well worth it in the long run. for the size of tank you're running, you'd have to be able to fit fans on top of the sink as well to make sure they stay cool enough
 
wartooth1

wartooth1

Member
Ok so I just got off the phone with the LFS that sold me this tank. So currently my lights are flourescents that are providing 48 watts of light. The upgraded lights they are offering to exchange for me are compact lights which consist of 2 bulbs (1 white, 1 blue) and that will provide 110 wats of light without generating any heat.
They also said there is a MH lighting system that can go inside the hood and there is a stand that will raise the hood off of the aquarium approximately 4 inches for the heat to escape. As far as the actual wattage of system, they will be calling the manufacterer since they currently do not have it in stock.
So going off of that, would the the 110 wats of light from the compact lighting system be fine for corals in a 40 gallon tank, or the MH system? Or will it still be better to just lose the hood look elsewhere for lights?
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
what kind of corals are you wanting? still imo you would be better off getting another lighting system.
 
wartooth1

wartooth1

Member
Well, as far as specific corals... nothing is set in stone, but from what I have seen either on the net or in stores I like the Yellow Tube Coral, Lavendar Mushroom, Button Polyps, Candy Canes, Toadstool, Trumpets, and Plate Coral (short tentacled).
So... if 3 wats per gallon is the rule of thumb, that would make the compact light system fall short by 10 wats. Would 10 wats really make such a difference? What if I were to add a couple of LED strips? I was going to add LEDs anyway since I like how they enhance the colors in the tank.
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
watts per gallon is an old old rule that doesnt make sense. you could add tons of t8 bulbs and get over 10 watts per gallon and it still wouldnt be enough light to support corals. If I had to guess, the upgrade to power compacts could support softies only. i dont even know if the JEBO upgrade would have a reflector. If it had a reflector you could do softies and LPS. if you go mh, you're better off with a different fixture and a quality reflector.
 
1guydude

1guydude

Well-Known Member
The 3-5w per gallon rule is indeed an old fashioned rule type thing lol...
basically id go with the LED just as suggested previously, if the DIYer is out of tyhe question as it is for me...than i would get some eggcrate at the hardware store and cut it for ur lid! Ull need it for ur jumpy fish anyways BELIEVE ME, plus it'll help with oxygen and c02 exchange and such. This is good for the coral and fish!
If u dont wanna hang ur light from ur ceiling.... http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2009-04/diy/index.php
now a days its all about par....the penetration of the light i believe. Dont know to much about it, so maybe nike could fill us in?!?!
 
wartooth1

wartooth1

Member
Hmm... I see. Well, if I don't go with the lights that were built for my tank, can anyone recommend some good lights that are also not expensive? I was recently laid off, so every penny counts lol. Maybe when things get better, I could look into a more premium setup. But for now, I'd like it if you guys could point me in the direction of lights that can sustain corals without breaking the bank.
 
travelerjp98

travelerjp98

Active Member
The "Marineland double-Bright Reef Capable" LED lights.
I have the non-reef capable in my tank (I don't have corals) and they are really bright. I know that the ref-capable ones are really good.
I love my LEDs. I only have to replace them every 6 years.
 
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