150g LED suggestions

hi, i was refered over to you by another member here on the site. I am looking to do a custom light set up in a custom made canopy over my 150g tall.

since everything is going to be coverd by the canopy i want to avoid the high cost of the fancy fixtures and put all my money towards high quality lighting. I also plan on putting cooling fans in the canopy.

I am still in the planning stage of building this reef tank so as of now i am not sure what types of coral i will be using. but what I don't want is to ever run into limitations due to not having enough light. I would much rather have more then I need then not enough.

can you help me out with this?
also do you have a cost estimate?


thanks
josh

 

Good question, I have the same set-up and same question. Thanks for asking was just about to post it when I saw yours already up.

 

haha apparently similar questions from neighbors, im from wadsworth not even 5 minutes from barberton!

 

Cool stuff, there seems to be a fair number of us NE Ohioans on 3reef.

 

Hi Josh,

Sure thing. Assuming your tank is 72" x 18" x 28", I'd go with between 60~75 LEDs depending on what you have inside the tank, using 40 or 60 degree optics. If you can get them more than about 13-16" off the water I'd go with the 40's, otherwise if you're a little less than that I'd go with the 60's to cut down on spotlighting.

How many braces are in your tank? It's best to work around those so if you have two braces then build three separate sections, etc.

The price really depends on whether you need the lights to be dimmable or not and whether you have a controller or not. If you let me know those things I can price it out for you.

Thanks,
Mike

 

My tank is 48X24wX31h so it is the 150 tall. It has one brace in the middle.
I plan on building a custom canopy but im waiting to figure out the lighting first so I know what I need to build. Ill be able to set the lights at any height I need to.

I know nothing about the type of lighting I need for a reef tank, but a few things I wouldn't mind having is a sort of blue shimmer to the water, and some moon lighting for night. Most important is the coral growth.

I don't have any timers or anything at all so I will need a price for everything.

however I did find a great deal on a used set of T5 lights. two 36" fixtures with 2 bulbs in each. I can either use one of these for the refug or use both in the canopy to help out with the lighting.

If you have anymore questions please let me know. I look foward to hearing from you.

 

Would 72 be to many on a 4' long tank? With a 31" deep tank would the reflectors have to be 40 degree optic?

 

72 CREE's would be a lot on a 48" tank. I would recommend 40* optics with that depth dependent on livestock. Try 48-60 dimmable.

 

I have T5s and am in the process of an LED DIY build. T5 bulbs need replacing every 6-12 months and that adds up big time, you'll see many people here switching to LEDs to avoid this maintenance cost as LEDs last years (15?). Plus they use less energy and are cooler so won't heat up your tank as much.

From what I've read here, I think everyone has had good experiences with rapidLED.com. Personally, I'm trying out some cheaper ones from a Hong Kong based company, but the LEDs aren't as powerful as the CREE bulbs rapidLED sells and with a 150 tall, you might want to go with the CREE XR-Es so you don't have limited par ratings lower in your tank.

Lastly, you mentioned wanting a blue shimmer and I think it's the blue LEDs that get that best, I think most people seem to do 50/50 blue and whit LEDs.

 

Hi Josh,

With those dimensions I'd keep the same number of LEDs that I recommended earlier (60-75) but use 40 degree optics. With those it's really easy to get spotlighting so I'd say try and get the lights about 15"-18" above the water.

This is what I'd get:

48 Ultra Premium Dimmable Kit ($385): 48 Ultra Premium LED DIY Kit with Dimmable Drivers
12 Ultra Premium Dimmable Kit ($100): 12 Ultra Premium LED DIY Kit with Dimmable Drivers
Or
24 Ultra Premium Dimmable Kit ($195): 24 Ultra Premium LED DIY Kit with Dimmable Drivers
Two 5.9" x 16" Heatsinks: ($30 x 2 = $60): 5.9" x 16" Aluminum Heat Sink
4 LED Moonlight kit ($18): 4 LED Moonlight Kit (or the 2 LED version for $4 less, depending on how much light you like at night)
92mm Fan Kit ($45): 92mm Vantec Stealth Fan Kit

If you don't already have a controller and don't want to spend too much on one then take a look at our DDC-01 controller ($59 or $75 w/ remote): Results for Daylight Lighting Controller

Let me know if you have any other questions.