Fluval Edge ligting options, need opinion

[phoenixorganics]

So I have a freshwater fully planted fluval edge with stock LED lights that run 4000K and low light happy plants and tiny happy fish. I love this tank so much.

Now I want a sister tank next to it. A Reef tank. Yup...I'm crazy.

The only corals I will be attempting will be green mushrooms, easy zoas, and a friend of mine is going to give me a little frag of pulsing xenia. All over a base of high quality live rock. I plan to only have the live rock and coral in a little 'mountain' directly under the light hood (so I don't have to worry about evenly lighting the tank, I like the spotlight effect.

The big thing is that this will be SOFT coral ONLY, so no need for harder coral lighting over kill.....right?


So, here is my question.

Should I A)

Replace the stock lights with high power LED stock lights: www.LEDwholesalers.com - Brightest MR11 12 V 10 SMD LED White 160 Lumen Wide Angle
And then place a Extreme Moonlight in between: Extreme Moonlight LED Tubes | LED Accent Lighting | Lighting Systems | Aquarium - ThatPetPlace.com
Cost about: 60$.

Or should I B )

Add a socket in front of the 'light arm', place a 50/50 10w screw in bulb, replace the stock lights with the high powered LED. (I really want the 'blue' shimmer look...does that mean I need to add the Extreme Moonlight as well).

Another option for me C )

Add a straight pin socket and do a 13w pure 10000K with Extreme moonlight and replacemnet LED for stock lights.


Lastly D )

would be to replace the stock lights with LED and then add strips of Daylight and Atinic LED. More white light, more money more like 80$ but not perhaps 10000K.

I *want* to have the sleek look of the fluval!, but I *want* nice coral too! Ack! My hope is that my first option is enough of the right light to grow the really easy zoas.

Thoughts?

Oh, I'll also be adding a 25 watt Fluval heater, and a small Super Flow: Aquarium Water Circulation and Water Pumps: Taam SEIO Prop Super Flow Pump

Here is my fresh water, it will be next to the salt:

 

[Cloudburst2000]

If you're not wanting to spend too much money, I would replace the halogens with LEDs with the same fitting. And then perhaps add some additional strip lighting into the hood (can be attached to the light fixture with zip ties). The additional lighting will help to get rid of the spotlight effect. The spotlight effect is okay for a freshwater tank (I actually like the spotlight effect in your pic posted above), but it does not work for a reef tank where corals need the light for survival. You can even find some submersible LEDs that you could probably hide behind rocks, etc if you wanted more light along the edges of the tank. Another guy added really nice LED strip lights down the back corners of the tank. They were very sleek-looking and did not take away from the tank at all. That's another way off adding some additional lighting.

This was personally not the avenue I took...though I know some people who did. I purchased one of those Coralife actinic lights that are like 8", and I modded the hood to fit it. So I have more light coverage from side to side. I actually just flipped the hood around (so it's longer side to side instead of front to back). I also cut some openings in the back for fans. I don't have the very back part of the filter covered but that's fine since no one will be looking at the back of tank anyway. I actually plan to do away with the filter and add a separate sump below the tank. Just haven't had the chance to work on the new mods yet. Oh, and to fit my light set-up, I removed the swing arm assembly totally removing the light fixture that came with the tank. I actually plan on replacing the coralife fixture with an LED fixture from nanotuners that has roughly the same dimensions, but this will be a while yet. I plan on replacing the metal halides for LEDs on my 25g first. So it will be a while before I save up enough to exchange the coralife for LEDs. LEDs are just so much more cost-effective. They use less electricity, have a longer life, and generate less heat. I can't WAIT to quit running my metal halides, they guzzle the elecricity.

 

[Shagon]

On our edge me and pimp have at the office. We have 2 plug in bright white led lights that go into the fluval fixtures. And then a led moon light bar that sets on top of the glass. This tank has been set up this way for over a year now and we have fraged many of the zoas, mushrooms and gsp that are in it.

 

[PIMPALA]

Here is the desk tank at our office Shagon is talking about:

thats the LED UV strip light in front of the hood. barely noticeable, and VERY bright!



the frogspawn in there is still very happy, and grew another head, but this little baby perc died. RIP little buddy

 

[mikejrice]

"Purple Monster" palythoas

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Brittle star 11]

Hi if you do not have any internet or WiFi the current system works well and it is very affordable for those of us without home internet connections. I had a fluval light above my tank but couldn’t control it because I could not use the app that I cannot remove from my phone