Reef Discussion

[Wrangy]

Okie Dokie, so as it's now looking more and more likely that I'll be buying a pretty new tank :D I'm bringing over all my equipment so at least I don't need to spend anymore than I already should lol but lights are something that will need revisiting as a single 60cm blaze unit is not going to cover it for a 750x750mm tank lol
I'm looking at a couple of options at the moment and none of them are all that cheap haha bloody leds! :p

First Option:
Get a second 60cm Blaze unit and run two over the tank - ~200watts & $930

Second Option:
Get all new leds (thinking Orphek Atlantiks x2) - ~200-250watts & $900 (after blaze resale)

Third & Final Option:
This is the one that I'm leaning towards at the moment is getting a LED and T5 hybrid :) I think it's about time I add some t5's haha
I'm looking at getting a Giesemann Aurora 600mm unit, around 181watts and about $400ish if I can get a decent price for the blaze unit :)

Looking to hear what people think about my thoughts on it? No I can't go MH due to cost :( and I don't want a straight T5 unit either lol

 

[Trentwalsh]

My new tanks 750-750-380??? Inchs its 30-30-14 and i plan on usuing 1 ai hydra52

 

[Wrangy]

My new tanks 750-750-380??? Inchs its 30-30-14 and i plan on usuing 1 ai hydra52

I'm going to be growing a full sps tank with plenty of clams spread out throughout the tank so I'm going to need some serious coverage! I like having some bright light and no shading!

 

[Trentwalsh]

Ok then, t5 led combo!!!! Hahaha

 

[Sam Parker]

Can't say enough about T5 supplement dude, as much as a LED lover that I am - since adding some T5's on in the middle of the day to my tank, things have really taken off (especially SPS and clams).

T5/LED hybrid seems to be the go. Personally I like seperate components, but that is easy when you have a hood to hide them in ;)

 

[chimaera]

The Aurora looks great, if I win the lottery I might consider one myself for my 700x700!
(more likely is a Kessil or two)

 

[Wrangy]

Can't say enough about T5 supplement dude, as much as a LED lover that I am - since adding some T5's on in the middle of the day to my tank, things have really taken off (especially SPS and clams).

T5/LED hybrid seems to be the go. Personally I like seperate components, but that is easy when you have a hood to hide them in ;)

The main reason I'm considering T5's for this tank is because it'll add enough spread so that I will be able to get away with only using a single light fixture lol if I were rich and carefree I would be getting two or four led units and just bake the shit out of the tank :p haha I think led's are still the way to go in terms of lighting but the sweet point of them hasn't been found by the masses yet! The shading issues don't worry me as that's just a matter of more units haha but the T5's will mean I don't have to blow all that extra dough for more units lol

That all being said I would really love to see if T5 is worth all this hype haha I would love to add some to the tank and get some more growth if nothing else and that bit of spread for only using one fixture lol

The Aurora looks great, if I win the lottery I might consider one myself for my 700x700!
(more likely is a Kessil or two)

The Aurora's are pretty units too and Ben at Age of Aquariums is running a special pre-order on them till the end of Jan ;) ;) nudge nudge haha
I'll let you know how they go if I do get them :)

Also @slin1977 @MTG and @thepubenator would love to hear from you guys!

 

[chimaera]

The Aurora's are pretty units too and Ben at Age of Aquariums is running a special pre-order on them till the end of Jan ;) ;) nudge nudge haha
I'll let you know how they go if I do get them :)

Yeah I saw, $1300 for the 2ft. Good price actually, but my life would not be worth living if I spent that much on the tank right now

 

[Wrangy]

Yeah I saw, $1300 for the 2ft. Good price actually, but my life would not be worth living if I spent that much on the tank right now

haha yeah that's fair enough! The only reason I'm looking at them is I'm hoping to get a decent price for my blaze to fund most of the costs haha

 

[thepubenator]

im going back to straight T5 on my new tank, TBH I only really used the LED in my hybrid for a bit of shimmer and the dusk dawn dimming.

 

[Mr.Reeefer]

hey there dom, I'm doing a 8ft tank soon and I will be going a t5 and led hybrid unit, the leds I only want for programmability to have sun rise and sun set plus a nice deep blue at night to pop the corals.
but I will be relying on the t5's for growth, I have both currently running on two different tanks and the growth I have had from the t5's blows the leds out of the water.
I have wondered why some of the best tanks out there are still running the old t5's, now I understand why.

 

[RobbieMVFC]

I am having drams with ATI .I would not recommend them

 

[MTG]

if your only keeping lps and softys one 60 will do a 75 fine, if anything more light demanding could allways add a second unit, or if you just want to do sps a power module might be the way to go. i personally hated the colour output from the kessils i didn't find anything to look good under them (tank was only lit by kessils)

 

[Wrangy]

im going back to straight T5 on my new tank, TBH I only really used the LED in my hybrid for a bit of shimmer and the dusk dawn dimming.

I would enjoy going to straight out T5's but I don't think I can afford an upkeep of a 8-10 bulb change every 8 months or so! I would love to do it otherwise.

hey there dom, I'm doing a 8ft tank soon and I will be going a t5 and led hybrid unit, the leds I only want for programmability to have sun rise and sun set plus a nice deep blue at night to pop the corals.
but I will be relying on the t5's for growth, I have both currently running on two different tanks and the growth I have had from the t5's blows the leds out of the water.
I have wondered why some of the best tanks out there are still running the old t5's, now I understand why.

I'm going to need to see some updates on these tanks!! lol I am definitely pretty closely sold on having some T5's on this build it's just a matter of how I do it!

I am having drams with ATI .I would not recommend them

I definitely won't be getting any ATI hybrids lol if I do it'll be a giesemann one and something I know is trusted without problems (even though this model is new haha)

if your only keeping lps and softys one 60 will do a 75 fine, if anything more light demanding could allways add a second unit, or if you just want to do sps a power module might be the way to go. i personally hated the colour output from the kessils i didn't find anything to look good under them (tank was only lit by kessils)

Oh boy would I love to have two of the 60's above the tank! Maybe I'll get one now and then another one down the line after my tax return or something haha I definitely want to absolutely blast my corals with light!

 

[thepubenator]

I change my bulbs every 18 months on T5 units, Andrew aka v1 rotate of the infamous reef in the sky went 2 years before changing from memory

 

[Wrangy]

I change my bulbs every 18 months on T5 units, Andrew aka v1 rotate of the infamous reef in the sky went 2 years before changing from memory

You're really not making this easy for me! That does really give T5 a massive boost in terms of suitability for me!
How many 24w tubes would be good for a 750x750x500? I was thinking 8 or 10 if I went straight T5

 

[thepubenator]

8 is enough

 

[thepubenator]

The running cost of t5 vs led is totes bs, good led cost as much too run

 

[MTG]

You're really not making this easy for me! That does really give T5 a massive boost in terms of suitability for me!
How many 24w tubes would be good for a 750x750x500? I was thinking 8 or 10 if I went straight T5

8 will pump 10 sps

 

[Wrangy]

The running cost of t5 vs led is totes bs, good led cost as much too run

I'm not worried about the running costs as it's something I can manage. It's just the replacement costs but knowing you go 18months is a massive bonus to getting t5's!
So an 8x 24w sun power would be more than enough for sps and clams throughout the tank?

8 will pump 10 sps

10 is a massive unit lol