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Lighting over a 60gal (1 Viewer)

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BrennanMuns

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I've currently got 2 Aqua Knights along with 2 T5's running above my 60 gal. I'm looking to reduce how much I've got plugged in and the fixture footprint, but I'm just not willing to shell out the 200+ for black box's. Are there any cheaper LED solutions for a 60 gal? Not keeping SPS, just a wide variety of LPS. Dimensions are 48" x 12" x 24"
 

TX_Punisher

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Unless you plan to build your own, black boxes are about as economical as you can get with decent build quality and longevity. Plenty of people out there are growing lps and sps under them

if what you have is working well, growth is good, spread is good, it sounds like keeping what you have may be best.

jmo
 
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BrennanMuns

BrennanMuns

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The T5 fixture itself actually has 4 bulbs, 48 in long. I was getting a little too much light with all 4 running and the Aqua Knights as well. Each T5 Acintic says 54w though the bulbs themselves are quite old.

Would running the 4 T5’s be better than the LED’s? I’ve always been under the impression that LED’s produced some different beneficial light spectrums for the coral than T5’s. I tied the Aqua Knights into the fixture where the moonlights were, as they no longer worked when I got this old fixture from a fellow reefer

I’m not opposed to DIY- I’ve just never attempted wiring of that magnitude.
 
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BrennanMuns

BrennanMuns

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Unless you plan to build your own, black boxes are about as economical as you can get with decent build quality and longevity. Plenty of people out there are growing lps and sps under them

if what you have is working well, growth is good, spread is good, it sounds like keeping what you have may be best.

jmo

I think that’s my issue, I’m having some growth issues. The only coral that seems to be thriving are those in frag racks higher up in the tank. I’ve been reading more in the black box’s and I believe you may be correct about them being the most economical option
 

Ecamden

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The T5 fixture itself actually has 4 bulbs, 48 in long. I was getting a little too much light with all 4 running and the Aqua Knights as well. Each T5 Acintic says 54w though the bulbs themselves are quite old.

Would running the 4 T5’s be better than the LED’s? I’ve always been under the impression that LED’s produced some different beneficial light spectrums for the coral than T5’s. I tied the Aqua Knights into the fixture where the moonlights were, as they no longer worked when I got this old fixture from a fellow reefer

I’m not opposed to DIY- I’ve just never attempted wiring of that magnitude.
T5s will grow anything provided you use the right bulbs. Ati blue plus is perfect in my opinion, and you can add a few different bulbs for color. Ati has bulb arrangements suggestions on their website. Leds will give you the shimmer that t5 don't though. I use led for the shimmer on my main tank with the t5s doing most of the work. On the frag tank is t5 only
 

Ecamden

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I think that’s my issue, I’m having some growth issues. The only coral that seems to be thriving are those in frag racks higher up in the tank. I’ve been reading more in the black box’s and I believe you may be correct about them being the most economical option
Just be careful with black boxes though. Some are way stronger than you'd think. I have a set I'm not using because they were putting out so much par it was cooking coral. Turned down halfway i was getting over 900 par at 6in with the light up 24 in above the water
 

TX_Punisher

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Step one: rent/borrow a PAR meter and measure what your levels are currently from top to bottom, led to right. Draw a diagram and plot your levels.

then, go from there. Lower your lights closer to the water line if need be and re-measure.
 
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BrennanMuns

BrennanMuns

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Just be careful with black boxes though. Some are way stronger than you'd think. I have a set I'm not using because they were putting out so much par it was cooking coral. Turned down halfway i was getting over 900 par at 6in with the light up 24 in above the water

That’s crazy! What brand were you using??

I will definitely be looking at some different T5 combos. The shimmer from the LED’s is something I love, but with the correct T5’s maybe I could get the “violet” color I like on the tank without LED’s and just have no shimmer.

Step one: rent/borrow a PAR meter and measure what your levels are currently from top to bottom, led to right. Draw a diagram and plot your levels.

then, go from there. Lower your lights closer to the water line if need be and re-measure.

That’s a great point, just submitted the form
 

Ecamden

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That’s crazy! What brand were you using??

I will definitely be looking at some different T5 combos. The shimmer from the LED’s is something I love, but with the correct T5’s maybe I could get the “violet” color I like on the tank without LED’s and just have no shimmer.



That’s a great point, just submitted the form
I believe they're luxbird from Amazon. I made diffusers for them and it helped some but the even coverage of the t5 is what made me switch
 

Tangs

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I have always been told that you can not run old t5s. They have to be changed as recommended. I had 4 and changed one every 6 months. And that was for hardy you can step on and they will survive corals.
 

Ecamden

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I have always been told that you can not run old t5s. They have to be changed as recommended. I had 4 and changed one every 6 months. And that was for hardy you can step on and they will survive corals.
They're good for about a year and a half according to brs
 
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BrennanMuns

BrennanMuns

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These bulbs are most certainly older. I’ll have to get some fresh ones and throw a par meter down, I’ll take before and after replacement measurements.
 
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