I'm in the process of planning my first reef tank. Because of the space available I'm limited to a 36" tank. In order to maximize volume I'm adding a sump and separate display fuge. The DF will probably be a 30B in a header config(above the DT) with a 40B for the DT.
The DF will be setup somewhat like a freshwater planted tank. I'm thinking of using about 25lbs of live rock in a fairly spartan scape. I'm hoping to use several types of macro to achieve the look I'm interested in. The only ones I for sure won't be using are chaeto and caulerpa sp. Hopefully I'll be able to create a beautiful display in it's own right as well as have it be a pod factory.
My question is about lighting it. Obviously I could go with daylight florescent lights(CF, T8, T5, PC etc...)and make it work. I've been looking at LEDs though as I would like to keep electricity usage down and maybe more importantly heat down(as this tank stack will be entirely enclosed in cabinet.
Originally I was thinking of going with a "Chinese" fixture using a custom layout. Using their hydroponic layout as a starting point(looks like a 3:1 ratio of red to blue) which would obviously look pretty nasty as a display(fine in a sump fuge but this will be in my kitchen). The idea was to sub enough cool whites(not sure what K to go with at this point) for reds to pull the appearance up to between 7-10k. I'm just not sure how to figure out in advance how many whites need to be added to make it look alright while still maximizing the useful sprectrum.
Current has a fixture(which would be about 25% cheaper that is 72W and 36RGB I think) that might work, but I'm not sure if it would be enough PAR and if I ended up having to buy two then it's not cheaper anymore.
Finnex is coming out with something similar(should be in the same price range as the Current), but I might find myself in the same boat in needed more than one fixture.
buildmyled has a freshwater planted(dimmer available) that is a bit more(229$) but it might work as well.
The modified d120 would definitely have the most par and while it is the most expensive option it's cheaper than any two fixtures from the other companies.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Adam
The DF will be setup somewhat like a freshwater planted tank. I'm thinking of using about 25lbs of live rock in a fairly spartan scape. I'm hoping to use several types of macro to achieve the look I'm interested in. The only ones I for sure won't be using are chaeto and caulerpa sp. Hopefully I'll be able to create a beautiful display in it's own right as well as have it be a pod factory.
My question is about lighting it. Obviously I could go with daylight florescent lights(CF, T8, T5, PC etc...)and make it work. I've been looking at LEDs though as I would like to keep electricity usage down and maybe more importantly heat down(as this tank stack will be entirely enclosed in cabinet.
Originally I was thinking of going with a "Chinese" fixture using a custom layout. Using their hydroponic layout as a starting point(looks like a 3:1 ratio of red to blue) which would obviously look pretty nasty as a display(fine in a sump fuge but this will be in my kitchen). The idea was to sub enough cool whites(not sure what K to go with at this point) for reds to pull the appearance up to between 7-10k. I'm just not sure how to figure out in advance how many whites need to be added to make it look alright while still maximizing the useful sprectrum.
Current has a fixture(which would be about 25% cheaper that is 72W and 36RGB I think) that might work, but I'm not sure if it would be enough PAR and if I ended up having to buy two then it's not cheaper anymore.
Finnex is coming out with something similar(should be in the same price range as the Current), but I might find myself in the same boat in needed more than one fixture.
buildmyled has a freshwater planted(dimmer available) that is a bit more(229$) but it might work as well.
The modified d120 would definitely have the most par and while it is the most expensive option it's cheaper than any two fixtures from the other companies.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Adam