As my other thread stated, I'll be purchasing a 40-50 gallon cube. I'll have to get a new LED fixture. I need some help with direction. I want a fixture that sits on top of the tank, no hanging types. Also full spectrum. I have an Aquatic Life now that is whites, blues, and purples. I love the color output and want to find something similar. Totally clueless as to what's out there since I've always stuck with T5's I can't afford to break the bank either, gotta be affordable. Thoughts? Feel free to post a link if you've got one. Thanks!
Advice needed on LEDs
- Thread starter thedevilscandy
- Start date
Man, I gotta say the best all around light source is T5. We all know LED's can do great things, and they really make corals pop.. But they rarely perform on par with T5 (no pun intended). Everyone who was straight LED eventually added one thing that brought their tank to another level -- T5's.
First hand experience, I went from a Radion G3 Pro by itself to adding a dirt cheap AquaticLife 2x24 T5 fixture with the Radion -- Biggest explosion of color, growth, and overall health I've ever seen. That $80 POS T5 fixture shat all over my Radion. From then on, there was no turning back for me. Maybe the G4's bring enough to the table.. But if I need to add supplemental T5's (which most do, even with LED) then might as well go full T5
First hand experience, I went from a Radion G3 Pro by itself to adding a dirt cheap AquaticLife 2x24 T5 fixture with the Radion -- Biggest explosion of color, growth, and overall health I've ever seen. That $80 POS T5 fixture shat all over my Radion. From then on, there was no turning back for me. Maybe the G4's bring enough to the table.. But if I need to add supplemental T5's (which most do, even with LED) then might as well go full T5
I'm in total agreement with you. I love T5's and nothing replaces them. But this will be basically an upgraded temp tank. I'm trying to keep things at a minimum. I'm happy with the Aquatic Life fixture's color output, and all my corals are happy. I'm only doing softies til I can set up a permanent tank again. There's an Aquatic Life Edge Reef fixture that looks really nice, but for some reason the better light spectrum only comes in 36" and up. The quad T5 with ATI's on my old 60 gallon was definitely my preference 
Look into the maxspect ethereal
I'm running 3 of them on my 155.
Heres an old pic of tank from a few months back before I put them in a floating canopy
I'm running 3 of them on my 155.
Heres an old pic of tank from a few months back before I put them in a floating canopy
Fair enough! Also I switched out the bulbs in my AL 2x24 with a Blue+ and Coral+, so that had to have made a difference too. Otherwise with LED's it seems you go all in or you go disappointed! Perhaps you can find some used Kessil lights -- They seem to lose a lot of their value when used, but retain the same used value if that makes sense. Would be nice if you would want to sell later on down the line if necessary.
