Rio 240 Marine - Lighting - T5 or LED

[walleye]

Hello,

I'm looking to start my first marine tank by converting my Rio 240 (Which is currently geared for a community tropical tank). At the moment I'm stuck as to which lighting options I should choose. Please note this is my first foray into marine.

I would like to keep fish and coral and have as many options as possible for keeping corals for example Softies, LPS and SPS. I understand SPS is for the more experienced but I would like to aim for a set up that would one day make growing SPS possible.

I'm toying with either going for

- A T5 set up by buying another Juwel lighting unit to give me 4 54w T5's (using the standard hood)

- Or an LED set up

I'm drawn towards the LED set up because

- It's probably going to be cheaper in the long run

- I assume I would have better lighting conditions for growing a wider range of corals

- I like the idea of a programmable set up to mimic real life lighting conditions/control the colour range that is on display.

My tanks dimensions are

121 x 41 x 55 cm

Can someone please point me in the direction of some reputable LED units that might fit my purpose. My budget is between $500 and $1000 for the lighting and I would be happy to purchase from overseas if required.

Thanks in Advance

[Yellow]

I'd be keen on any info as well on finding equivalent-sized LED units. I've got a non-working Juwel Twin-Lite PL5-20W which just clips under the hood, and would be keen on finding a similar LED unit which can use the same clips.

(My tank's a Juwel Korall 60 - 54 L tank, about 60 cm by 30 by 30)

[si_sphinx]

These work good for growing all corals and are pretty slim line to fit above your tank. The 90 unit would work fine.

http://www.fish-street.com/coralbox_m1_led_aquarium_lighting

[walleye]

These work good for growing all corals and are pretty slim line to fit above your tank. The 90 unit would work fine.

http://www.fish-street.com/coralbox_m1_led_aquarium_lighting

Thanks for the prompt response. I forgot to mention that I would like a system that I can mount on the tank as opposed to hang overhead, I'm not sure if that rules out the Coral Box

I've also been looking at these

Maxspect Razor R420r

http://www.maxspect.com/index.php?optio ... &Itemid=21

Does anyone have one of these, are they able to comment?

Thanks

[kinnadian]

I have a 300W maxspect razor.

After reading so many good things about them, I went ahead and purchased it ($1750 in NZ, I wanted the warranty, buying from US with shipping and import fees was around $1200).

Note you CAN buy them from overseas, even if they state they are 110V. There is a simple switch inside the power box for changing from 110V to 240V.

On to the unit, I find the lighting OK but not certainly not what I was expecting for the price I paid. It's no where near as bright as I expected either. It's proven to grow corals well, however.

I had a cheapie 120W dimmable LED chinese unit from ebay that was nearly as nice (just didn't have the coverage, so would have needed one more) and only cost $200. Another one might have been all I needed.

If I had the chance to try again I would probably get a Radion rather than Maxspect. Or a Kessil.

[walleye]

I have a 300W maxspect razor.

After reading so many good things about them, I went ahead and purchased it ($1750 in NZ, I wanted the warranty, buying from US with shipping and import fees was around $1200).

Note you CAN buy them from overseas, even if they state they are 110V. There is a simple switch inside the power box for changing from 110V to 240V.

On to the unit, I find the lighting OK but not certainly not what I was expecting for the price I paid. It's no where near as bright as I expected either. It's proven to grow corals well, however.

I had a cheapie 120W dimmable LED chinese unit from ebay that was nearly as nice (just didn't have the coverage, so would have needed one more) and only cost $200. Another one might have been all I needed.

If I had the chance to try again I would probably get a Radion rather than Maxspect. Or a Kessil.

Thanks kinnadian,

Was the Chinnese unit you had branded in anyway?

I've been looking at these

ReefBreeders Photon 48: https://www.reefbreeders.com/shop/photon-48/ $499 USD

I understand these are built in China but are of a very good quality (from what I've read)

A lot of people seem happy with these units, They do use BridgeLux LEDs but from my research that shouldn't be too much of an issue give my tank is less than 24" high.

I kind of like these units for the following reasons

- They are 48" long meaning I should get pretty good coverage across the entire tank (instead of positioning some 27" model in the middle or having to buy two separate units)

- They are cheaper than some other high end units but don't appear to be dodgy cheap

- I've already had an overnight response from the owner of ReefBreeders and he was quite helpful with his answers

- I can swap out the optics if I choose so, I think they are 90 degrees by default but I can take out the optics to turn them into 120 degrees.

- The units are designed to be easy to work on, if a part fails they can send me a replacement and I can perform the replacement myself

Cheers

[kinnadian]

No it was unbranded.

The circuit board said "LG" but I don't think this refers to the common "LG" manufacturer we know, since they don't make lights. These cheap chinese lights are almost always unbranded versions of actual lights, such as the one you linked. They have all the information to make them, so they change them just enough (not much really at all) to avoid the very generous china copyright laws and sell them for cheap. They also put cheap LEDs in.

This is the exact one I bought: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/MarsAqua-Dimmable-165W-LED-Aquarium-Light-Full-Spectrum-Tank-Reef-Coral-LPS-SPS-/271255122425?ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:US:3160. You can see in photo 2 the shell is very identical to the reefbreeders one.

I think the light was pretty good, especially for the price. You'd need one per 600mm x 300mm (ie a 4 foot tank that was 600mm deep would need 4 lights), but for this price it's really cheap. It grew softies and LPS for me, and once you replace the fans with a quiet set (I got Gelid Silent fans) it's actually a really nice unit. Can't imagine it would grow SPS very well, but I have no idea.

I've heard good things about reefbreeders but only specifically about their par bulbs. That light unit looks quite good.

At that price its probably better to just get that unit than 4 chinese ones.