First tank lighting advice

[Ballsdeeporgohome]

Hi,

 

I'm looking for some advice on how to best light a 24x16x16 (600x400x400) . I'm new to the hobby and so am concerned of startup costs getting too out of hand, but at the same time want to the corals to pop and hopefully see reasonable growth.

 

I was thinking of perhaps going for 2x hipargero aqua knight led's to get a good spread and be budget friendly.

 

I could stretch to something like a single AI prime 16HD id need be.

 

What would you suggest? Any other light options I should consider?

 

Thanks 

[Mrod1!]

What kind of Coral are you looking to do?
 

seems like some nice softie tanks on you tube using but think some said they can do some lps also. 
 

spread wise not sure how well on ends but for the most part looks like a great option if trying to save some money on lights and keeping easier type corals.  Good luck if you get it and hopefully others using the exact light can chime in 

[Clown79]

1 prime HD would be fine.

 

Place high light corals within 18-20" and low moderate corals outside of that.

 

I have 2 primes on my 25g, same length and I don't use them at full. 

 

I have 1 on my 20g at 80%. 

 

Another option is a black box like mars aqua.

[Ballsdeeporgohome]

Thanks clown, Yeh I considered a black box but the brs review sort of put me off. Seemed like a bit of a death ray

[Ballsdeeporgohome]

1 hour ago, Mrod1! said:

What kind of Coral are you looking to do?
 

seems like some nice softie tanks on you tube using but think some said they can do some lps also. 
 

spread wise not sure how well on ends but for the most part looks like a great option if trying to save some money on lights and keeping easier type corals.  Good luck if you get it and hopefully others using the exact light can chime in 

Cheers, I'm still learning about the coral types.... Lots to lean, but Yeh, starting easy is the plan 

[dling]

Watch this vid. It may help with your decision .

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/video/view/best-of-2019-reef-tank-lighting/

[mcarroll]

On 4/1/2020 at 4:47 PM, Ballsdeeporgohome said:

concerned of startup costs

What is your budget?  Set one if you haven't.

 

Be careful trying to get good information out of YouTube videos.  I have yet to see one that isn't totally loaded with bad information.

 

I do recommend videos for getting an idea of what lights can look like in a tank when you cannot see them for yourself in person, but that's about the only good use case for them IMO.

 

Consider Kessil, Current USA, and for a black box style light the Ocean Revives are MUCH nicer than most due to the superior layout/spacing of the emitters.  

 

What does your LFS carry?

[Ballsdeeporgohome]

On 4/5/2020 at 4:39 PM, mcarroll said:

What is your budget?  Set one if you haven't.

 

Be careful trying to get good information out of YouTube videos.  I have yet to see one that isn't totally loaded with bad information.

 

I do recommend videos for getting an idea of what lights can look like in a tank when you cannot see them for yourself in person, but that's about the only good use case for them IMO.

 

Consider Kessil, Current USA, and for a black box style light the Ocean Revives are MUCH nicer than most due to the superior layout/spacing of the emitters.  

 

What does your LFS carry?

I'm in the uk, so budget wise around £280/$340 at absolute top end. I'm thinking it would be best to get something decent which had known results so either  kessil 160/ai prime new/evergrow 5040 new or a used ai hydra 

 

Lfs mainly stocks ai and red sea leds

[mcarroll]

On 4/1/2020 at 4:47 PM, Ballsdeeporgohome said:

how to best light a 24x16x16 (600x400x400)

2 hours ago, Ballsdeeporgohome said:

I'm in the uk, so budget wise around £280/$340 at absolute top end.

Ocean Revives (Dimensions 400x260x40 mm...over 656mm wide with legs) are listed on eBay.co.uk from local (UK) suppliers, for what it's worth.  One would do it.  < £250.  Doesn't do sunrise/sunset but DOES do dimming so you can tweak the white and blue channels how you want them, and it is self-contained with a built-in timer – one power cord.  

 

Seems like for the Evergrow you mentioned only their higher end stuff appears to be in stock and it looks like the have the standard black box emitter layout.  Yes it would work.

 

AI or Red Sea would be fine, but anything like a spotlight is really going to need two to cover the tank well, so I'm not sure the economics work out on these bigger lights.  (Much more ideal over a cube tank.)

 

A pair of Kessil A80's might do the trick....I think so, but I'd probably drop Kessil a line to see what they think of your tank dimensions.  

 

With their very-wide optics, it's possible you could use a single A160 and stay in-budget.  Make sure you like the single-spotlight look before you commit though.

 

Buying used is a great option IMO if what you want is for sale.

[Ballsdeeporgohome]

On 4/9/2020 at 2:47 AM, mcarroll said:

Ocean Revives (Dimensions 400x260x40 mm...over 656mm wide with legs) are listed on eBay.co.uk from local (UK) suppliers, for what it's worth.  One would do it.  < £250.  Doesn't do sunrise/sunset but DOES do dimming so you can tweak the white and blue channels how you want them, and it is self-contained with a built-in timer – one power cord.  

 

Seems like for the Evergrow you mentioned only their higher end stuff appears to be in stock and it looks like the have the standard black box emitter layout.  Yes it would work.

 

AI or Red Sea would be fine, but anything like a spotlight is really going to need two to cover the tank well, so I'm not sure the economics work out on these bigger lights.  (Much more ideal over a cube tank.)

 

A pair of Kessil A80's might do the trick....I think so, but I'd probably drop Kessil a line to see what they think of your tank dimensions.  

 

With their very-wide optics, it's possible you could use a single A160 and stay in-budget.  Make sure you like the single-spotlight look before you commit though.

 

Buying used is a great option IMO if what you want is for sale.

Cheers for the detailed reply, used is something I am Def considering. Might be the best way to go to get better lighting and still decent coverage. I'll check out the ocean revives too cheers. 

 

The evergrows do seem to be out of stock your right, hmmmmm. 

 

Well I've just been watching the brs 52 weeks of reefing and they seem to suggest leaving the lights off for several months if you can first to tackle algea. So I think I'm gunna get set up, cycle and get a fish or 2 in the tank and then look for good used options in the mean time 

[mcarroll]

On 4/10/2020 at 5:54 PM, Ballsdeeporgohome said:

52 weeks of reefing and they seem to suggest leaving the lights off for several months if you can first to tackle algea.

As far as the source I'll just say that it's best to double check anything you see in a YouTube video.  If they went to the trouble of writing any of the info down on a website or in a book first and THEN made a video, your chances are better of getting good info...still not guaranteed...not even by a stretch.

 

As a total newb, I did a blackout like that when I started my system back the mid-2000's.  I was worried about algae growing. 

 

Two things we know already:

1. They put a newbie move in that video.  (Think about that.)
2. Worry is a misuse of imagination.

It turns out (after 8 or 9 years of experience and reading) that algae doesn't just bloom willy-nilly or at random.  It doesn't bloom in everyone's tank.  It isn't caused by bad luck.  It doesn't sneak up on you like a horror movie.  😉

 

Algae blooms when there is a spike of nutrients and little or nothing to compete with it.  Too many free nutrients and not enough life.  "Ecosystem disturbances" to put it generally. Disturbed ecosystems are where you find algae blooms. And you don't get too much more "disturbed" than a brand new tank.

 

So algae blooms are actually a side effect of the way most folks stock their tanks!  Too many fish at once.  Too quickly overall.  One a month is plenty in most scenarios!

 

They are also a side effect of how folks respond to the algae growth.  Often inadequately or even in a retrograde fashion using chemicals or other measures that actually make the problem worse.

 

"I have some snails.  Nothing ate it.  So I __fill in the blank__." is what you read in a lot of cases.  That is reacting after the fact (damage is done) instead of being proactive AND it's not an adequate response.

 

Prevent algae blooms.  Use live rock (bring the competition).  Stock the tank slowly – especially the fish.  

 

Control algae blooms.  When (If) algae gets long, pull it out by hand and add a little bit more on to your cleanup crew.  

 

That is the way to go.

 

Proper application of a cleanup crew is another topic that is important to the effort and something folks commonly get bad advice about.  Mostly folks seem to end up with too small of a cleanup crew and a crew that's slanted toward being mostly scavengers.

 

For the correct number: add cleanup crew slowly, and in proportion to the algae growth.  And make sure it's mostly herbivores like Turbo and Cerith snails.  Use scavengers as needed as well....don't add them if you don't need them.  Make sure YOU keep the algae small enough for the snails to eat because chances are you don't have the right kind or number of fish to do it as would happen in the wild.

 

Edited April 12, 2020 by mcarroll
typo

[Ballsdeeporgohome]

On 4/12/2020 at 6:12 PM, mcarroll said:

As far as the source I'll just say that it's best to double check anything you see in a YouTube video.  If they went to the trouble of writing any of the info down on a website or in a book first and THEN made a video, your chances are better of getting good info...still not guaranteed...not even by a stretch.

 

As a total newb, I did a blackout like that when I started my system back the mid-2000's.  I was worried about algae growing. 

 

Two things we know already:

1. They put a newbie move in that video.  (Think about that.)
2. Worry is a misuse of imagination.

It turns out (after 8 or 9 years of experience and reading) that algae doesn't just bloom willy-nilly or at random.  It doesn't bloom in everyone's tank.  It isn't caused by bad luck.  It doesn't sneak up on you like a horror movie.  😉

 

Algae blooms when there is a spike of nutrients and little or nothing to compete with it.  Too many free nutrients and not enough life.  "Ecosystem disturbances" to put it generally. Disturbed ecosystems are where you find algae blooms. And you don't get too much more "disturbed" than a brand new tank.

 

So algae blooms are actually a side effect of the way most folks stock their tanks!  Too many fish at once.  Too quickly overall.  One a month is plenty in most scenarios!

 

They are also a side effect of how folks respond to the algae growth.  Often inadequately or even in a retrograde fashion using chemicals or other measures that actually make the problem worse.

 

"I have some snails.  Nothing ate it.  So I __fill in the blank__." is what you read in a lot of cases.  That is reacting after the fact (damage is done) instead of being proactive AND it's not an adequate response.

 

Prevent algae blooms.  Use live rock (bring the competition).  Stock the tank slowly – especially the fish.  

 

Control algae blooms.  When (If) algae gets long, pull it out by hand and add a little bit more on to your cleanup crew.  

 

That is the way to go.

 

Proper application of a cleanup crew is another topic that is important to the effort and something folks commonly get bad advice about.  Mostly folks seem to end up with too small of a cleanup crew and a crew that's slanted toward being mostly scavengers.

 

For the correct number: add cleanup crew slowly, and in proportion to the algae growth.  And make sure it's mostly herbivores like Turbo and Cerith snails.  Use scavengers as needed as well....don't add them if you don't need them.  Make sure YOU keep the algae small enough for the snails to eat because chances are you don't have the right kind or number of fish to do it as would happen in the wild.

 

Dude thank you so much for this reply, I've reading anything and everything I can at the moment and it's really valuable when some breaks things down into the reasons like this instead of just "do x to prevent y"