need a new light

baeya

baeya

Aquarium Addict
I'm going to need a new light fixture for my 65g seahorse tank. I had two double bulb fixtures on it but, one of the fixtures isn't working anymore and rather than replace the fixture (again, 2nd time) I thought I would try to upgrade to LEDs.

I have dry rock in the tank with a few pebbles of purple coralling algae. What I would like to do is be able to grow coralline algae and be able to put some peaceful, easy corals in there eventually.

I found this one on sale for $279.95 and was wondering if it would be appropriate for what I'm doing. Is there enough blue? I can still use one of the double t-8 fixtures if I need more blue.....
Deep Blue SolarFlare DX Double LED Strip Light 36"
 
baeya said:
Geesh!!! I HATE shopping for lights!!!!! So much contradictory information. :frustrat:
Click to expand...

Can you be more specific? what kinds of contradictions..?

The white LEDs tend to be the brightest. ya need blues, a little red, a little ultra violit, a bit of green.

It is nice if you can dim the whites and blues separately.

If you go to RapidLED's web site you can shop around and see the mixes and numbers of LEDs he provides with tank sized kits to educate yourself.

Then you can use that information to better arm yourself against contradictions... you will find MANY trust what he has worked out.

....anyway that is my humble opinion.
 
I think there are a few things to figure out before deciding on the actual light - mostly how much light can seahorses handle, and what types of corals are going to be compatible with seahorses, esp. since seahorses need more temperate/cooler tanks than most of our reef tanks. Once you figure those pieces out then deciding in the right light will be a little easier!
 
Well, I'm kinda hung up back on the T5 verses LEDs.
Just don't know what way to go.

Seahorses don't need or like bright light. I'm pretty much limited to Mushrooms, Leathers and Xenia for corals.

I have a glass cover on the tank with that plastic hinge. So if I go with a four light T5 fixture I'm guessing that the plastic hinge will get in the way of some of the light and I will need to pretty much remove the light to get into the tank. Most of the two light T5 fixtures don't have the LED lunar lights that I would like to have. I guess I could take off the glass top and put a screen on top but, I'm worried about evaporation but, I guess I shouldn't worry about that either as my glass top doesn't fit all the way down in back because of the return of the CPR aquafuge HOB unit I have on the back.
OK....if I keep typing this all out, I'm kinda solving my own problems!! LOL!!

I'm worried that the brightness of the LEDs might be too much brightness for the seahorses.....
I'm gonna keep looking. I will check out the link you provided, poksal.....
 
If.. you spend the bucks and go LED, you can have them up high enough above the tank to cut back the light and work.. and maybe... get the lid open. You may be able to figure how to hang the lights so you can adjust the height and use the square root thing to your advantage while you figure out the intensity thing. Meaning/reminding, light looses power at exponential per distance.

Also, just guessing here, are seahorses a deeper than barrier reef creature? If so blue light may be important... red will be long gone from the spectrum, as may be orange, and working down from reds towards blues. ...IF ..I have that right.

In fact, I may be raising mine up some.. too.
 
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If you go with the marine capable fixture, then you could grow additional corals, and if he thinks that's okay for seahorses then I think I'd go with that one!

In terms of evaporation, I think replacing the glass with a screen top is a good idea - without evaporation, tanks can increase in temp pretty quickly, which could be deadly for seahorses!
 
FishyReef said:
If you go with the marine capable fixture, then you could grow additional corals, and if he thinks that's okay for seahorses then I think I'd go with that one!

In terms of evaporation, I think replacing the glass with a screen top is a good idea - without evaporation, tanks can increase in temp pretty quickly, which could be deadly for seahorses!
Click to expand...

And I'd think the screen will help cut back the intensity of the lights.
 
poksal said:
If.. you spend the bucks and go LED, you can have them up high enough above the tank to cut back the light and work.. and maybe... get the lid open. You may be able to figure how to hang the lights so you can adjust the height and use the square root thing to your advantage. Meaning/reminding, light looses power at exponential per distance.

Also, just guessing here, are seahorses a deeper than barrier reef creature? If so blue light may be important... red will be long gone from the spectrum, as may be orange, and working down from reds towards blues. ...IF ..I have that right.
Click to expand...


I'm thinking as far as cost....I don't want to go over $350. I shouldn't need to especially since I won't be keeping any high light corals.
He talks about the Solaris LED systems but, they are way over my budget....

Here is an excerpt from his literature:

When it comes to lighting, seahorses do not have any special requirements other than the fact that most
species prefer low to moderate light levels rather than excessively bright light. They have a corrugated
retina especially rich in rods, which gives them excellent visual acuity under twilight conditions and low
light levels in general. Some species are even believed to be nocturnal (e.g., Hippocampus comes and H.
ingens) and have no trouble seeing and feeding at night. Seahorses will do just fine under ambient room
light with no aquarium light fixture whatsoever, although hobbyists prefer to keep their tanks
illuminated for aesthetic purposes and so they can view them better.
But this does not mean that seahorses shun bright light (far from it), just that they appreciate shady​
retreats as well as brightly illuminated areas.
 
Okay!! I'm going to get the Marineland Reef Capable one!!!

You guys are the bestest!!! Now I need to look for a screen top for the tank....LOL!!!
 
baeya said:
Okay!! I'm going to get the Marineland Reef Capable one!!!

You guys are the bestest!!! Now I need to look for a screen top for the tank....LOL!!!
Click to expand...

Bestest... is that like a gold star... ??

ya know.. it sounds like after reading what you posted from the article.. you mostly want the lights to be for the other life forms you want to keep in the tank... did I get that right?
 
poksal said:
Bestest... is that like a gold star... ??

ya know.. it sounds like after reading what you posted from the article.. you mostly want the lights to be for the other life forms you want to keep in the tank... did I get that right?
Click to expand...

Yes, you are correct. The seahorses are easy. Its just that I would like to keep a few corals down the road that are peaceful and easy so as not to light the seahorses out of the tank.....I know there will be just a few choices of coral for me but, that's down the road....
 
The Marineland Reef LED has two options. One with integrated timer and one without. $100.00 difference. I have a lot of tanks!! All of which I need to manually turn the lights on so I think I will get the one without the timer....LOL

OR!!!! I can start replacing all my light fixtures with this kind of light in the non reef version and not have to turn on and off all the tanks.....

I will think about this for a little while. The way my light fixtures have been going out, I should be all converted to LEDs within a year.
 
baeya said:
The Marineland Reef LED has two options. One with integrated timer and one without. $100.00 difference. I have a lot of tanks!! All of which I need to manually turn the lights on so I think I will get the one without the timer....LOL

OR!!!! I can start replacing all my light fixtures with this kind of light in the non reef version and not have to turn on and off all the tanks.....

I will think about this for a little while. The way my light fixtures have been going out, I should be all converted to LEDs within a year.
Click to expand...

Some will shirk and squeal but I run my lights off a $10 plug in timer. Actually, I run a relay off the timer and run my day and night lights off the opposite contacts. That way the night light comes on when the light goes off.... oh... you get it. But, if I wasn't a retired machine design engineer (which means I have to over design everything) I'd just run them off two $10 timmers. The LED's won't draw too much current so it will handle it fine. If you were going to run MH lamps that would be a different story.

I really want you to get this "sea horse" tank going and get really smart about it.... then I'll have you in the wings... did you get that?
 
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