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Coolbreeze

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My Dream Lighting

 

I have created this new topic to get some input from the community on a lighting system that I wanted to buy and or create for my new dream tank.

So I have two display tanks and a third coming soon. The reason for this is that my older XR15 pro Gen3 are starting to show wear and one of them is blinking bright once a day and then goes back to normal after a few minutes. I do have one as a backup to this one so once they both go then I plan on just using a T5 light for the frag/quarantine system as this is cheap and has a outstanding success.

 

Bluefish Aquarium LED Controller

 

So, with that said I need a new lighting system and was planning on using the following and would like some feedback on members who have experience with one or more of these items. Please keep in mind that this system will display in my living room, so I want something outstanding for look and function.

First up I wanted to use the Bluefish Aquarium LED controller as it has some functions that I think would be cool to have and hopefully some great affects.

 

1). Real location simulation
2). Weather Simulation.
3). Realistic Thunderstorms.

 

Works with both LED and T5. Has anyone had this controller and used any of the above features?

 

Aquatic Life T5 dimmable unit.

 

T5 are the industry standard and it seems like many tanks do well when having these installed. I noticed that many LED just do not seem to have the same look as these. Being since it is dimmable and has a 0-10v port for it dimmable ability I can attach it to either the Bluefish controller or the Apex. Either one can dim it, but I believe the additional features can be used with T5 and the LED together. Any thoughts?

 

And third I was going to pair the other two items with another industry standard lighting system from Kessil. Here I would be limited to A360W-E Tuna Blue LED Aquarium Light (Wide Angle). Here I can attach it to the Bluefish controller and take advantage of all it features. Any thought?

 

Apex Lunar Lights

 

And finally, I was going to use the Apex Lunar Simulator Lunar LED Strings. This will give me the last affect I am looking for without using higher end lights to achieve the same thing. These can be replaced without much cost and will actually be hooked up to the Apex.

 

My understanding is that the above items will simulate  a reef as close as possible. Any thought or comments will be very helpful.
 

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My decision

 

So, after much debate and almost zero feedback I did find some interesting BRSTV investigate articles on lighting. Due to the cost of lighting I wanted to make sure that I spend the money on something that will give me the best growth, looks and long-term success.

 

Home Office DT

 

 First up I decided to go with the Blue Fish controller and Kessil light for my WB20 build and send back my current lighting since it has not been open. This controller will control the Kessil A360W and should give me the controlling ability I can use as the tank matures. I do not plan to have this DT hooked up to my Apex controller at this time. One reason for going this route is space and simplicity. I did like the idea of having Echotech XR15 Pro over it with all it features of par, moonlight and lunar cycle’s but hanging it from the ceiling like I originally thought is more of a tougher challenge then what I wanted to deal with right now and since I have seen many DT on here using the Kessils with great success it seems like an obvious choice.

 

Main DT

 

The Dream tank lighting system I am planning on buying Aquatic Life T5 dimmable unit and connect this to my current Apex controller. Mainly because I already have the open ports available and during the startup process, I can make them run at 10 to 30 % while it is going through its startup phase and hopefully, I can eliminate the algae and diatom phase. I will be adding in two Kessil A30W lights for its shimmer and additional par and finally I will add the lunar lights for nighttime affect so I can see activity late at night as I also heard that fish seem to jump when the room is completely black.
 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Seems like you were headed for the T5 bandwagon for reasons that are unclear...and it's not really apparent what feedback you were looking for.  Guessing you didn't want to hear that T5 is expensive to run.  🤷‍♂️  

 

Still not sure what you're looking for, so feel free to clarify if you can.  But seems like you're on your way with your plan – so have fun!  😊👌

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Thanks, but I have already bought everything and it has arrived. Not sure what you mean by expensive as I have three Radions XR15 G3 that are starting to go and at the time of purchase these things were 500 bucks a piece and lasted  for only 3 yours of 8 hours on. In doing the math it looks as if the T5 are cheaper to run and adding Lunar lights is also cheaper then dimming and running LED's so I am trying to balance the three to last longer and be cheaper in the long run. Let me know your thoughts.

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My plan for my setup is ati sunpower with the bulb combo recommended by brs. Mine is going to be 4 bulb so (blue plus, coral plus, actinic, blue plus). I can't wait to set it up! In the future if I need more par. I'll likely add some kessil leds. The shimmer would be cool to add. 

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8 hours ago, Coolbreeze said:

I have three Radions XR15 G3 that are starting to go and at the time of purchase these things were 500 bucks a piece and lasted lasted for only 3 yours of 8 hours on.

If they aren't serviceable that's really too bad.  I have DIY rigs sourced from the cheapest ebay components I could find that lasted longer than that.

 

I think I would actually consider calling Ecotech to ask what they thought about your situation.  I know they only have a 1 year warranty, but that doesn't mean the lights have to go into the trash once something wears out....there can still be replacement parts and part recalls, etc.

 

👍

 

8 hours ago, Coolbreeze said:

In doing the math it looks as if the T5 are cheaper

Don't run the math based on a top-top-top-dollar LED setup that seems to be dying an early death.   That's the ONLY way you'll find T5's to be cheaper, so your results will be biased.  

 

It should be normal for an LED system to be able to run 5+ years..10 really.  Normal to be repairable if need be as well.  (Most folks change systems to get new features, not because their lights die.)

 

If you run T5's do it because you like the way they look.  There is no cost justification – they are expensive to run (and you could run MUCH less expensive LED's) – so hopefully ongoing costs are not a factor of primary importance.

 

Energy costs will be more if you are supplying equal lighting levels.  

 

Plus you have +$80-120 per year in bulbs, depending on the size of your fixture.  Maybe even more if you happen to run your lights for long hours or otherwise wear the bulbs more quickly (ie dimming them) and have to replace bulbs more than once per year.  

 

In five years worth of 8 hour days, that's +$400 onto your upfront costs just for replacement bulbs and +$375 for power usage.  

 

Those numbers get to +$800 and +$750 by ten years.  

 

Those are 4-bulb numbers....refigure about +50% more in cost if it's a 6-bulb T5 fixture.

 

It would be interesting to know how much power your 90w G3's consume in a day...nominally they are 90 watts each, but you would need something like a KillAWatt meter to know your actual usage since sunrise/sunset dimming varies their power consumption throughout the day.  

 

Just assuming the xr15's are on full-blast for 8 hours a day is probably over-estimating, but that puts power costs at about $94 a year....about +$470 every five years.  Compare that with $775 worth of operating costs for the T5 system over the same time frame.  In ten years, that's LED+$940 VS T54bulb+$1550.

 

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1 hour ago, mcarroll said:

If they aren't serviceable that's really too bad.  I have DIY rigs sourced from the cheapest ebay components I could find that lasted longer than that.

 

I think I would actually consider calling Ecotech to ask what they thought about your situation.  I know they only have a 1 year warranty, but that doesn't mean the lights have to go into the trash once something wears out....there can still be replacement parts and part recalls, etc.

 

👍

 

Don't run the math based on a top-top-top-dollar LED setup that seems to be dying an early death.   That's the ONLY way you'll find T5's to be cheaper, so your results will be biased.  

 

It should be normal for an LED system to be able to run 5+ years..10 really.  Normal to be repairable if need be as well.  (Most folks change systems to get new features, not because their lights die.)

 

If you run T5's do it because you like the way they look.  There is no cost justification – they are expensive to run (and you could run MUCH less expensive LED's) – so hopefully ongoing costs are not a factor of primary importance.

 

Energy costs will be more if you are supplying equal lighting levels.  

 

Plus you have +$80-120 per year in bulbs, depending on the size of your fixture.  Maybe even more if you happen to run your lights for long hours or otherwise wear the bulbs more quickly (ie dimming them) and have to replace bulbs more than once per year.  

 

In five years worth of 8 hour days, that's +$400 onto your upfront costs just for replacement bulbs and +$375 for power usage.  

 

Those numbers get to +$800 and +$750 by ten years.  

 

Those are 4-bulb numbers....refigure about +50% more in cost if it's a 6-bulb T5 fixture.

 

It would be interesting to know how much power your 90w G3's consume in a day...nominally they are 90 watts each, but you would need something like a KillAWatt meter to know your actual usage since sunrise/sunset dimming varies their power consumption throughout the day.  

 

Just assuming the xr15's are on full-blast for 8 hours a day is probably over-estimating, but that puts power costs at about $94 a year....about +$470 every five years.  Compare that with $775 worth of operating costs for the T5 system over the same time frame.  In ten years, that's LED+$940 VS T54bulb+$1550.

 

Don't forget to add in the upfront costs of the equipment on your comparison.

 

Aquatic life or ATI Sunpower dimmable 4-bulb with bulbs-$625

Radion XR15-$420x3=$1260

 

Totals including operating cost $2175 for 4bulb T5 vs $2200 for 3 Radion XR15s. 🤷🏽‍♂️ Difference between bandwagon and industry standards. Either lighting option could be considered both, one has had it locked down for a lot longer and is what every led lighting option is compared to. 

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24 minutes ago, 5*Chris said:

Don't forget to add in the upfront costs of the equipment on your comparison.

 

Aquatic life or ATI Sunpower dimmable 4-bulb with bulbs-$625

Radion XR15-$420x3=$1260

 

Totals including operating cost $2175 for 4bulb T5 vs $2200 for 3 Radion XR15s. 🤷🏽‍♂️ Difference between bandwagon and industry standards. Either lighting option could be considered both, one has had it locked down for a lot longer and is what every led lighting option is compared to. 

I personally want the ati sunpower for the looks and the plug and play simplicity. The fixture just looks awesome to me and the color from the bulb combo i want is just awesome looking and recommended by brs after thorough testing. Yes it would be more expensive to go for radions up front than the sunpower. But, it wouldn't be more expensive for me to go with AI sol blue over sunpower. I could get two sol blue ai for like 428 with the hanging option. My 36" fixture is going to cost 460 and the bulbs will be another 100. Then it absolutely will cost more per year to run my sunpower. I personally prefer the t5. But it is more expensive for me initially and in the long run. This is relative to my build though. Which is a 3ft. 22 gallon. 

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18 minutes ago, ReefGoat said:

I personally want the ati sunpower for the looks and the plug and play simplicity. The fixture just looks awesome to me and the color from the bulb combo i want is just awesome looking and recommended by brs after thorough testing. Yes it would be more expensive to go for radions up front than the sunpower. But, it wouldn't be more expensive for me to go with AI sol blue over sunpower. I could get two sol blue ai for like 428 with the hanging option. My 36" fixture is going to cost 460 and the bulbs will be another 100. Then it absolutely will cost more per year to run my sunpower. I personally prefer the t5. But it is more expensive for me initially and in the long run. This is relative to my build though. Which is a 3ft. 22 gallon. 

I run a dimmable Sunpower. I got lucky and found a used one locally for $250. Awesome thing is was retrofitted with 4 Nanobox arrays. I honestly don't prefer either lighting option over the other, what I do prefer is, first the health of my livestock, next being an even spread and third as much constant in my lighting as I can get. T5s and led bars check all those for me with very little fiddling. T5s are well documented so they are very much the constant in my lighting. 

 

I understand T5s come with a higher operating cost but to me they are worth it, so I don't really even think about it. I don't think it's wrong to factor in costs, but in something as important as lighting, it's hard to base a decision on operating cost especially since it's already an expensive piece of the puzzle and it directly impacts coral health.

 

I thought about lighting my 20g long frag tank with a couple AI prime sols. $400 not bad, but I don't think I get the even spread that I want. So it's currently lit with a 24" diy led bar I made and I'll be adding my retrofit LET lighting T5 kit once I rework it to 24" since it's a 36" kit. Built the led bar for about $80, LET T5 kit $100, two 24" T5s $45, put me around $225 for lighting that again checks each one of my boxes. 

 

Sorry for rambling 😁

 

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13 hours ago, Coolbreeze said:

have three Radions XR15 G3 that are starting to go

What do you mean they are "starting to go?" What does that mean in terms of LED lights?

 

I'm curious, because I've got a G2 XR30Pro that's almost 8 years old and other than the cooling fan which will need to be replaced soon, they are totally fine.

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On 10/25/2020 at 1:36 AM, mcarroll said:

Seems like you were headed for the T5 bandwagon for reasons that are unclear...and it's not really apparent what feedback you were looking for.  Guessing you didn't want to hear that T5 is expensive to run.  🤷‍♂️  

 

Still not sure what you're looking for, so feel free to clarify if you can.  But seems like you're on your way with your plan – so have fun!  😊👌

Let me clarify why I am picking the lighting solution that I did as It seems like this is becoming a hot debate and I do like the comments and suggestions as it does clarify some things for me.

 

First off, I do not look at the cost of my lighting solution or any other equipment for that matter, I only brought it up as you mentioned it in your comment. If cost was the biggest issue for me then I am in the wrong hobby.

 

I am running T5 lighting for the following reasons.

 

1). Price per par is lower than running only high-end LED (Source BRSTV Investigates) on initial cost of equipment.
2). T5 is the industry standard and has better coverage then LED. (Source BRSTV Investigates)
3). Depending on your DT Aquascape and Coral selection you either have to buy more LED for the coverage and deal with High par output or add the T5 for a lower cost per par. (Source BRSTV Investigates).
4). Adding Kessils for the additional par requirement and shimmer as I do not like the look of T5 only. The Kessils give the shimmer as if you were scuba diving and as a secondary source if one or the other lighting decides not to work.
5). The lunar lights I wanted to try this time around then using dedicated LED as this is cheaper then running a full light.
6). Running dimmable T5 do not change the bulb life as well so you can get 1 year out of a bulb instead of the six-month use. (Source BRSTV Investigates).
7). Running larger aquarium sizes seems to look better for T5 and LED then just LED. This is based on looks, growth and colors of livestock. No proof on this just from all the tanks that I have researched seemed to have a common denominator of T5 and LED.

 

 

 

Now depending on your DT size and cost of corals I wanted to have a backup system. If you ever had a large tank crash in the past and was not able to get equipment fast enough and lost all your livestock because of it then you will understand what I am talking about here. In this case this lighting system is for my new WB 110.4 build and my WB 20 is only using a Kessil light so I am using both solutions in different ways, but then again so is the livestock selection.

 

As far as the Bluefish controller goes I only will be using it on my WB20 and on the WB110.4 I will be connecting it to my Apex.
 

 

21 hours ago, ReefGoat said:

My plan for my setup is ati sunpower with the bulb combo recommended by brs. Mine is going to be 4 bulb so (blue plus, coral plus, actinic, blue plus). I can't wait to set it up! In the future if I need more par. I'll likely add some kessil leds. The shimmer would be cool to add. 

 

I did look at those and originally was going to buy it until I seen the above BRSTV investigate series.

 

11 hours ago, 5*Chris said:

Don't forget to add in the upfront costs of the equipment on your comparison.

 

Aquatic life or ATI Sunpower dimmable 4-bulb with bulbs-$625

Radion XR15-$420x3=$1260

 

Totals including operating cost $2175 for 4bulb T5 vs $2200 for 3 Radion XR15s. 🤷🏽‍♂️ Difference between bandwagon and industry standards. Either lighting option could be considered both, one has had it locked down for a lot longer and is what every led lighting option is compared to. 

 

My point exactly.

 

8 hours ago, jservedio said:

What do you mean they are "starting to go?" What does that mean in terms of LED lights?

 

I'm curious, because I've got a G2 XR30Pro that's almost 8 years old and other than the cooling fan which will need to be replaced soon, they are totally fine.

Light for unknown reasons starting getting brighter and then dim down every so often. I have spoke to support and they told me that LED can go a long life or not. I think he was saying the luck of the draw. I see the same thing with the Kessils, some folks say they have them for years and others say after 3 years they stop working. My G3 are 6 years old and I did get my money worth out of them, but I did not see the growth or color that I wanted on my larger tank (DSA 105), so this time I am using a different approach. Not knocking EchoTech or any other company.

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"far as the Bluefish controller goes I only will be using it on my WB20 and on the WB110.4 I will be connecting it to my Apex."

 

I don't understand

 

Bluefish is already a Wifi controller

 

Apex is a controller

 

So you will run a wifi controller to run a wifi controller?

 

I have been looking at the GHL controllers(bought a Mini)

 

They have a wifi controller(Wifi Light) for $150 that will control your T5s or LEDs. 

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20 hours ago, 5*Chris said:

Don't forget to add in the upfront costs of the equipment on your comparison.

As I said already, poor choice for the comparison.  

 

I can build a fully capable LED system for the cost of one set of T5 bulbs.  (And have three times...variations on @TinyGiant's formula.) 

 

Every year I could throw that LED system in the trash (or give it away) and build another one if I wanted to....and still be ahead in cost vs T5 (or halide).  

 

Crazy, right?  But I (and a crapload of other folks) did it nonetheless.  👍 🤷‍♂️

 

As I said earlier: You should run T5's if you like them.  There's no other real reason to do it.  

 

(Is that so bad?  That's still a really good reason to run them!!) 👍 😉

 

16 hours ago, Coolbreeze said:

First off, I do not look at the cost of my lighting solution[....]

 

I am running T5 lighting for the following reasons.

 

1). Price[....]

Irony.  It was the very first reason on your list!  😉

 

16 hours ago, Coolbreeze said:

4). Adding Kessils for the additional par requirement and shimmer as I do not like the look of T5 only.

🤯

 

I would say (again) to enjoy your T5's – there's nothing wrong with the technology – but this statement casts serious doubt on the whole endeavor if you ask me.  

 

You're setting up a T5 system and you know you don't like the look of T5 fixtures.  That's downright paradoxical.  Kessils are unlikely to fix that, even if you feel better after adding them.

 

You're single-threaded on your research, for the record.  They are a source of products and marketing.  Marketing ≠ information.  At best, marketing = data.

 

16 hours ago, Coolbreeze said:

I did not see the growth or color that I wanted on my larger tank (DSA 105)

That is virtually never due to lights.  Not in any case I've seen anyway.  (There are many claims, but the problem always turns out to be something else.)

 

Unless you were being completely ham-handed with the light controls (most folks should NOT have lights that controllable....it's pointless to the point of being dangerous) corals are very very adaptable and will look and grow GREAT under almost any sane (ie mostly blue) light setup.  halide, T12, PC, T5, LED.  I haven't found them to be particularly limited in any of those scenarios.  👌

 

16 hours ago, Coolbreeze said:

Not knocking EchoTech or any other company.

Then I will step up.  🥰  Even though those G3's are a little old, I'm pretty surprised they didn't offer some kind of repair part, upgrade....something.  Not even for some cost.

 

On 10/27/2020 at 9:12 PM, Coolbreeze said:

I have three Radions XR15 G3 that are starting to go and at the time of purchase these things were 500 bucks a piece and lasted  for only 3 yours of 8 hours on.

You've said the G3's are 3 years old....

 

16 hours ago, Coolbreeze said:

My G3 are 6 years old

...and 6 years old...

 

Exactly how old are they, just out of curiosity?   I'll cut EcoTech a little slack if they're twice as old as you initial said.  (But still a little surprised they just said, in essence, "good luck" and sent you packin'.)

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4 hours ago, mcarroll said:

I haven't found them to be particularly limited in any of those scenarios.  

Most of lighting choices are capable and not limited - yes.
 

the question is - which lighting setup can help you, as a hobbyist, excel?  So kudos to the OP on investigating what’s best for his needs and aspirations. 
 

And yes, I’ve grown corals under some of the cheapest led’s to custom led fixture, to T5, so I think I’ve seen a few examples of what’s capable, vs what’s better, vs what could be best. I think a lot of the argument here is counterproductive to being excellent, and rather promote mediocrity. 

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47 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

Most of lighting choices are capable and not limited - yes.
 

the question is - which lighting setup can help you, as a hobbyist, excel?  So kudos to the OP on investigating what’s best for his needs and aspirations. 
 

And yes, I’ve grown corals under some of the cheapest led’s to custom led fixture, to T5, so I think I’ve seen a few examples of what’s capable, vs what’s better, vs what could be best. I think a lot of the argument here is counterproductive to being excellent, and rather promote mediocrity. 

I don't ever knock anyone for their light choices (unless it's simply inadequate for their setup) and I personally really like T5s and used them for years, but I really think we spend far too much time and energy comparing lights when they really aren't the most important aspect of having an excellent tank or taking things to the next level (or really even top 3).

 

I've seen so many tanks in person that are lightyears better than my own with Halides, T5s, LEDs, and combos of all three and IME, they will all produce amazing results and indistinguishable color and growth rates. I've also seen far, far more tanks with obscene amounts of time and money dumped into equipment that look mediocre at best.

 

IME, as long as your lighting choice meets your corals requirements and provides the correct spectrum of lighting for your goals, in terms of the colors you can achieve with your corals they are all equal and should always come down to your personal preference.

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5 hours ago, mcarroll said:

As I said already, poor choice for the comparison.  

 

I can build a fully capable LED system for the cost of one set of T5 bulbs.  (And have three times...variations on @TinyGiant's formula.) 

 

Every year I could throw that LED system in the trash (or give it away) and build another one if I wanted to....and still be ahead in cost vs T5 (or halide).  

 

Crazy, right?  But I (and a crapload of other folks) did it nonetheless.  👍 🤷‍♂️

 

As I said earlier: You should run T5's if you like them.  There's no other real reason to do it.  

 

(Is that so bad?  That's still a really good reason to run them!!) 👍 😉

I actually think it was a great comparison. I only based my portion off current pricing of equipment and added to your numbers. He didn't mention any diy so that shouldn't be considered in this comparison. If he asked for diy then of course it would be a cheaper option. But...you seem to always compare pricing on led/t5 posts, and you always say you can/have built fully capable led fixtures that are so cheap you could throw them away every year if you wanted, but you run Kessils(apologies if I'm mistaken). Not saying anything negative about your choice, because obviously you decided for whatever reasons, the more expensive route was right for you. 

 

And to correct what you said...you said earlier

"If you run T5's do it because you like the way they look." 

Almost like you're saying, do it for aesthetic purposes. I know that's not what you really meant, but still. A better statement could be, do it because it's THE industry standard, but it does come with a cost. 

 

So I don't think you're completely wrong. I understand and accept that T5s are more expensive to run. But it's definitely not this huge gap in costs that should overtake the fact that they work, and they easily work great (imo perfectly). Diy, still a different story. 

 

 

 

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4 minutes ago, 5*Chris said:

A better statement could be, do it because it's THE industry standard, but it does come with a cost. 

That's not really true anymore - the major vendors and aquaculture facilities using artificial lighting are using LED because it's significantly cheaper from an energy, cooling, and maintenance standpoint and a large number of aquaculture facilities simply use sunlight. While T5s are pretty standard for hobbyists, they aren't industry standard and haven't been for quite a while.

 

9 minutes ago, 5*Chris said:

Almost like you're saying, do it for aesthetic purposes.

I would argue that aesthetics and usability features are really the only things that matter when it comes to buying higher-end lights. They are all perfectly capable of maximizing color and growth and none will leave your corals wanting for light and it all comes down to your personal preference for how you want your lighting to look.

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I'll interject my opinion, because why not. 

 

In my humble opinion, based on my experience, T5s still play a critical role in an area that LEDs still seem to have difficulty competing in - coverage and uniformity of light. This is especially true as you get to larger tank sizes, as the number of LED modules required to adequately light the tank gets cost and outlet prohibitive. 

 

But otherwise, I generally agree that you can grow corals just fine with about any half decent light. You should be more concerned with things like parameter/tank stability, food import/export, flow. Lighting doesn't even crack my top 3. I'm not even sure it cracks my top 5. 

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9 hours ago, farkwar said:

"far as the Bluefish controller goes I only will be using it on my WB20 and on the WB110.4 I will be connecting it to my Apex."

 

I don't understand

 

Bluefish is already a Wifi controller

 

Apex is a controller

 

So you will run a wifi controller to run a wifi controller?

 

I have been looking at the GHL controllers(bought a Mini)

 

They have a wifi controller(Wifi Light) for $150 that will control your T5s or LEDs. 

I will use the Apex for my WB110 only and the Bluefish controller on the WB 20. Not really planning on using the Apex on the WB20 if that makes since.

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8 hours ago, farkwar said:

The way I understood that is that

 

The Ecotech model G3s are 6+ years old

 

The G3s he owns have been burning for 3 years

That is correct. Thank you for clarifying that for me.

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All I can say is that this is the information on what I was looking for. All lighting can be successfully in itself, regardless of using LED, DIY LED, T5, DIY T5, or any combination of this. But unless you are Bill Gates and have unlimited number of funds I want to make sure that the corals I purchase has the best chance of success. 

 

For example if it was your tank and you decided to purchase this special Acro or Acros and it cost you 700.00+ for each one inch frag and now you are doing this many times over to fill up a 100 gallon display. What would you put your money on?

 

T5 DIY?

LED DIY?

DIY Combo?

 

Commercial LED?

Commercial T5?

Commercial Combo?

 

To me putting a one or two Acro's in a nano is not big deal, but pricing of corals now a days seem to be very high and can be costly if you did not purchase the correct hardware.

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22 minutes ago, Coolbreeze said:

All I can say is that this is the information on what I was looking for. All lighting can be successfully in itself, regardless of using LED, DIY LED, T5, DIY T5, or any combination of this. But unless you are Bill Gates and have unlimited number of funds I want to make sure that the corals I purchase has the best chance of success. 

 

For example if it was your tank and you decided to purchase this special Acro or Acros and it cost you 700.00+ for each one inch frag and now you are doing this many times over to fill up a 100 gallon display. What would you put your money on?

 

T5 DIY?

LED DIY?

DIY Combo?

 

Commercial LED?

Commercial T5?

Commercial Combo?

 

To me putting a one or two Acro's in a nano is not big deal, but pricing of corals now a days seem to be very high and can be costly if you did not purchase the correct hardware.

My answer still stands. Any adequate lighting will do. I would be equally ok with a Sunpower T5 fixture, to Radions, to Hydra, to Primes, etc - so long as I had enough coverage. 

 

Having mediocre lighting will probably just end up browning your corals a little bit at worst. Spend the time and money on flow and filtration because that's what kills corals. 

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42 minutes ago, Coolbreeze said:

All I can say is that this is the information on what I was looking for. All lighting can be successfully in itself, regardless of using LED, DIY LED, T5, DIY T5, or any combination of this. But unless you are Bill Gates and have unlimited number of funds I want to make sure that the corals I purchase has the best chance of success. 

 

For example if it was your tank and you decided to purchase this special Acro or Acros and it cost you 700.00+ for each one inch frag and now you are doing this many times over to fill up a 100 gallon display. What would you put your money on?

 

T5 DIY?

LED DIY?

DIY Combo?

 

Commercial LED?

Commercial T5?

Commercial Combo?

 

To me putting a one or two Acro's in a nano is not big deal, but pricing of corals now a days seem to be very high and can be costly if you did not purchase the correct hardware.

 

14 minutes ago, pokerdobe said:

My answer still stands. Any adequate lighting will do. I would be equally ok with a Sunpower T5 fixture, to Radions, to Hydra, to Primes, etc - so long as I had enough coverage. 

 

Having mediocre lighting will probably just end up browning your corals a little bit at worst. Spend the time and money on flow and filtration because that's what kills corals. 

 

I think, all other things being equal and it comes down strictly to light.  I'd personally go with the commercial combo, similar to what the OP had concluded way earlier in this thread.  

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21 minutes ago, pokerdobe said:

My answer still stands. Any adequate lighting will do. I would be equally ok with a Sunpower T5 fixture, to Radions, to Hydra, to Primes, etc - so long as I had enough coverage. 

 

Having mediocre lighting will probably just end up browning your corals a little bit at worst. Spend the time and money on flow and filtration because that's what kills corals. 

There is something to the hypothesis that different wavelengths can produce different actual pigmentation/coloring of your corals

 

There is something also to the hypothesis that providing UV and near UV can not only bring out existing fluorescence

 

But also increases the fluorescent "pigments" in the coral

 

Mere growth is not the only goal or endeavor for many coral keepers

 

Of course UV is cytotoxic. The dose makes the poison

 

 

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