Power of the Sun.

[N1tew0lf1212]

What is everyone using to light their reef tank?

I have been using 2 140w noopsyche PRO K7V3 on the frag and currently a nicrew 100w on the 20g. Anyone else using noopsyche lights?

Moving into the 200 I have been on the fence for the route I should go. Dont want to break the bank but want good intensity and to have the ability to grow anything as well as the controllability through an app or easy controller. Noops have been the go to so far as I have a 60w mini as well but really trying to find an all around. Bars and leds, leds and t5, t5 and bars the list goes on. Include a picture of your setups and what your seeing growth and par wise if you could please.

 

[SynDen]

No idea on par values but things grow well, and look amazing, so thats all I care about. I could measure the par since i have the club meter here all the time, but I am to lazy lol.
But this is what I run. On my 500g DT I run 4x 250w MH with 14k DE bulbs and 6 Nico Bars (UV pop), and on the 85g planted Mangrove/macro display fuge I run 2 sets of 4 bulb T5s. Frag tank runs a Kessil A360 tuna blue

I used to run all T5s on the previous tank and imo they are the most economical as far as fixtures go, and they grow stuff really well even in deep tanks. You can buy a retro fit kit and easily build the fixture you want for very little $$. You do have to change out the bulbs once a year so that is the only real downside to them

Nothing beats MH as far as growth goes though, and I love the color of the 14k or 20k bulbs. LED bars make the perfect compliment to them as well. The do put out a fair amount of heat, but nothing a couple fans wont take care of. They also help make it so your heater rarely runs at all.

LEDs with good optics, dimming, and a good range of spectrum can be fairly pricey, and you likely need multiple fixtures to cover the entire tank. In the end you will likely put as much wattage in LEDs as you would with MH or T5s, so the cost of running them doesnt really make up for the cost of buying them in the first place imo. You can get some cheaper LED panels but they may or may not have the optics to penetrate and they generally don't give much flexibility for control.

 

[jda123]

I mostly use MH too. I have had the fixtures and ballasts for more than a decade, there is no cost savings in daily running to have the same output and any heat in the room is fine since I spend 70% of my tank cost to heat them. This does not even speak of the excellent performance.

I change bulbs every other year (mostly) and with LED panels only lasting 4/5 years for most folks, buying 10 Radions every 5 years at $10,000 is a lot more than 2.5 bulbs for 4 fixtures at $500-600.

 

[N1tew0lf1212]

People with mh what are you using to ramp up and down? I have some mh fixtures already just wasnt sure how to customize a schedule to it.

 

[jda123]

I use a light timer. A few years ago, I did have to replace one after about 20 years.

 

[N1tew0lf1212]

I use a light timer. A few years ago, I did have to replace one after about 20 years.

This allows the light to ramp or just turn on and off....

 

[Kayvon]

I use an 8 bulb t5 (ATI powermodule) with supplemental Reefbrite LED. It has a built in dimmer, but I never dim my T5's. I just run them 100% for about 10 hours and ramp my LEDs. I think that too much control over lighting leads to over tweaking and worse coral growth since they are constantly having to spend energy adjusting to the new lighting. The lack of control of MH and T5 are actually a pro when you consider this.

 

[jda123]

Light timer on Mh just turns them on and off. It takes a few minutes for the MH bulbs to fully illuminate, so there is a slight ramp up, but then they just shut off. I am not sure that ramp up and down does for the tank, but some people like it.

 

[SynDen]

For ramp up on my tank, the nico bars have a dimmer and controller. They turn on at 1% at about 8am and ramp up to 100%by 10, after that 2 of my MH are on from about 11-6, and last 2 turn on between 12:30 -4. After 7 the nicos ramp down till off at around 9pm
All my t5s on my planted fuge just turn on around 7pm and run till noon the next day.

 

[TheRealChrisBrown]

The lack of control of MH and T5 are actually a pro when you consider this.

I couldn’t agree more! By now most of the “experts” have released their LED lighting profiles so that takes some of the guesswork out of it. But nothing was simpler to me than putting in a new MH bulb every 18 months or so. What the heck do I know about red spectrum in LED’s? lol.

Of course I am running LEDs now on my system because I have to have occasional thunderstorm effects….. I got tired of walking over to the light switch and toggling it on and off really quickly.

 

[N1tew0lf1212]

Yea im thinking of utilizing the mh I have and grabbing bars and maybe 3 noopsyches 140w so I can stagger them. The bars and noopsyches can be for ramp up and a timer for the mh....anyone have a good timer controller they have had luck with.

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[JuanGutz]

What is everyone using to light their reef tank?

I have been using 2 140w noopsyche PRO K7V3 on the frag and currently a nicrew 100w on the 20g. Anyone else using noopsyche lights?

Moving into the 200 I have been on the fence for the route I should go. Dont want to break the bank but want good intensity and to have the ability to grow anything as well as the controllability through an app or easy controller. Noops have been the go to so far as I have a 60w mini as well but really trying to find an all around. Bars and leds, leds and t5, t5 and bars the list goes on. Include a picture of your setups and what you’re seeing growth and par wise if you could please.

I have some really nice MH pendants you can have, you’d just need ballasts/bulbs and you’d be set!!