75 Gallon Lighting

A

AdamC

Reefing newb
I am looking to upgrade my lighting.
Currently have a 4 bulb t5 on my 75 gallon. Only one button which sucks because I cant set each setting on a timer.

I am looking to upgrade to LED. What would be a good cheap LED version that would work for my tank. It needs to support coral growth.

Thanks
 
What types of corals are you looking to keep? Just discussing my marineland reef capable leds on another thread...I keep an lps (my duncan has grown tons of new heads under this light), mushrooms, zoas, etc with mine and have for a year. I love this light and it's a cheap way to do leds. But, I haven't tried sps or clams or anything so can't say if it could support these types of things.
 
Does your current fixture get hot, is that what is causing your temperature swings? Also, the light I was talking about just has one button too so you can't put each setting on a timer :(
 
No I have never had an issue with the temp from this current light. I think it has to do more with the window and the temp of the house. It sits in a warmer room.
I will eventually get another clam and I have zoas, mushrooms, frogspawn, sun coral and I plan on just trying a variety of things.
 
What size would I need for my tank. I noticed most LED"s expand to a bigger size but wouldn't I want lights from end to end? Such as the marineland capable LED THe 36" spreads to 48" and 48 is the size I need. to fit my tank perfectly which would be the next size up for marineland
 
Yes, you would want the big one, 48-60. Sun coral you need to feed yourself correct? I am not sure if "cheap" leds have been proven to be able to sustain a clam long term. Most led units for a 75 gallon would cost you a fortune, $300 is nothing when it comes to leds sadly. That's why I was excited to get the Marineland for $200 on ebay.
You may want to google and do some research if your plan is to get a cheaper led unit and keep a clam. I know some guys on here were discussing chinese led strips, I am not sure how much experience anyone has had with these long term.
 
Here there are some led lights like this ,you may interested.

1.DIMMABLE: to control the blue and white leds seperately,which make moonlight come ture.
2.SWITCH: to control blue and white leds on and off .
3.Timer
 
Depending on your budget, T5s may be more suitable than LEDs. They are cheaper than LEDs in the short term, but you will have to replace the bulbs about once a year, and they use a bit more electricity (which isn't very significant -- probably only a couple bucks a month difference). For a 75 gallon tank, you would want a 6 bulb fixture. I know you have a 4 bulb fixture right now, but adding 2 more bulbs would do the trick and allow you to keep anything that you wanted.
 
Alright I may just look into a 6 bulb fixture. One of my concerns with T5's are the need to replace the bulbs every 6 months. 4 bulbs cost me 100$ with taxes.
 
IMO you are wasting your money replacing them that often. T5s last for 9 to 18 months (according to manufacturers' recommendations), so changing them every year is somewhere in the middle and a good practice to follow.

Time for a Change: Replacing your Reef Tank Bulbs by Keith MacNeil

This thread (from another site) references some data where the output of the bulbs were actually measured, and showed that most T5 bulbs are good for 18 to 24 months.

How often to change out T5 bulbs - Reef Central Online Community
 

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