Ok so I moved up to a 125 from a 75 but kept my original lighting which was two bloomspect black boxes. So far been running them a year and no problems, just not seeing alot of growth on much of anything but shrooms and zoas. My acans, favias, frogspawn, hammer, etc are alive just hardly any noticable growth. Currently running 14 inches above water whites at 3% and blues at 60% If I bump the % up I get bleaching and lower to no polyp extension. The only thing I can get to do ok at mid to higher in the tank is montipora confusa and poccilipora. I get alot of shadowing on the sides and middle because I know two lights is not enough spread for 72" tank, but I'm not sold on the black boxes and really don't think I want to go with a third one....so my problem is what else to get?? I cannot afford radions..especially not with the Covid 19 conditions and can't find any used. I am thinking possibly going t5 and building a floating canopy and using the retrofit kits from BRS to save money. I would just be building my own 6 or 8 bulb system into the canopy. Anyone have experience with the retrofit kits? Should I save up for radions or hydras (how many would I need-4)? Any other suggestions?
I’m running 8 t5 bulbs on my 48in 120gallon but 4 of the bulbs don’t run that long during the day so if it’s cheaper you might try 4 bulbs and see what you think my lights are mounted to my flip up lid
Are you using the retrofit lights or a fixture like ATI? How wide is your tank? My tank is only 18 in wide so I don't even know if I could fit 8 bulbs.
Chopped up a light to add the last 4 and the first 4 Aaron had on it when I bought it off of him and mine is 18
Do you have all of this controlled by something to turn lights on and off like an Apex? Can it be done without a controller?
Thinking of going with a 6 or 8 bulb diy fixture. I am thinking about using 60 in fixtures and alternating each bulb to cover the whole distance across my 72.
Hard to beat T-5's. They are tried and true over many years with no shadowing issues either. Only experience with black boxes I ever had was borrowing some from a friend to use temporary during a system tear down and rebuild and they could barely keep anything alive at all. Horrible lights in my opinion. But I guess it depends on the brand/or type of black boxes cause apparently some people have had success with them. To sketchy for me though. You could also supplement with smaller quality leds like kessils in the areas your t-5 dont cover on the ends of your tank. Options are really endless. I have the reefbright dual T-5 fixtures in my canopy as my supplemental lighting and they are great. Those fixtures would allow you to stagger them if you wanted to also.
I'm having trouble finding the reefbright T5 fixtures, I see the LED fixtures they sell, did they discontinue them? I'm mostly just finding the Aquaticlife Hybrid fixtures instead and I don't care for them, looks like I could DIY it for cheaper and have better quality.
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/supra-slim-line-dual-t5-retrofit-fixture-reef-brite.html These are the ones I used.
Those look nice but I think I'm leaning more towards the other retrofit kit because of the bulbs only going up to 60" and on the other kit I think that I could alternate the placement of the lights to cover my full 72" spread. Also looking into the fixtures on amazon that Tidal Gardens posted a video on, at that price point I could try them out and see if I even like T5 lights.
Lighting is something that is definitely different and unique for everyone. You can also just do 2 - 36 inch fixtures also. I know of a few guys that have done that for complete coverage. It's worth trying a few different options over the course of time and see what you like the best and what works for your situation. I wish you the best in whatever you end up trying out. Keep us posted.
So I pulled the plug today and bought 3 retrofit kits from Aquacave. I am going to build a suspended canopy that I can raise out of the way for maintenance and alternate the 6 bulbs inside the canopy like I put in the picture. I had originally planed the combo in the picture but I'm afraid it will be too white, so instead I am going to try a combo of: 3 Blue Plus 2 Coral Plus 1 True Actinic but I also bought an extra blue plus in case it comes out too white. I don't like the windex look and personally prefer the more crisp blue white look so we shall see. I also considered a purple plus, and may end up trying one later. I will post updates as they come in and we get building the canopy.
