75 gal reef lighting

[salty105]

Im setting up a new 75gal tank. And im deciding what kind of lighting I need. I want to keep it budget.

I currently already have one nicrew nava reef 65W light and I was going to buy a second one so it’d be 2 65 watt lights for the tank. The tank is 48” long and. About 18” deep. Would this be enough light to support coral growth? I’m still fairly new to reef keeping, so still learning a lot

 

[sixty_reefer]

2 should be decent for LPS and softies imo

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Frankly personally I would want more wattage..... My 32 gallon has 100 watts, my 40 gallon has 150 watts, If I was building a 75 I would be thinking about 250 watts myself.

 

[Tahoe61]

No, that will like not be enough.

Look at Viperspectra, Popbloom, Smatfarm, Nicrew. Just a short list of budget fixtures that will grow most corals

 

[EricR]

If you're planning to keep corals that have higher light needs, like SPS, then I'll bow out...

If you're planning on keeping soft/LPS, at least for a while:
Since you mentioned "budget" and those Nicrew 65W are $95 on Amazon right now, that seems like a reasonable option to me, personally (as you already have 1).
I think you'll probably want 3 for a 48" (for soft corals and LPS) but you could start with a 2nd and see how it works out.

I run just 2x 55W LEDs (AI Prime) over 36" soft coral tank with a couple of LPS and I get plenty of PAR for my needs with those, running only about 75% through diffusers, so I'd think 3x Nicrew 65W would be reasonable (but never used one).
*my tank is only 16" tall though so that comes into play

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

Find a 48", 6 light T5 fixture with ATI bulbs and thank me later

 

[Ergo531]

FWIW...I have good results with Nicrew lights and currently have two HyperReef 50 watt running at 50% blues and 20% whites at peak times over a 55 gallon for the past 16 months. The tank is only softies and LPS. I also have a 10 gallon with an older 30 watt Nicrew (60% blues and 20% whites) that grew corals very well for 5+ years. I had a frammer that grew from one head into 40+ heads.

 

[gkprevite]

Find a 48", 6 light T5 fixture with ATI bulbs and thank me later

I couldn’t agree more

 

[salty105]

If you're planning to keep corals that have higher light needs, like SPS, then I'll bow out...

If you're planning on keeping soft/LPS, at least for a while:
Since you mentioned "budget" and those Nicrew 65W are $95 on Amazon right now, that seems like a reasonable option to me, personally (as you already have 1).
I think you'll probably want 3 for a 48" (for soft corals and LPS) but you could start with a 2nd and see how it works out.

I run just 2x 55W LEDs (AI Prime) over 36" soft coral tank with a couple of LPS and I get plenty of PAR for my needs with those, running only about 75% through diffusers, so I'd think 3x Nicrew 65W would be reasonable (but never used one).
*my tank is only 16" tall though so that comes into play

Im thinking I could do another 65 watt light and they offer a 135watt light as well. So maybe

65w 135w 65w layout? That’d also give some different par ranges I feel like?

 

[salty105]

FWIW...I have good results with Nicrew lights and currently have two HyperReef 50 watt running at 50% blues and 20% whites at peak times over a 55 gallon for the past 16 months. The tank is only softies and LPS. I also have a 10 gallon with an older 30 watt Nicrew (60% blues and 20% whites) that grew corals very well for 5+ years. I had a frammer that grew from one head into 40+ heads.

That’s gorgeous, thanks for the proof as well!!! I may buy one more 65w and then put a 135 watt in the middle, I think the 75 may be a little deeper then a 55 but I’m not sure on that. I measured and my tank is about 18” deep.

 

[salty105]

If you're planning to keep corals that have higher light needs, like SPS, then I'll bow out...

If you're planning on keeping soft/LPS, at least for a while:
Since you mentioned "budget" and those Nicrew 65W are $95 on Amazon right now, that seems like a reasonable option to me, personally (as you already have 1).
I think you'll probably want 3 for a 48" (for soft corals and LPS) but you could start with a 2nd and see how it works out.

I run just 2x 55W LEDs (AI Prime) over 36" soft coral tank with a couple of LPS and I get plenty of PAR for my needs with those, running only about 75% through diffusers, so I'd think 3x Nicrew 65W would be reasonable (but never used one).
*my tank is only 16" tall though so that comes into play

Im thinking I could do another 65 watt light and they offer a 135watt light as well. So maybe

65w 135w 65w layout? That’d also give some different par ranges I feel like?

Im still very new to reef keeping so odds I even try sps soon are slim. In that case I’ll just stick with 2 of the 65W and see how that goes with the soft corals and upgrade if needed after that. Thanks for the help!!