48 in fixture over 60 in tank

RickG · Nov 15, 2019

Hey so I am upgrading hopefully to a 150 gal and just wanted to see what you guys think about keeping my 48 in ATI sunpower 6 bulb over a 60x24x24 tank

Bigwrasse · Nov 15, 2019

That will work fine, just keep sps off the edges

RickG · Nov 15, 2019

Bigwrasse said:
That will work fine, just keep sps off the edges

Yea was thinking sps inside 48 in and low light corals off to the sides or maybe even raise the fixture a bit

Bpb · Nov 16, 2019

Yes it will be fine. Really the only reason to match fixture footprint with tank footprint is if you have a canopy to capture spill light. Otherwise you’re wasting the edges of the fixture by lighting the floor

Mr Fishface · Nov 16, 2019

As others said it'll be fine. I used a 3 ft t5 on my 4 ft 75g tank with no issues at all. Very edge had a slight shadow effect but i thought it looked nice. Now i have my 4 ft t5 system on top of my 6 ft 125g tank. I have to run leds at each end with it to keep par up but it still covers the tank with light.

RickG · Nov 16, 2019

Yeah I'll definitely give it a go before making any changes but I'm more than sure it will be fine. It would be hard to part with my setup, it's so awesome. Running a 6 bulb sunpower with orphek or120 blue in the front and xho actinic in the back

ATI North America · Nov 18, 2019

You might find this blog post helpful when it comes to hanging this at the best height:

How High Should I Hang / Mount My Aquarium Light? - ATI North America

One of the most frequent questions we get is “How high should I hang my light over my aquarium?”. And it’s an important question to answer. Mounting a light at the proper height can make a big impact on your coral. Mounting an aquarium light too low creates shadows and less light gets to the...

www.atinorthamerica.com

I agree with the others you should be fine if you aquascape appropriately.

RickG · Nov 18, 2019

ATI North America said:
You might find this blog post helpful when it comes to hanging this at the best height:

How High Should I Hang / Mount My Aquarium Light? - ATI North America

One of the most frequent questions we get is “How high should I hang my light over my aquarium?”. And it’s an important question to answer. Mounting a light at the proper height can make a big impact on your coral. Mounting an aquarium light too low creates shadows and less light gets to the...

www.atinorthamerica.com

I agree with the others you should be fine if you aquascape appropriately.

Wow that was a great article! Appreciate the help/input.

ATI North America · Nov 19, 2019

RickG said:
Wow that was a great article! Appreciate the help/input.

Thank you that is kind, there is more good articles where that one came from! I have been using that process for years when setting up new lights but I don't know that anyone has ever spoken of it in the countless "how high do I hang my light" threads that are out there...