Best lighting for 29g Nano Reef? (1 Viewer)

[Andrewr2488]

I am setting up a 29 gallon nano reef, and it is currently lit by 65w Power Compacts. The tank is a standard 29, not a biocube so it measures 30" long. I'm having trouble finding anything other than Odyssea as far as metal halide goes which would be my first choice of lighting type. I'm also looking at the ReefBreeders Photon 24" Controllable LED fixture, which I have heard nothing but great things about. I just don't want to wait two to three weeks for lighting to get here, I'm very impatient lol. Also there is the t5 route which I did with my 90g and had decent success. The Odyssea fixture seems good because it gives a 250w halide and 4 24w t5 bulbs. Recently I've been reading up on LED lighting and a lot of people are now saying they experience dull colorations in some SPS species. I've decided pros and cons of each lighting mentioned, but need help deciding.

Odyssea 30" MH/T5 fixture with moonlights.
Pros
Mh proven growth and coloration
Shimmer Effect
Great natural color
T5 will add supplemented color

Cons
The bulbs that come with it are rubbish
Mh heat
Big power ddraw bulb replacement 6-9 months $$$
Will need some sort of controller or timer



ReefBreeders Photon 24
Pros
Built in controller W/ Remote
Great par output
Runs cooler
Ability to set dawn/dusk lighting
Lower power draw
Wont need to replace bulbs

Cons
Wait time to receive unit
Not modular and this technology is always improving
Supposedly LED doesn't color some SPS as well as MH

Not going into T5 only lighting as the Odyssea has 4 T5 bulbs anyways

Any opinions and experience shared here is appreciated. The tank is going to be enclosed with a canopy so heat might be a little higher, but the canopy will have 2 fans for air movement. The tank is going to be mixed reef but eventually SPS dominated.

 

[rparker2112]

I'm a huge fan of full spectrum LED. I have leds on all my tanks but two. Ones a big tank and another is FW.

I'd vote for leds on a tank 40 and under

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Jeremyee]

RapidLed sells some kits if you would like to build your own. I have built LED fixtures for all three of my tanks. 12x Royal Blue and 12x cool white should be plenty for you tank. Depending on what options you what the average price is about $300 for the drivers, led's, etc.. The below setup is setup for dimming which if you plan on putting coral in the tank is a must because the Cree LED's are extremely bright.

Biocube 29 Dimmable Retrofit Kit (24 LED) - Rapid LED

 

[rparker2112]

Hit up nanoreef.com and they have a huge think about leds and septrums

Sent from my Home Phone using Tapatalk

 

[Andrewr2488]

For the first time today I saw a set of ecotech radions on a tank at a lfs. The way the different colors of light dance through the aquarium is gorgeous? Does anyone know I'd the reefbreeders fixture is the same way?