LED Recomendations?

[julespinkyd]

Hello All still on here. I currently have ~180 gallon custom cube aquarium. It is 34 inches deep. I am trying to get a set of LED lights that has a good PAR reading towards the bottom of this tank without feeling like I am getting raped. I was given a recommendation by RCA but forgot to write the name of it down. I was just wondering if anyone still on here that has had good experience with a specific brand can at least guide me in the right direction. This is for a tank that I was going to break down but the wife said she'll maintain it. SO I felt bad and now I need to make sure she is able to keep her corals. 

[mFrame]

I'm currently running (3) Kessil A160WE and (2) Popbloom T30. How much controllability do you want?

The Kessils are great spotlights and a great brand, but for a 180 you might want to go Kessil 360s that cost quite a bit more.

The Popbloom are good cheap, broad fixtures that chain together and have basic controls (timer, on/off, etc) at a much lower cost.

 

What's your budget and what are you looking to grow in the tank?

[julespinkyd]

9 hours ago, mFrame said:

I'm currently running (3) Kessil A160WE and (2) Popbloom T30. How much controllability do you want?

The Kessils are great spotlights and a great brand, but for a 180 you might want to go Kessil 360s that cost quite a bit more.

The Popbloom are good cheap, broad fixtures that chain together and have basic controls (timer, on/off, etc) at a much lower cost.

 

What's your budget and what are you looking to grow in the tank?

Thanks for that. I had two of the Kessil 360s but the par was not too great towards the bottom and many of my corals perished. I ended up going back to 250W metal halides and tossed the kessils but they just run a bit hot. 

[Timfish]

For a 180 that tall you'd probably want 3 or 4 Kessils to get enough light at the bottom.  The two brands I like (besides my own DIY 😁) are Kessil and Popblooms.  Both have different models and some of the Popblooms have a lot of programing options but just remember once lighting is set it shouldn't be changed.  Aquadome has a PAR meter they rent out and you want to shoot for 100PAR at the bottom if you have a lot of light loving corals.  50 on the bottom will work for Euphylia and similar lower light corals.

[julespinkyd]

5 hours ago, Timfish said:

For a 180 that tall you'd probably want 3 or 4 Kessils to get enough light at the bottom.  The two brands I like (besides my own DIY 😁) are Kessil and Popblooms.  Both have different models and some of the Popblooms have a lot of programing options but just remember once lighting is set it shouldn't be changed.  Aquadome has a PAR meter they rent out and you want to shoot for 100PAR at the bottom if you have a lot of light loving corals.  50 on the bottom will work for Euphylia and similar lower light corals.

Hey Timfish, thank you for the info. Since you've been doing this for quite a while. I was wondering if you could recommend an appropriate in-sump protein skimmer. It seems all of our stuff is breaking down, including the power heads. 

[+Grog]

I don't currently run any LEDs, I went back to halides too.    But I will say that Kessil has some of the absolute best warranty support I've ever needed to use.   They are not inexpensive lights, but you do get the support for the price.  They stand by their product and warranty, and they have a cool shimmer.

Tim said 3-4 of them.   I think 4 Kessil 360s, two front and two rear, would be the right number for a 180 with those dimensions.   Run them at mid settings and get better longevity.   Mine Kessil that failed was being driven HARD.  I think that was part of the issue.   Just my .02.

BTW if you do switch LEDs, let me know if you want to sell your halide gear.  I may be interested. 

[julespinkyd]

This is my wife's sad little tank at the moment. Hopefully I will set her up enough to be able to add some nicer corals.  

 

[Timfish]

That's not a sad little tank in my book.    You have coraline growing and not much turf or hair algae and your corals look pretty good.  I would wait a couple months after changing out lights to let the system adjust and settle in.  (Maybe add a couple short spine urchins in case you do get some hair algae while the system adjusts to the new lighting.) Based on how your torches look, I'd add more Euphylia species, thye're a nice showing group of corals.  I stopped using skimmers back in the 90s. We now know cryptic sponges not only remove the stuff (Dissolved Organic Carbon, DOC) skimmers supposedly remove but do it 1000X times faster and remove hydrophylic stuff skimmers can't remove.  Water changes are real important too as there's refractory stuff (a type of DOC) that when it's broken down can contribute to issues with corals and water changes are really the only way to remove it.  And don't carbon dose, it's another name for labile DOC (another type of DOC) and it can promote anoxic conditions in the surface mucus layers of corals as well as pathogenic shifts in coral microbiomes.

[+Grog]

21 hours ago, julespinkyd said:

This is my wife's sad little tank at the moment. Hopefully I will set her up enough to be able to add some nicer corals. 

My internet was flaky last night, and I couldn't see the video.  But your tank looks good! 

You don't have the algae problems.  You are not overloaded with fish, and the fish are sized properly for the tank.  Your torch/hammers look healthy.   Flow looks good.   The mushrooms are inflated and prospering and have a good color.   They look like they are spreading too.   All good stuff.

That is a happy tank, not a sad tank.   Good job!