# Lighting options



## willijack (Nov 7, 2015)

I've just acquired a tank that I want dive into the SW world with. It's 60"x18"x20". I want to do a mixed reef. Please advise what are my lighting options as a newbie.

Thanks for all your suggestions.
(PS: I think I originally posted this in the wrong section - and got no replies)


----------



## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

A somewhat expensive, but very sweet option is to go Nanobox.

Dave covers a huge spectrum of fixtures involving LED or Hybrids. They are very sleek and modern looking with a lot of option for customising spectrum. He's growing his business. His tech support is amazing.

http://nanoboxreef.com/


----------



## bigfishy (Jun 19, 2009)

Why not get these one? It's $127 per unit, free shipping!  Looks pretty neat! 

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Dimmable-165...959578?hash=item25a7337dda:g:oXQAAOSwAuZX46~p


----------



## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*lighting*

congrats on the acquirement , and that u are entering the dark side ..
there is lots of choices for lighting ... you just have to decide what u want to spend ... t5s are a great choice and love to grow corals and make colors pop amazing .. down side,power hogs , bulbs are expensive and most replace every 6-8 months .. so if you could find a nice fixture with 4 bulbs and replace them with new u are set ...
leds is a prefferance what u like or want tonnes on the market and money is the other .. the Chinese leds that big fishy showed u are great starter lights 
cheap and cheerful .only issue that I had with them was not controllable but for the money u cant go wrong ...and they do grow corals .tonnes of reading on plus and negatives on Chinese leds ..but best bang for your buck if u want to get started .. we could go into the high end lighting but my advice is pick something with great cust service and lights u have seen and give u the pop u want ...
good luck and welcome to the dark side


----------



## explor3r (Mar 14, 2010)

Welcome to the salty side, if you want a Mix reef I would recommend T5s not only because you get great colour also because you get good growth. Yes you have to replace the bulbs but we all have to compromise in something to get better results.
Led Im sure they could work for you too but it depends in your budget or liking.
Good luck!!!!


----------



## zoapaly (Jul 10, 2013)

3 -Hydra26HD or 2-52HD bam!


----------



## darkangel66n (May 15, 2013)

65 Gallon tank, 36x18x24 high. I use one Mars Aqua 165 watt LED and two 36 inch T5HO's with great results. You would need to double that. Mars Aqua AKA Chinese knock off LED's do a great job and are a basic light. If you want simplicity this is it, if you want to program and control the lights you need more expensive units.


----------



## bigfishy (Jun 19, 2009)

zoapaly said:


> 3 -Hydra26HD or 2-52HD bam!


Wallet also goes BAM!


----------



## willijack (Nov 7, 2015)

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. I know it may end up costing me more in the long run but the cost is adding up already , so I think I'm going to look at bigfishy's suggestion and see how well it works for me. I'm sure there will be other, fancier options as I grow in this the 'dark side' of the hobby.


----------

