Current USA Orbit IC LED system for high light SPS?

[nano-mex]

Hey guys I’m gathering equipment for a reef set up. I have a  tank that’s 36” long by 18” wide and 14” tall. I also have an orbit ic 36”-48” led light (that I’m gonna end up using it if it doesn’t sell) it’s only one light though. My question is, if I buy the new CURRENT USA Orbit Marine IC  LEF Reef Aquarium Light And use both to light up the tank, would it be enough light for high light SPS or even for medium light SPS? I’m sure it’ll be enough light for low light sps based on what I’ve read and considering that my tank is 14” tall. 

[Reefkid88]

 I mean people have kept Green Slimers and easier coral under them but I have a feeling corals such as Walt Disney and all the higher end coral that love VERY high light such as 300+ par I don't think that light will even come close to touch those numbers. 

 

 If you want something to come CLOSE to enough light for "high light" sps,I would consider a ReefBrite T5 retro with a ReefBreeders led strip down the middle,or the same T5 and a IC led. 

 

 I mean at 6" from the source it produced 260-190,which it doesn't state if that's measurements with water or just air. 

 

 If you are using the light,I would consider sps like Green Slimer,Red Planet,PC Rainbow,Joe The Coral,maybe some Mille's,Birdsnests. 

[Reefrelatedusername]

I have a green slimer at about 6 to 8 inches from my current marine orbit ic pro  dual fixture that seems to be doing well. It’s the most current 2 strip Bluetooth setup.

everything else I have is low to medium in a 20 long tank. 

[nano-mex]

3 hours ago, nano-mex said:

Hey guys I’m gathering equipment for a reef set up. I have a  tank that’s 36” long by 18” wide and 14” tall. I also have an orbit ic 36”-48” led light (that I’m gonna end up using it if it doesn’t sell) it’s only one light though. My question is, if I buy the new CURRENT USA Orbit Marine IC  LEF Reef Aquarium Light And use both to light up the tank, would it be enough light for high light SPS or even for medium light SPS? I’m sure it’ll be enough light for low light sps based on what I’ve read and considering that my tank is 14” tall. 

I was hoping for another response, because I like the sleak   look of the orbit LEDs, but I’m aware they’re not enough and will not add anything until I have the right equipment. Thanks for cleaning things for me and for the recommendations.👍🏼

[nano-mex]

2 hours ago, Reefrelatedusername said:

I have a green slimer at about 6 to 8 inches from my current marine orbit ic pro  dual fixture that seems to be doing well. It’s the most current 2 strip Bluetooth setup.

everything else I have is low to medium in a 20 long tank. 

That’s the same height I will install my lights at. Thanks for the good info guys!!

[Reefrelatedusername]

I have a few pics on my build journal but I haven’t had the slimer there for long so keep that in mind, but I have seen others online with same lights and sps up top no issues.

im not using the stand just the wire arms it comes with right on ledge of tank. 

[nano-mex]

10 hours ago, Reefrelatedusername said:

I have a few pics on my build journal but I haven’t had the slimer there for long so keep that in mind, but I have seen others online with same lights and sps up top no issues.

im not using the stand just the wire arms it comes with right on ledge of tank. 

I already checked your build thread, it looks nice. I will keep that in mind. I won’t be adding any sps right away, I’ll wait until I’m done adding softies and by that time I’ll probably had gotten what reefkid88 recommended or something similar.

[mitten_reef]

15 hours ago, Reefrelatedusername said:

I have a green slimer at about 6 to 8 inches from my current marine orbit ic pro  dual fixture that seems to be doing well. It’s the most current 2 strip Bluetooth setup.

everything else I have is low to medium in a 20 long tank. 

I have used two Orbit IC bars PLUS one 20W all blue led over my IM30L. Granted, the setup was used as an emergency. They keep SPS happy for 3 months, no loss of colors, even showed decent growth.   It was noticeably slower growth than my nanobox, but sometimes that isn’t a bad thing. May vs June 2018 FTS photos below. More probably somewhere on my journal. The big bottom tier of the plating monti was removed in between, I think  

[nano-mex]

Ok so I did some research and came across something similar to what reefkid88 recommended. It is the 36” T5 HO hybrid led 4x39 watts lamp mounting system. It is made to work with a few other brands of led lights, but not the Orbit IC lights. But I can come up with something to adapt my light. If I buy this light system and hang it 6” above the water surface I will get a  PAR number of 316 including my light, is this correct? Oh the the ORBIT IC gives a par number of 160 at 6” btw.

[Reefrelatedusername]

Id like to find some sort of hanging mount to get my 2 led bars plus 2t5ho bulbs over this nano.

im still trying to figure that out for this tank, but honesty just the leds is probably fine. 

For my next tank I’m just going blackbox leds, these are great and I like the connection to everything, but I wouldn’t mind more power, even if I’m not using it. 

[nano-mex]

13 minutes ago, Reefrelatedusername said:

Id like to find some sort of hanging mount to get my 2 led bars plus 2t5ho bulbs over this nano.

im still trying to figure that out for this tank, but honesty just the leds is probably fine. 

For my next tank I’m just going blackbox leds, these are great and I like the connection to everything, but I wouldn’t mind more power, even if I’m not using it. 

There is a 24” light fixture also. Only problem for you  would be how to adapt your lights to it.

[Reefrelatedusername]

Most of those have t5 on outside led on inside

but my t5 fixture would have to be the middle 

[mitten_reef]

10 hours ago, nano-mex said:

Ok so I did some research and came across something similar to what reefkid88 recommended. It is the 36” T5 HO hybrid led 4x39 watts lamp mounting system. It is made to work with a few other brands of led lights, but not the Orbit IC lights. But I can come up with something to adapt my light. If I buy this light system and hang it 6” above the water surface I will get a  PAR number of 316 including my light, is this correct? Oh the the ORBIT IC gives a par number of 160 at 6” btw.

At that point why bother with the orbit IC?  The T5HO will overwhelm most/all of the output coming from IC. You may as well go with just full T5 (maybe 6-bulb T5 fixture) at that point. 

If you want a sleek led bar look, look up the new Orphek LED bars, they’re sweet and are made of high output led’s. Two bars would/should be plenty for your tank. They’re not controllable, but neither is the T5. 

[Reefkid88]

This is what you need. 

[Reefrelatedusername]

I’d like to have the t5ho on just for 4 or so hours and led rest of the time.

seems to be some correlation to t5 and overall color of zoas, and the t5ho fixture I have was free, would be best to rig something up on the cheap. I could probably just 3d print something these strips are pretty light 

[mcarroll]

On 11/6/2019 at 10:28 PM, nano-mex said:

Oh the the ORBIT IC gives a par number of 160 at 6” btw.

If you love T5HO then you should consider that. 

 

But I can't recommend installing old technology like T5HO in 2019 if you have no commitment to it already.

 

Simply install enough Orbit IC strips to get the PAR you want. 

 

And be careful about buying into hype about "high light corals" in the first place.  Every time someone takes a deep look at coral lighting and color (thinking of Dana Riddle most recently), they come back saying "wow corals don't need a lot of light".

 

See if you can find examples of those corals you're interested in growing under good conditions but at "lower" light intensity to see what the difference really is.  If you can't find a comparison, I'd consider all claims of needing "high light" to be hearsay.  (Most color differences between tanks seem to go down to husbandry differences, not so much differences in lighting.)  Upgrade your lights to more than two IC strips later if you see a real need, IMO.  ("Walt Disney" Acro seems to be a hot-button issue....folks seem to think it only gets the marketing colors from photoshop/tricks.)

 

One Orbit IC Pro kit (two strips) is probably all you'll need for a 14" deep tank.  Looks like a kit goes for about $360.  (You might give Current USA a call to see if you can buy a bare strip to add on to your controller....should be cheaper than a single-IC kit.  Pretty sure you can.)

 

But adding a third strip or even a second whole IC Pro kit (so you'd have four strips) isn't out of the question if you really do need more light.  (Doubtful but possible.)

[snookhooker74]

Has anyone had long term success with these lights for just LPS even?  I'm not too thrilled 9 months into them....I wish I'd gone with the kessil a80 just for the blue intensity....altho a different animal altogether the price is comparable....I have 2....24" on 30 gallon and The coloring SUCKS

[mcarroll]

5 hours ago, snookhooker74 said:

Has anyone had long term success with these lights for just LPS even?  I'm not too thrilled 9 months into them....I wish I'd gone with the kessil a80 just for the blue intensity....altho a different animal altogether the price is comparable....I have 2....24" on 30 gallon and The coloring SUCKS

Subjective, so it's definitely possible you just don't like it.  BUT...

 

It's also possible (and seems more likely based on the overall statistics...don't know anything about your tank yet) that there could be something or other about the tank that could improve, which in turn would make happier corals with better color.

 

How are your test numbers for the "big 5": ca, alk, mg, no3 and po4? 

 

How stable have they been?

 

Is the tank 9 months old? 

 

How was it started and how are you cleaning and filtering it?

 

Any issues along the way up to now?

 

Pic?

 

FYI, don't hesitate to start a tank thread or thread for just this issue.  Also check the search function for old threads on current lights and LPS.  The short answer is "Yes."

[mcarroll]

@snookhooker74 Forgot to mention another potential factor....if you're comparing your tank with tank pictures online, be prepared for ongoing disappointment in the color department.  Most pics online (not all) look better than the actual tanks they are pictures of.  Lights get specially tweaked for the shot.  Special filters are put on the camera.  Sometimes special lenses that literally see more detail than you can.  And that's just the stuff that "everyone" does.....the more dedicated still run through software tools like photoshop on top of all the other "tweaks".  They all add up to fairly unreal (if snazzy) pictures.  Doesn't make it bad....but it does make it hard to do comparisons with your own tank.  Comparing with other tanks you can see in person is always ideal....hopefully that's the situation you're in!  🙂 

[snookhooker74]

thanks for your response   the tank is 14 months old  started with RO water  initially set up with single orbit then got 2. initially color and growth was decent but zoas seemed to stretch for light so 2nd strip added.  parameters have been consistent EXCEPT a spike in salinity due to dosing live phyto (did not realize how salty this stuff came)...ive since resolved.. i keep salinity at 35ppt ..nitrates at 10ppm max alk is about 7 -8  the corals at lfs seem to have much better color with the kessil a80 tuna blue...    i buy them and the reds turn orange and the greens fade in few months....  i have sump w filter sock and run carbon... and gfo only when needed..i.e phosphates hi        i do not skim but opt for weekly water changes 

also... my hammer ive had for 5 months is starting to thin out... long thin stalks with tiny shrunken polyps ... still opens daily just looks "starved"      i do feed acans weekly..  reef roids.... i do not feed frozen due to nutrient overload potential in such simple setup

these pics took forever to load on site so i gave up after just few

[ezreefer73]

I have 2 of the Current orbit IC lights and a Reefbrite actinc strip running between them on my 20 long and everything in my tank grows like weeds!!

[WV Reefer]

I have used several models of the Current lights for my 12 long:

 

 

[mcarroll]

6 hours ago, snookhooker74 said:

spike in salinity

how high did it get?  1.030 is enough to do damage in some cases.  Obviously this would not explain anything about corals which have been added since that spike.

 

6 hours ago, snookhooker74 said:

nitrates at 10ppm max alk....  i have sump w filter sock and run carbon... and gfo only when needed..i.e phosphates hi

 

 

Do you have fish?

 

I think I would suggest stopping the reef roids and just increase feedings to your fish as long as you have some.

 

And I think your impression of frozen food has it backwards – dry foods tend to be much more messy in the water as most (or none) of the nutrients are contained within cells.  When this type of food is not immediately eaten, it pretty much immediately goes to waste.

 

In frozen food the overall nutrient levels are lower (good) and the vast most of the nutrients are still locked within cell walls, until eaten and digested by a tank critter.  

 

There are many other benefits to frozen (and fresh) foods that go beyond the practicalities too, of course.

 

I would also stop managing your nitrates and phosphates which it sounds like you are doing by expressing maximums. Let them be whatever they will be. Your corals should be happier as long as you are feeding high-quality frozen foods.  You should be selecting food items that are bright orange whenever possible.

 

Can you post a full tank a picture that shows what you have for water flow?

[snookhooker74]

hmmm   ok   i have only 1 fish.. a 6 line...

i will get pic of full tank as soon as i tend to the shitzu once i get home.  im currently at work  i have 2 current pumps hooked thru Loop.   i will stop gfo etc stop roids and feed mysis   i still use selcon. just habit   maybe im just expecting t5 and hqi results from led ..  years ago i used current sunpak hqi 150... then had t5s for years and things were great.. but this latest tank is really dissapointing so far  ... something is amiss....somewhere

[snookhooker74]

oh   ur first question    salinity...went 40 ppt so yes .. it went high fast   no new corals have been added since