Poll - Need help deciding on lighting

[Varga]

Bringing my cube back to life and hoping to get some help with my lighting decision....

Option 1:
I already have the perfect size halide/compact combo fixture with a high end ballast; its old but works like a champ. I need to replace all three bulbs which will cost me roughly $90.00 every 10 months. This fixture will cost me roughly $12/mo to run. Pros: I've already had this fixture on this tank, it lights it up extremely well and it warms the water, which saves a few $$ since we run heater up here in Seattle almost year round.

Option 2:
This high-rated light from amazon. Monthly cost is roughly $4 and no bulbs to replace. I have been in contact with a few people who own it and they are all happy and they think it'll be sufficient for my tank.

 

[DaveK]

A few points to consider...

You should get a lot more than 10 months between bulb changes with your existing lighting. Unless it's very marginal, typical bulb lifes for MH are about 18 months.

The LED lighting your looking at uses only while and blue LEDs. This is a somewhat limited spectrum. Compare it to the fixtures from AI or EcoTech. You may find that the tank doesn't look quite as good with this sort of LED lighting, but lighting is a very personal choice, so you might like the LED lighting better.

The control system on the lighting your looking at is also very limited compared to AI or EcoTech.

In looking at your tank thread, your cube is 24 x 24 x 36. It will be asking a lot of a single LED fixture to light the tank with out dark corners. LED light tends to go straight down compared to MH or T5. You may want a second LED fixture to really get it looking right.

That being said, the lighting your looking at is only about $150, compared to about $550 for an AI fixture. This is one of those cases where it may not be as good, but it's 1/3 the price.

Now if money were no object, I'd say go with the mainstream LED lighting from AI or EcoTech, but the lower price sure makes the other lighting tempting.

I would say that you really can't go too far wrong here. If you make a mistake, your max risk is only the price of the lighting. If you are comfortable with it's possible limitations, then give it a try.

PS - No vote from me in the poll because there really is no one best way to go here, and it's you tank. You got to please yourself, not the RS gang.

 

[sirrealism]

I agree with Daves thoughts. On the other hand you know what you have with the MH set up. You know how well it works. Leds are great and I use them but I live in FL and heat is an issue. If I lived in a cooler part of the country I would still run MH. On the other hand since I do use LEDs I do want to say I have a 90g 4' system that has the very first gen D120s over it. These are just blue and white non dimmable and for some reason I can grow most anything under them. These lights should not work near as well as they do and I have thought about replacing them many times. But every thing still does well under them so why change. This to me is where you are. The fixture you have works well so why change. If you go Leds then you will have to heat more which will take up the savings per month. Your corals might not like the LEDs as much. Its not worth it to me

 

[Varga]

Thank you. Makes perfect sense. Especially if I don't have to change the bulb then my lighting dilemma is solved!