LIGHTS!! LIGHTS!! Undecided!!

gaeus

gaeus

Reefing newb
Hello everyone!

I've decided to make a 55gal reef tank(those you buy @ walmart) and it is the first time that I want to add corals. I've seen many people use Metal Halide but then I heard of the led lights (which have a full spectrum of light) and im soooooooo confused and also undecided. Which one do you recommend!?!? I was planing to add some zoas, montis, pocillopora 'cus I heard they are pretty good for starters but later on I want to upgrade and add some more delicate corals....dont know, maybe frag and start a nice collection.

Thankx a lot for the help!!

Michael :bowdown::sfish:
 
Well, that is difficult, both sets of lights are excellent (if you find the right ones) MHalides are great, but produce a lot of heat and the bulbs need replacing once a year.

LED uses much less power and also creates less heat and the lights do not need replacing.

IMO the LED will produce better colors, but sometimes I disagree with that, at least with my LED unit. Either will keep any coral as long as you get a sufficiently strong light. I would have at least 150watt halide and no more than a 250 watt halide over your tank. Or, I would have at least 100 watts worth of LED's and no more than 160 watts of LED's over your tank. This will get you sufficient light and strength and should provide you with excellent growth and color. Once again, I stress picking the right lights is important, there are many cheap LED units which are not good but it is easier to get a cheap halide which will promote excellent growth.
 
Also, the good beginner corals are zoas, mushrooms, and leathers. The monties and pocillopora are actually SPS corals are require higher lighting conditions and perfect water quality. I would start with the softies and work your way up through the LPS corals before you jump into the SPS.

Also, you should check out t5 lighting. For a 55, it is much cheaper and cooler to run than the metal halides. LEDs you do need to do your research on which brand you get because there are many cheap knockoff that wont do the job. The better LEDs are also pretty costly.
 
dont forget,if you get the leds you need 2 of them to cover 48 inches of tank,very costly in my opinion,the other will run hot but cheaper to start out with,but more expencive in the long run
 
I think I'll start with the MH for now and then start another tank with the leds and see which one does better.
 
I think those MH are too powerful for a tank that size. I'd follow little_fish's recommendations and go with a 4 or 6 bulb T5 set.
 
700 watts is way too much for your tank. Really, you only need 250 watts. So your tank is long like everyone said ( i missed that) so go with T5's
 
you can see what my ATI fixture made my tank look like, jus look at my build thread. also i can change the "look" by replacing one bulb with another. im not gunna knock MH but i love my T5's
 
Well....im a little bit disappointed, I've decided to get the T5 you guys mentioned for $150, until I noticed that the seller wont ship to US protectorates. So, i go and check other websites and they sell other T5 for almost $500 :frustrat: ......SAY WHAAAAAAT!!?!? :pooh: I dont know what to do, I keep looking and looking and I dont see anything thats $250 or less, and has 48"inches long.....do you recommend any other website!? I tried the MarineDepot but is kind of expensive.
 

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