Led

[Garydw]

I'm looking for a new lighting system for my 22g oceanic tank an I was look into some LEDs. Do you think Powerbrite linking system is good for my tank I want to do some corals don't know what yet but just want to be ready for when I do get them.

 

 

 

Thanks

[travisurfer]

Powerbrites will be severely insufficient for your 22g tank.

[evilc66]

Take a stroll through the Lighting forum. You will be able to find what you need there

[Garydw]

Well I'm on a really fixed income and I'm just looking for something cheap to get me by but how about this light do you think 1x 65W 50/50 ( Half 12000K daylight, Half Actinic 460nm) is a good light for coral to grow it is almost 3w per gallon. I think it would be a good light just wanted sombody else thought on it

[asting]

powercompact isn't nearly as efficient. T5s would be a better choice.

[Garydw]

Do you think a Current USA nova extreme T5 Is a good light for a 22g tank

 

 

The features

 

One 18 Watt SlimPaq 10K and one 18 watt 460nm Actinic Blue T5 HO fluorescent lamp

Dimensions: 18" x 5.5" x 2"

36 Watts

Individually contoured reflectors

Plastic mounting legs

Performance driven electronic ballast. No independent control over 10K and Actinic lamps.

[RCfan08]

This hobby and cheap are incompatible words... and no.. that light won't be sufficient to grow anything well (or at all) in a 22 gallon (16x16x20?).. A 20inch tall tank requires at LEAST a 150w metal halide to even do anything well with LPS and softies and at least a 250w to do sps decently. There really aren't any good T5HO bulbs made for 18inch fixtures so I'd skip that entirely and the tank is pretty tall so I'd skip on LEDs or you might find yourself spending a fortune on them. If you shop hard enough you can find a used 150w or 250w metal halide fixture, bulb, ballast, and cords for $100-$200.

[Colione]

I had a 150w MH and just swapped out for LEDs.

 

My only point ... it's not cheap.

 

go used, you can get a great MH set up used. Just pop in a new bulb, or make sure the bulb has low life

[jeremai]

This hobby and cheap are incompatible words... and no.. that light won't be sufficient to grow anything well (or at all) in a 22 gallon (16x16x20?).. A 20inch tall tank requires at LEAST a 150w metal halide to even do anything well with LPS and softies and at least a 250w to do sps decently. There really aren't any good T5HO bulbs made for 18inch fixtures so I'd skip that entirely and the tank is pretty tall so I'd skip on LEDs or you might find yourself spending a fortune on them. If you shop hard enough you can find a used 150w or 250w metal halide fixture, bulb, ballast, and cords for $100-$200.

^ that guys's crazy, lol

 

 

to the op: I'd say 1x65w isn't really going to get you far, but a 2x65w PC set up would be more than enough for softies and some LPS, even down to the sand. same goes for the t5's: one bulb isn't enough, but two (or three or four) should be sufficient.

[RCfan08]

more like INSANE.. I would never run anything powercompact related again on any of my tanks after having ran metal halides. Why did you give up the metal halide for LEDs? You could have just run a fan if cooling was a concern.... LEDs have the same issue as T5HOs with effective light penetration in relation to the depth of a tank (which I'll admit isn't much of a concern in a small or short tank.)

[evilc66]

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

 

WRONG!!!

 

LEDs can penetrate better than even MH with the right lens setup. Show me a MH that can hit 200 PAR @ 24", and I'll build an LED array that will hit 500 at the same distance. With the right LED setup, you can put 200 PAR on the sand on any depth tank. Another advantage that LEDs have is how linear the dropoff in PAR is as you go deeper.

[RCfan08]

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

 

WRONG!!!

 

LEDs can penetrate better than even MH with the right lens setup. Show me a MH that can hit 200 PAR @ 24", and I'll build an LED array that will hit 500 at the same distance. With the right LED setup, you can put 200 PAR on the sand on any depth tank. Another advantage that LEDs have is how linear the dropoff in PAR is as you go deeper.

 

....1000w MH 6500k setup will hit AT LEAST 500PAR at 24inches.. cheaper too than buying several hundred LEDs to do the same thing.

[doctaq]

....1000w MH 6500k setup will hit AT LEAST 500PAR at 24inches.. cheaper too than buying several hundred LEDs to do the same thing.

 

are we talking about a reef tank here? i dont remember ever seeing a 6.5k reef

not to mention that leds could probably do the same for half the power and look a lot better, also check this out, i can turn them on and off without waiting half an hour in between, also changing out 3 or 4 bulbs on that 1000w system? leds will be cheaper by the time one year rolls around

[redfishsc]

....1000w MH 6500k setup will hit AT LEAST 500PAR at 24inches.. cheaper too than buying several hundred LEDs to do the same thing.

 

 

Cheaper until your electric bills start coming in, and having to buy new lamps every year, and having to run a chiller, and a dehumidifier for your house.

[neuwave]

Keep in mind people were keeping alot of softies and Lps in tanks with pc . T5 is better but for cheap and those corals PC's are just fine. Like evil said LEDs can penetrate really well with the right lens. Led are great. Can't wait to finish my led setup but I have to get some free time to write some code.

[evilc66]

....1000w MH 6500k setup will hit AT LEAST 500PAR at 24inches.. cheaper too than buying several hundred LEDs to do the same thing.

 

Thats not the point. You were stating that LEDs can't penetrate as deep as MH. I said yes they can. Throwing a bigger MH into the equation doesn't change the fact that LEDs, in the right setup, can penetrate just as deep as MH. So you are still wrong

 

To add to this, if you say you can hit 500 PAR ( ihave already measured that using one of my PAR38s with 8 degree optics) with a 1000W 6500K MH, then I'll build a setup that can hit 700 PAR at a 14K color temp. Got an answer for that? It will still be less wattage, less heat, cheaper to run, and will have an infinitely adjustable color temp. Show me a MH that can do that. I dare ya

[asting]

I'll build a setup that can hit 700 PAR at a 14K color temp. Got an answer for that? It will still be less wattage, less heat, cheaper to run, and will have an infinitely adjustable color temp. Show me a MH that can do that. I dare ya

and then you'll mail it to me. I'll pm ya my address.

[RCfan08]

Thats not the point. You were stating that LEDs can't penetrate as deep as MH. I said yes they can. Throwing a bigger MH into the equation doesn't change the fact that LEDs, in the right setup, can penetrate just as deep as MH. So you are still wrong

 

To add to this, if you say you can hit 500 PAR ( ihave already measured that using one of my PAR38s with 8 degree optics) with a 1000W 6500K MH, then I'll build a setup that can hit 700 PAR at a 14K color temp. Got an answer for that? It will still be less wattage, less heat, cheaper to run, and will have an infinitely adjustable color temp. Show me a MH that can do that. I dare ya

 

Curiously I want to see any of these said LED setups with a PAR meter in the same shot because MHs have ACTUALLY done this already. I love being proven wrong, but I'm not one to become easily dejected by pipedreams and zealot speech.

 

Hell like the other guy said, if you can build some ridiculous LED setup to light whatever without an odd look or discoball effect then I'm down for purchasing from you. Sell me on it. That's the whole point, I know you can light nanos and picos, that's not the issue. I'm talking about outside this realm.

[Garydw]

Ok so I was looking at a JBJ k-2 viper. Now how does this sound if I get the 70w JBJ for right now so that I can have some fish and then later when I'm about to get some corals upgrade the light bulb to 150w. Now with that kind of lighting system what is the range of corals I can have

[asting]

for fish, any old fluorescent setup will work. Don't bother with the K-2 Viper if you just plan on upgrading later. Not cost effective.

[Garydw]

Well I was only going to upgrade the bulb not the fixture itself

[asting]

correct me if i'm wrong, but the k70 and k150 have different ballasts. It's not just the bulb that makes one a 70 watt and one a 150 watt. You can't just put a higher wattage bulb in.

[Garydw]

I'm not sure on that but it does make sense though. Well thanks for the info on that I guess I will just get the 150

[RCfan08]

I'm not sure on that but it does make sense though. Well thanks for the info on that I guess I will just get the 150

 

Gary, not trying to burst your bubble or anything. Sorry if you got that idea. If I was strapped for cash. I would run the tank for awhile with just regular cheap lighting and get a couple fish then once you've saved up enough to get a good fixture, your tank will be pretty mature for corals. If you're going to get a K2 though, get the deluxe because it comes with a fan on it (with 2 speeds) which is pretty sweet imo because it will allow you to offset temperature increases from the light. It also has LEDs for moonlights... pretty sweet. They are $360 new for a 250w model so it pays to shop used.

[BLoCkCliMbeR]

This hobby and cheap are incompatible words... and no.. that light won't be sufficient to grow anything well (or at all) in a 22 gallon (16x16x20?).. A 20inch tall tank requires at LEAST a 150w metal halide to even do anything well with LPS and softies and at least a 250w to do sps decently. There really aren't any good T5HO bulbs made for 18inch fixtures so I'd skip that entirely and the tank is pretty tall so I'd skip on LEDs or you might find yourself spending a fortune on them. If you shop hard enough you can find a used 150w or 250w metal halide fixture, bulb, ballast, and cords for $100-$200.

 

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/featured/?tank=6

 

18gallons and has 20”x10”x18” (LxWxH) dimension.

 

1x36W Combo (50/50) and 1x36W 12,000K PC