Lighting opionions
 

I currently have 2 "MARINE & REEF FULL SPECTRUM PERFORMANCE LED STRIP LIGHT" for my 35 gal tank. I've heard these aren't the best lights. Does anyone have experience with them growing sps and lps corals?
Also does anyone have the orbit marine led and love it?

Maybe could you give us some more detail? Are these Fluval? Are they Chinese?

:mrgreen::mrgreen:

This cracked me up. Sorry. :redface:

Photographs of the lights and view of the lit tank help as well. You won't know for certain unless you can get a hold of a PAR meter.

i have one of current +'s led lights from a previous tank and while it has great lighting effects it isn't particularly powerful. this is consistent with all i've ever read about the orbit marine as well. softies and lps is about as much as you can expect to successfully keep with these fixtures.

Sorry text must have cut open during the copy paste.
I have 2 fluval reef led's

The tank it's for isn't finished yet, so it's not yet running at all. I'm building a custom 35 gal with a 10 gal sump. I want to grow coral frags so I'm hoping to find a light that will grow both sps and lps coral. I have 2 fluval reef lights from the fluval m90 I picked up to do my build. I want to know if I should replace these lights with something better. I tried looking up Google reviews on the best LED lighting for corals but the recommendations weren't the best.
What are you guys using?

I run an 18" Marine Orbit LED on a 5 gallon Fluval Spec V.

It's only 18w so you can keep some basic LPS and softies if you wanted to.

Wouldn't expect too much growth but I like the controllability and that it comes with 4 pre-programmed templates that I can tinker with.

It has a nice colour but honestly it cost me 190 bucks from JLAquatics after shipping. I would have preferred to find a used option elsewhere, especially when people are selling Gen 2 Radions for $300.

Only thing that's annoying is that the Orbit also comes with several "novelty" lighting options like dynamic lighting and thunderstorm mode. Monkey business!

Monkey business is right! I think they were trying to sell that some corals only breed during thunderstorms...
Okay so if I scrap those crappy LED options, what is the most desirable but still a reasonable cost? Or is going all out on an expensive light really really worth while?

A 6 bulb T5 fixture is your best bet. Reliable and proven to grow SPS. You won't regret it.

How often would the bulbs have to be replaced?

Ideally, 9 months.

What about metal halide? I found a lamp that includes 1 metal halide, 2 blue t5 and 2 moonlight LED. Could this work? http://m.ebay.com/itm/MH-30-Metal-Ha...916?nav=SEARCH

IMO both fluorescent (T5) & halide lighting components will become increasingly difficult to source in the future and as a result, more costly. Plenty of reasonably priced LED fixtures available these days to grow any coral you wish. My DIY LED rig has been running just short of 5 years (April 2012) & I certainly don't miss the bulb change hassles from when I ran a hybrid halide/T5HO light monstrosity. Furthermore, halides are a source of excessive heat, which you may have to mitigate with a chiller - more costly hardware adding to your hydro bill.

This. Though for a 35 gallon frag tank, 4 bulbs is probably plenty. 2 bulbs might even be enough depending on the dimensions of the tank - just put SPS as close to the bulbs as possible.

I agree with Mindy. 4 to 6 T5's with a strip of blue LEDs in there somewhere is your best bet for growth, colour (subjective) and coverage.

If I were to add in the LED blue strip to a t5 fixture is there a specific wattage or brand of LED strips to use?

get a strip of reef brite. Bayside has them I believe.

I went with a strip of ReefBrite XHO's for my frag system. Bought it from Bayside Corals.

Let's say my budget for now is $300

Then buy a used T5 4 bulb fixture (?$), new bulbs (~$100-120), and look online for a retrofit kit for blue LEDs.

The tank is 90 cm wide x 40 cm high x 42 cm deep

Tec Light
 

I have a 4 ft 4 bulb Tec Light Fixture (no noisy fans but well vented) I bought from J & L a few years ago for $175. before taxes. I will sell it for $75.00. I hope it fits - not sure with 90 cm being 48"

AquaAddict

Sounds like it could be a bit big, does that kind of light hang from the ceiling? I'll measure it out tonight. Thanks for offering!

Your tank is 36x16x16 which is a stock 40 breeder....

I've had the same tank before...
With the budget of $300 I would suggest getting an led light off eBay and 2 t5 strips running Ati blue plus. That should bring your budget to $330ish with the bulbs.

Johns plant factory or Garden effects sells the sunblaster t5ho lights with reflectors but genarally any grow shop around you should carry these slim t5ho fixtures, just call around and get them to price match. Around $50 per unit.

Get a dimmable light with more blue LEDs for your main lights for around $150

So with t5 bulbs if I bought a 4 bulb fixture I want to run daylight and blue? Plus the blue LEDs?

3 blue plus and 1 coral plus if you run a 4 bulb fixture.

You could run 4 t5ho or 2 t5ho and a led fixture like this...
http://m.ebay.com/itm/Dimmable-165W-...257Ciid%253A24

You have to take into perspective of bulb replacement I am not sure how much the t5 are to replace but if they're $25 a pop then in less than 2 years the led would've paid itself off... led t5 combo you can't go wrong, shimmer and spread!