Northstar24
The Tang Herder
All,
I am getting ready to pull the trigger on 180 gallon reef setup but I am torn between two lighting systems and need opinions.
I've decided the LED is the way to go, as they're less heat, and you don't have to screw around with changing bulbs etc.
I'm thinking its between three of the 23.5' Panorama setups from Ecoxotic:
Panorama LED Fixtures - Panorama LED Lighting - Products
Or
6 of the 12' setups from AquaIllumination
Products AquaIllumination
I prefer the look of the Ecoxotic units, and it would only be ~225 Watts of lighting for the tank. However, I am concerned that the light from those units would not make it all the way to the bottom of the tank, which means no coral for the bottom 5' or so of a 24' tank. Is that really a big deal if I have enough LR up higher in the tank to place coral on?
The AI system should allow me to keep pretty much anything from what I understand, but it has a higher wattage use as well as a higher initial investment.
I plan on starting off as fish only and slowly moving into corals, clams and the whole 9 yards. I don't want to find out I'm limited after spending $2-3k on a lighting setup
Does anyone have experience with either of these systems or have other thoughts/opinions/tips?
I am getting ready to pull the trigger on 180 gallon reef setup but I am torn between two lighting systems and need opinions.
I've decided the LED is the way to go, as they're less heat, and you don't have to screw around with changing bulbs etc.
I'm thinking its between three of the 23.5' Panorama setups from Ecoxotic:
Panorama LED Fixtures - Panorama LED Lighting - Products
Or
6 of the 12' setups from AquaIllumination
Products AquaIllumination
I prefer the look of the Ecoxotic units, and it would only be ~225 Watts of lighting for the tank. However, I am concerned that the light from those units would not make it all the way to the bottom of the tank, which means no coral for the bottom 5' or so of a 24' tank. Is that really a big deal if I have enough LR up higher in the tank to place coral on?
The AI system should allow me to keep pretty much anything from what I understand, but it has a higher wattage use as well as a higher initial investment.
I plan on starting off as fish only and slowly moving into corals, clams and the whole 9 yards. I don't want to find out I'm limited after spending $2-3k on a lighting setup
Does anyone have experience with either of these systems or have other thoughts/opinions/tips?