Lighting!?

[Mikek]

OK, so first of all, I feel guilty with all my questions, and not yet being able to contribute. I promise once I am confident in my ability I will return the favor. That being said, what is a good, affordable lighting system for a 20 gallon long fish/reef. Right now I have a stock LED hood, that seems to be doing OK for my "any light tolerant" mushrooms and zoanthids, but I'd like to begin looking into some additional coral, preferably with a better range of color, so need to upgrade the lighting.

Now I know that in a perfect world, I should only get the super-duper, nothing better, just empty your wallet, refill wallet, and repeat, kind of light. But I'm hoping to get some budget conscious, yet coral (and fish) healthy suggestions.

Thanks :mrgreen:

 

[salt_for_brains]

You just keep asking away as that is what this hobby is about. Check out Reef Breeders LED Fixtures The par38 or the value LEDs on the site have a lot of bang for your buck.

 

[Mikek]

Any feedback on the Marineland Reef capable LED's?

And (sorry for the ignorance here) the PAR 38 screw into those clamp type fixtures and clip to the side of the tank?

 

[mariobrothersleeve]

They are junk, unless you plan on just softies

 

[salt_for_brains]

Any feedback on the Marineland Reef capable LED's?

And (sorry for the ignorance here) the PAR 38 screw into those clamp type fixtures and clip to the side of the tank?

You can go the gooseneck route or their are some DIY ideas out there if you do a search.

 

[SarahSmile]

I am so tired of people bashing the Marineland reef capable led light. A few of us on here actually have experience with them and they are great. Please check out my build. Sarah's 60. I have had my Marineland reef capable led light on my 60 gallon for going on two years now. I have very happy corals, hammer, duncan, mushrooms, zoas, yellow polyps, gsp. The duncan went from 4 heads to 20, my hammer just grew another head over night, etc. lots of happy growth and color. I highly recommend this light for the price and performance.

 

[SarahSmile]

They are junk, unless you plan on just softies

Not junk. Sorry, no lights on yet but hopefully you can see my huge duncan on the right, zoas in the middle and gsp on the left. All were very small when I got them, all have done amazing under my marineland reef leds lights.

 

[mariobrothersleeve]

I am so tired of people bashing the Marineland reef capable led light. A few of us on here actually have experience with them and they are great. Please check out my build. Sarah's 60. I have had my Marineland reef capable led light on my 60 gallon for going on two years now. I have very happy corals, hammer, duncan, mushrooms, zoas, yellow polyps, gsp. The duncan went from 4 heads to 20, my hammer just grew another head over night, etc. lots of happy growth and color. I highly recommend this light for the price and performance.

You have softies and 2 lps. There lense is to narrowed. I hope your feeding

 

[chichimom79]

There are a few people on the site using the Marineland LED and doing great with it.

I personally am a big fan of the Kessil lights. I have an A350 over the 60 cube. Love it!

The PAR 38 bulbs screw into a regular light socket. I put one over my ten gallon if you'd like to click on my 10 gallon thread and check it out. RapidLED.com is a great source for PAR 38.

 

[BL1]

Here's a thread that was started on the marineland LEDs. https://www.livingreefs.com/marinland-reef-led-lighting-progress-t37526.html

I personally wouldn't ever use them but, they seem to be doing ok with them.

 

[Duddy]

Not junk. Sorry, no lights on yet but hopefully you can see my huge duncan on the right, zoas in the middle and gsp on the left. All were very small when I got them, all have done amazing under my marineland reef leds lights.

How do I view your thread with your LED? I am about to get an AOI system with LED fixture. I wanted to see these lights perform. Thanks

 

[SarahSmile]

Do a search for sarah's 60. I need to update pics on my thread for sure. Beeguiles also has a beautiful tank with amazing corals and uses this light. I know a lot of people are against them, I just hate to see them called junk when they do work and have been a great, affordable, plug and play way for some of us to have leds. Everyone has their opinion of course, God bless America ;)

 

[fastrd400]

Personally, I'd steer clear of the Par 38's and the Marineland. The Kessil would out perform both of those 10 fold.

 

[Mikek]

Personally, I'd steer clear of the Par 38's and the Marineland. The Kessil would out perform both of those 10 fold.

Those Kessil's look a bit pricey though. I'm not finding anything under $200 on Amazon.

 

[mariobrothersleeve]

Those Kessil's look a bit pricey though. I'm not finding anything under $200 on Amazon.

Its not a cheap hobby. Your results will be directly from your lighting. Its all what you want out of your tank. Marineland lights go to 10k, and that is it. Like i said earlier, if you want to stay with the beginner corals they will be just fine. If your mind changes later down the road, you will not be able to support those corals demands and end up buying more expensive lighting. I did this and am sure alot of others have too. Its your choice and good luck.

 

[fastrd400]

Look for a used one. You can pick one up with goose neck for 175-200 for an A150, and abouf 300 for the A350

 

[Duddy]

I know it's not cheap to run reef tanks as I have had several in the past. That being said I wanted to dip my toe with an AIO, have a few friendly corals, fish, anemone. Nothing crazy. Just a small and simple reef set up for the family to enjoy. I know from building systems in the past you can spend a fortune and all of your time geeking on this hobby however I just want something cool to look at. I have an opportunity on this tank with LED and didn't know much about them so I wanted to make sure they're strong enough to grow these beautiful creatures. Thanks for all of your input...

 

[fastrd400]

For an AIO I would contact Rapid LED. They did my bio cube hood, and my stuff looks amazing!

 

[Mikek]

So...not sure if there is any feedback about them, but I just picked up a Solarmax H.O 230. My local LFS said they love them (of course this was one of only two brands they sold). It's a double T5 24w with (1) 10,000k daylight and (1) Actinic-03, as well as 4 "moonlight" LED's. So far everyone in the tank seems to like it. My Goby has never been so active, she has been out of her "cave" ever since I changed the light.