Reefbrites

[Jeremy Brito]

Hey guys I have a few questions about lighting, as I dig deeper into solving the issues with my tank I discovered my lighting was a big part of the problem.
The light was powerful enough to be a reef tank light but a real pain in my butt when it comes to tweaking the settings to provide the best light for the coral and the best light for my personal visual prefrences.
So I was looking at a Jason fox video regarding his set ups and he stated that he usea t-5 lighting and reefbrite blues. And that his primary lighting is blues, also speaking to mark from ultimate corals he has a very similar philosophy.
So my question is when it comes to reefbrites is there any special things to look for? When I search them I see size and color are the two options there is white, blue, or 50/50. What's the best? And do I need a ramp timer?
And when it comes to t-5 fixtures how many bulbs is best and what color bulbs?

 

[Mrx7899x]

How many t5 bulbs depends on how wide your rank is. If its between 20 to 24 inches you could do a 6 bulb if its 24 and over you could go with an 8 bulb. When I ran just t5s i used ati blue plus and coral plus. Now that I run a t5 led hybrid I just use ati blue plus.

 

[iTzJu]

Hey guys I have a few questions about lighting, as I dig deeper into solving the issues with my tank I discovered my lighting was a big part of the problem.
The light was powerful enough to be a reef tank light but a real pain in my butt when it comes to tweaking the settings to provide the best light for the coral and the best light for my personal visual prefrences.
So I was looking at a Jason fox video regarding his set ups and he stated that he usea t-5 lighting and reefbrite blues. And that his primary lighting is blues, also speaking to mark from ultimate corals he has a very similar philosophy.
So my question is when it comes to reefbrites is there any special things to look for? When I search them I see size and color are the two options there is white, blue, or 50/50. What's the best? And do I need a ramp timer?
And when it comes to t-5 fixtures how many bulbs is best and what color bulbs?

what are your tank specs? current lighting setup? how long has your tank been up and what are the parameters? what are your goals in regards to lighting and corals? what are the issues you are facing?

 

[Trio91]

I love my DIY hybrid, @iTzJu you put that idea into my head and I think it was the best thing I did so far.

 

[ecam]

@trio91 When did you get a hybrid

 

[Trio91]

I took my 4-bulb Tek Light, poked a hole into it, removed the center reflectors, and dropped in my Kessil in the center. This was around June-ish. Ill shoot you a pic when I get home

Red Sea 130D AIO

 

[ecam]

Cool

 

[Mrx7899x]

I think a led hybrid setup is the best lighting for a reef tank right now in my opinion.

 

[Trio91]

I think a led hybrid setup is the best lighting for a reef tank right now in my opinion.

I agree,

 

[iTzJu]

I love my DIY hybrid, @iTzJu you put that idea into my head and I think it was the best thing I did so far.

ohh you did the mod? that's awesome! post a pic on your build thread when you get a chance.

I think a led hybrid setup is the best lighting for a reef tank right now in my opinion.

I agree! the one thing people are doing wrong with the whole hybrid set up, IMO are trying to get away with less LED fixtures thinking they can make it up with the T5s. In some aspect yes, if they put more than 2 or 4 but it's better to look at the T5s as supplements, just like reefbrights are to T5 fixtures. would you ever light up a larger tank with just 2/4 strips of just reefbrights? no right? so why do people think that adding 2/4 T5s will negate getting the recommended amount of LED fixtures for their size tank? idk, but then again, i'm the type to blast my corals with light. lol

 

[Trio91]

ohh you did the mod? that's awesome! post a pic on your build thread when you get a chance.



I agree! the one thing people are doing wrong with the whole hybrid set up, IMO are trying to get away with less LED fixtures thinking they can make it up with the T5s. In some aspect yes, if they put more than 2 or 4 but it's better to look at the T5s as supplements, just like reefbrights are to T5 fixtures. would you ever light up a larger tank with just 2/4 strips of just reefbrights? no right? so why do people think that adding 2/4 T5s will negate getting the recommended amount of LED fixtures for their size tank? idk, but then again, i'm the type to blast my corals with light. lol

Im with ya on this, right now the 2x T5's are the supplement. Im running my kessil somewhere around 65-70% intensity and mostly white. Whilst the T5's are blue plus...Ill post a pic tonight

 

[Mrx7899x]

ohh you did the mod? that's awesome! post a pic on your build thread when you get a chance.



I agree! the one thing people are doing wrong with the whole hybrid set up, IMO are trying to get away with less LED fixtures thinking they can make it up with the T5s. In some aspect yes, if they put more than 2 or 4 but it's better to look at the T5s as supplements, just like reefbrights are to T5 fixtures. would you ever light up a larger tank with just 2/4 strips of just reefbrights? no right? so why do people think that adding 2/4 T5s will negate getting the recommended amount of LED fixtures for their size tank? idk, but then again, i'm the type to blast my corals with light. lol

Agreed

 

[Jeremy Brito]

what are your tank specs? current lighting setup? how long has your tank been up and what are the parameters? what are your goals in regards to lighting and corals? what are the issues you are facing?

The goal is to go LPS primary. Currently my full system display sump and refugium is about 120 gallons, its 48 inches long 14 wide and about 2 and 1/2 ft deep its also bow front if that matters.
The tanks been running about a year, currently hosts fish, soft corals, a ton of anemones.
I use a chines black box led that works but is not what I want as far display and hard to adjust to make the coral happy.. Maybe it will work for other but for me I'm not a fan

 

[Trio91]

 

[Mrx7899x]

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Nice job looks good

 

[Mrx7899x]

The goal is to go LPS primary. Currently my full system display sump and refugium is about 120 gallons, its 48 inches long 14 wide and about 2 and 1/2 ft deep its also bow front if that matters.
The tanks been running about a year, currently hosts fish, soft corals, a ton of anemones.
I use a chines black box led that works but is not what I want as far display and hard to adjust to make the coral happy.. Maybe it will work for other but for me I'm not a fan

If your going mainly Lps you don't need much they like lower light.

 

[iTzJu]

The goal is to go LPS primary. Currently my full system display sump and refugium is about 120 gallons, its 48 inches long 14 wide and about 2 and 1/2 ft deep its also bow front if that matters.
The tanks been running about a year, currently hosts fish, soft corals, a ton of anemones.
I use a chines black box led that works but is not what I want as far display and hard to adjust to make the coral happy.. Maybe it will work for other but for me I'm not a fan

any specifics on the Ebay lights you are using? is it a standard black box? how many units do you have?

mind posting a pic of your tank?

LPS and softies are pretty easy and do not require a lot of light. are you looking for visual appeal? If you have at least 2 of the standard black box LEDs over your 120, I wouldn't worry about lights right now. Set it up where is it most visually appealing to you and focus on getting your tank stable. Coral "happiness" will definitely rely more on your parameters and stability.

If you ever plan on getting SPS or other corals that require lots of light then that's when i'd suggest looking into upgrading your lights but supplementing a standard black box with T5's can do wonders as well.

 

[iTzJu]

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nice job on this! i knew it would work. haha

 

[kschweer]

I loved my t5 with reefbrite hybrid. I had the “regular” reefbrite fixture with no ramp timer. If I were to do it again I would probably get the XHO. The xho is close in power to adding another t5 bulb.
Tank with 4 blue+, 1 coral+ and 1 purple+ with reefbrite

2 blue+ and reefbrite

Reefbrite only

 

[Jeremy Brito]

any specifics on the Ebay lights you are using? is it a standard black box? how many units do you have?

mind posting a pic of your tank?

LPS and softies are pretty easy and do not require a lot of light. are you looking for visual appeal? If you have at least 2 of the standard black box LEDs over your 120, I wouldn't worry about lights right now. Set it up where is it most visually appealing to you and focus on getting your tank stable. Coral "happiness" will definitely rely more on your parameters and stability.

If you ever plan on getting SPS or other corals that require lots of light then that's when i'd suggest looking into upgrading your lights but supplementing a standard black box with T5's can do wonders as well.

Tanks stable the lighting is my current issue