Led lighting suggestions

Reefdummie

New Member
Im looking at a current orbit marine pro light for my new 90gallon tank! Will it be good for growing corals such as soft corals, anemone, and polyps?! What are some great but cheaper options if the orbit won't work?
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
I would consider the current orbit marine pro to be far to little light for a tank that size. The fixture is only 67w and uses low power LEDs. In addition, it's a strip light that is mounted close to the surface. LED lighting likes to go straight down, so you'll end up with dark areas at the surface in the front and back. In addition the control functions you get with the light are somewhat limited.

Just to give you some idea, I use two current satellite plus pro's on my 90 gal planted tank. They are 60w each. A high light planted tank is setup with lighting that is only a small fraction of what you want on a SW reef.

On my 125 gal reef, which is mostly soft corals, I use four AI Hydra 52's. Those are 135w fixtures and I run them about 80% of max. If the tank didn't have a center brace I might get away with using only 3 fixtures and run them at 100%. Since I have soft corals mostly, the Hydra 52's are a bit of overkill but I wanted lighting that could support anything I might want to keep.

I'm not saying you need to go out and get lighting like I'm using, or that you need to get AI lighting. There are a lot of other excellent options out there. However you do need to pick something that will give you enough lighting.

If you want only soft corals, and polyps you can use less light. If you want a large anemone such as a BTA your going to need very powerful lighting, about what you would use for SPS corals.
 

IanReefer

Member
I have a Steve's LEDs fixtures on a couple of my aquariums. He actually guarantees you'll be able to grow every coral and clam. In fact you can't even run them at full brightness because they'll bleach everything.
 

Reefdummie

New Member
I have a Steve's LEDs fixtures on a couple of my aquariums. He actually guarantees you'll be able to grow every coral and clam. In fact you can't even run them at full brightness because they'll bleach everything.

Is there a website? What kind of fixture is it and are they easy and inexpensive?
 

melvis

Well-Known Member
+1 ^

Love them! Great customer service too (don't get a lot of that on this side of the pond lol).
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
I notice a lot of people recommending Steve's LEDs. They do make good products, however they are more geared toward retrofits for existing fixtures and toward DIY projects. They may not be the company to go with if you want a fixture you can place on the tank, plug in and run.
 

Reefdummie

New Member
I notice a lot of people recommending Steve's LEDs. They do make good products, however they are more geared toward retrofits for existing fixtures and toward DIY projects. They may not be the company to go with if you want a fixture you can place on the tank, plug in and run.
Any advice on a good existing fixture you could upgrade with these leds? I currently have a 48" marineland with leds and moonlights in it.
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
Any advice on a good existing fixture you could upgrade with these leds? I currently have a 48" marineland with leds and moonlights in it.

Some others might, but I would highly recommend getting new fixtures. An upgrade or retrofit usually doesn't come close to new fixtures.

Most of the others upgraded because they already had a setup easily converted to using Seve's LEDs. In your case, your starting from scratch.
 
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