Lighting for a 210 Gal

Im sure lots of you seen the post from Danny selling his 210 (220?). Well, I will be buying this, but want to change a few things. He has 5 400w metal halides in the canopy, but I want to sell these and go with t5's. I have a 6x80w ATI over my 125 right now and really like it. Im pretty sure the 6 bulb wouldnt be able to give me everything I want for this tank. Correct me if im wrong (save me money). If I could use that fixture and maybe add some kind of supplements to it I would be open to ideas. But my initial thought was to go with a TEK 8 bulb fixture and use the fans that are already in the canopy for the halides. So basically im asking what would you do? Lets hear your ideas and opinions!

6 Bulb ATI = 8 Bulb Tek.....

I've thought about supplementing with LED's too... Fosters and Smith Aquatics and Marine Depot have the 12.5" 'ecoxotic' strips for ~$50 each... Not sure how that compares with the reefbrites.

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=21598

http://www.marinedepot.com/Ecoxotic_12.5_Inch_Stunner_6_watt_LED_Strip_Linkable_LED_Light_Fixtures-Ecoxotic-XX08010-FILTFILDLK-vi.html

philhender wrote: I've thought about supplementing with LED's too... Fosters and Smith Aquatics and Marine Depot have the 12.5" 'ecoxotic' strips for ~$50 each... Not sure how that compares with the reefbrites. http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=21598 http://www.marinedepot.com/Ecoxotic_12.5_Inch_Stunner_6_watt_LED_Strip_Linkable_LED_Light_Fixtures-Ecoxotic-XX08010-FILTFILDLK-vi.html

Stunner Strips won't do it for ya.....I've spoken with fellow reefers that said that they really don't even notice they are on with their t5s on.  PAR is quite low on those as well...I believe, they would only add 50-100 PAR to your tank, but mostly are used as glorified moonlights that add excellent color for night viewing....I have seen 4-6 strips used to light small biocubes...... for your size tank, current light setup, etc....it is best to fork out the cash for Reefbrites or make a DIY 3 watt LED strip or strips.....My led strip puts out roughly 60 watts or so of LED power and I did it for under $150 bucks....fun project too

bur01014 wrote: For your other question....I would do one strip in front and one in back, and then angle them inward.....this is easily done of the reefbrite brackets and is also easy to do DIY led strips.  Keep in mind, if you want greater "shimmer" effect you need to include some "white" leds of so sort in the setup....

hey bur01014 about how much did it cost you to do this?

This is an old cell phone pic, I have since cleaned it up some, but you kinda get the idea.  I have the strip just plain aluminum and used some L brackets from Home Depot to mount it to my fixture and rotated it in at an angle some.  I also added two 9 watt royal blue LED pucks as you can see, these run last by themselves and have a great moonlight/true actinic look....great pop!  I also chose to stagger them with a middle gap, since I have a two rock island scape...but may add 2 or 4 more leds soon to fill in the middle some. 



Did this particular strip for under $150 I believe and got everything (including solderless connectors) at reefledlights.com or rapidled.com has the same stuff as well and same prices.....all Leds are either Royal Blue, Cool White, or Neutral White, Cree Leds.

Well there is so many options.....perhaps you could be more specific on what you want colorwise with the t5s included....

for example, you could strictly run all Royal Blue leds for excellent pop if you plan on having "white" or "daylight" t5 bulbs (ATI Aquablues)

if you want more shimmer, add some cool white or neutral white leds....

I personally did 70/30 Royal Blues & Neutral Whites.....the whites give me the shimmer and having more blues keep the tank from looking too white...BUT, I do not run any "white" T5 bulbs, because the white leds give me all that I need.....I like a very blue and rich color look...

So I would probably recommend 2 Royal Blues to every 1 white....as a standard setup, then you can get a couple drivers that are dimmable or standard....but you can dim them as you please to get the right color....I don't think dimming is necessary when using leds only as a supplemental setup to a T5 fixture.....but it is important to be able to run only the blues or only the whites depending on your dawn and dusk look (hence perhaps two separate drivers for each color)....there is just so many options...think about what you really want from your fixture and it will be easy to setup and get the right setup going....

Btw- a meanwell driver typically can run 8-12 leds.....however, there have been some DIY drivers out there for like 5 bucks in cost, but I tend to pay a little more and keep it simple since I am not really good with electronics and what not.

Plenty of light for your tank with this setup. 

I run 3 blue plus, 2 purple plus, and 1 ati actinic.....hence, hardly no white in the tank, but with the white leds, it creates a nice contrast...so an aquablue would just make my tank too white. 

I think your setup is just about right for YOUR preference....but, one other thing.  Swap out two white leds for two "blue" leds.....these aren't the typical royal blues, just the normal blues.  I think this will get you to the look you want.  (20k, and those normal blues pop other colors the royal blues don't...but only keep it to two because too many can cause the windex look...put them on the front strip...)

After the strips are done, you may want to swap the aquablue for another color t5 bulb, because I think your white leds will provide you with plenty of bright white light.  Perhaps another purple or blue plus would be nice.  However, I am true actinic fan...yes they have low PAR, but look brillant and with the supplemental leds I am able to take a hit and have actinic bulbs

One last note:  Typically, when T5/LED hybrid setups, people usually don't run optics on their leds.  Some reasons: fixture is only 4-6 inches above tank, optics will cause spotlighting and reduce spread, also too much par in a concentrated area with the fixture that low can fry corals......Now this depends on how high your fixture is, but if it sits in the normal t5 range (4-6 inches) no optics will be necessary.....

Good luck, can't wait to see this beast in action.....one thing to remember, don't worry to much, you can always get a couple different leds, try optics, etc...that is the beauty of a DIY led supplemental strip, once you get it going, it is fairly cheap to change a few things to your liking....