Need lighting help!

[SaltCritters]

I can't decied what to light my future tank with. MY tank is either going to be 60''x48"x30"Tall or 84"x48"x30"Tall Leaning twords the smaller one. Anyways what would be the most cost effective lighting solution? I'm going to have a variaty of corals in the tank mainly LPS and softies and a few SPS. I would love to get the LED fixtures but i would probably need two of them $6k+ is a little steep. Any suggestions?

[CarmieJo]

How about a BUNCH of T5's with individual reflectors?

[SaltCritters]

I was thinking about that. Not sure how many tho.. How often are you supposed to change out T5 bulbs anyways? is it 12 months like MH's?

[bbl_nk]

SaltyCritters...I think they say 12-18 months on the T-5 bulbs which can be rather pricey. But I beleive the life on MH's are less and the bulbs can be expensive as well. Weigh into acct. the additional energy MH's consume as well as the potential need to run a chiller or external cooling fan array for either and they add up. I think in the long-term LED's will be the best bet and will pay for themselves in about 2.38 years. There was a great article by Patrick Ormiston called "LEDs and the Reef" in the May issue of Freshwater and Marine Aquarium about this and breaks it down quite well. Here is a teaser link to it. Too bad they don't have an electronic version, it would be worth posting.

Granted he is the designer of teh Solaris LED system, but he is pretty straight forward in the differentiators. The initial pricetag is high for the LED's but after a few years of high electric bills you'll be ahead.

I can't wait to have the LED's drop below the $1000 mark for 48", too bad the aquarium industry isn't like the computer industry. We'd be down around $400-500 for LED at this point

[bbl_nk]

Oh yeah,

Check out Rob's older TalkingReef podcast episodes. There is one or two breaking down lighting where he goes into the maintanance pros and cons. Great listen....

[SaltCritters]

I don't see how the Leds will pay for them selfs. If i get two 60" LEd fixtures that would be using about 1000watts of power. So it would cost me about $267.84 in electricity a year not to mention the over $6k purchase price of fthe units. If i got 12 T5's 60"x80w each = 960watts and about $1300 for the Lighting units. T5's would cost me $257.16 a year in electricity and about $300 a year for bulbs. According to my calculations it would take about 17 years for the leds to pay for their selfs.(i think.. its late lol)

[SaltCritters]

I'm not to worried about the heat issues. Right now i have a problem keeping my tanks warm enough. This tank will be connected to my frag tanks so there will be about 1000gallons of total water volume. I plan on using T5's on my new frag tanks just because there so thin i can fit more tanks in a smaller area. Its just this large tank i wasn;t sure on what to use.

[bbl_nk]

Just tyring to add some an option to the equation...I guess with teh length you are running it can price you out of the unit. Me personally, can't afford the LED for my 75g, but I will be watching the industry very closely and can't wait until I can get one in my pricepoint.

[CarmieJo]

I don't know how much power the new units pull but my 24" Solaris G is 150 watts at maximum. It is equal to a 250 watt MH so that is about a 40% savings in power. Not to mention the savings in NOT using my 400 watt 1/5 HP chiller!

[SaltCritters]

The new ones pull 100watts per foot at full power i think

[rroselavy]

What brand/model are the T5 fixtures that you priced out at $1300?

[SaltCritters]

Sunlight Supply 60" 2x80W Tek 2 T5 High-Output Retrofit Kit w/ Bulbs $209 a kit.

[SaltCritters]

I might be able to get away with 48" t5's Would save me some on the purchase price and in Electricity.. What do you all think? any suggestions?????