Best Lighting Option For 260G Tank

[Porpoise Hork]

A buddy of mine has a 260g tank that's 72X24X36 and is wanting to do something different with lighting. He currently has a pair of 250w halides and three really old radion G2's on it. He's wanting to go all LED but cant drop 2-3K on lighting. It's a mixed reef tank so he'll need some power to hit that depth but able to provide the right spectrum for the corals. I was thinking that a pair of 36" Photon v2's suspended about 8" above the tank should do the trick. Based on the PAR numbers I got on my 75g with the 48" light I figure he could run them at 60-70% to get 125-150 PAR on the sand bed and hit the 250-350 range at the top of his rock work.

Would this configuration work or is there a better way with the reef breeder lights?

 

[Michael Naegeli]

Get you 2 Kessil ap700’s and 2 Reefbright 72”ers and you be styling

 

[Jeremy Luke]

A 72" Giesemann Spectra with 3 400w Radiums and 4 Blue+ T5

 

[Fishfinder]

The 36" would work but id hang them higher if possible. Im running the same lights

 

[Aaron-A2]

Possibly (2) 36" Aquatic Life LED/T5 hybrid fixtures with Radion's as the LED option?

I have a 72x24x28 tank and depending on the results of the above fixture on my 90g, I'm going to switch from using pure Radion's to the hybrid setup.

 

[Reef Breeders]

A buddy of mine has a 260g tank that's 72X24X36 and is wanting to do something different with lighting. He currently has a pair of 250w halides and three really old radion G2's on it. He's wanting to go all LED but cant drop 2-3K on lighting. It's a mixed reef tank so he'll need some power to hit that depth but able to provide the right spectrum for the corals. I was thinking that a pair of 36" Photon v2's suspended about 8" above the tank should do the trick. Based on the PAR numbers I got on my 75g with the 48" light I figure he could run them at 60-70% to get 125-150 PAR on the sand bed and hit the 250-350 range at the top of his rock work.

Would this configuration work or is there a better way with the reef breeder lights?

A lot of our customers with 6 foot tanks choose 2 x Photon 32-V2+. You can link them both together with our Photon Link Rail kit as well, and they will both program with the same remote right out of the box. 125-150 PAR would not be hard to get on the sandbed.

Total cost for 2 x Photon 32-V2+ would come in at just under $1,000. We have a coupon code that's good until August 7th for 10% off any lights on backorder (preorder10). Our Photon 32-V2+ is due back in stock the week of August 12th.

 

[NikoO]

All t5 imo, not spotlight or shadowing

 

[NikoO]

All t5 imo, not spotlight or shadowing

 

[lolmatt]

I just purchased two photon 32 v2+ and I'm planning 4 blue plus 60" t5 retro (2 in front, 2 behind) for my 180 build. You could do something similar, depending on your dimensions. If the 36 number is height, you can copy me! If it's width, that's a lot of tank to light and I'd probably consider 4 reefbreeders 32v2+ and 2-4 t5 - maybe a pair in the middle then 1 in front and behind.
Good luck!

 

[Reef Breeders]

I just purchased two photon 32 v2+ and I'm planning 4 blue plus 60" t5 retro (2 in front, 2 behind) for my 180 build. You could do something similar, depending on your dimensions. If the 36 number is height, you can copy me! If it's width, that's a lot of tank to light and I'd probably consider 4 reefbreeders 32v2+ and 2-4 t5 - maybe a pair in the middle then 1 in front and behind.
Good luck!

That's a lot of light! Be careful and run those 32s nice and low. For high light SPS- your target number is 200-225 PAR. Dana Riddle did some testing on Pocillipora and found that to be the peak efficiency for photosynthesis. Having a PAR meter is a big help

 

[biecacka]

Logan, can you recommend a par meter that is “accurate” for LED?


Corey

 

[gcarroll]

SORRY DIDN'T REALIZE THIS THREAD WAS IN A SPONSORED FORUM!

 

[Reef Breeders]

Logan, can you recommend a par meter that is “accurate” for LED?


Corey

Hey Corey, the apogee meters are what I typically use. The newer ones account for the high amount of blue light in LED systems- I have found my older MQ-250 to be accurate as well then I tested it vs. a scientific grade meter.

 

[Reef Breeders]

SORRY DIDN'T REALIZE THIS THREAD WAS IN A SPONSORED FORUM!

 

[lolmatt]

That's a lot of light! Be careful and run those 32s nice and low. For high light SPS- your target number is 200-225 PAR. Dana Riddle did some testing on Pocillipora and found that to be the peak efficiency for photosynthesis. Having a PAR meter is a big help

Thanks for the suggestion. I ended up going with a single pair of the T5's, could always add a second pair later on if shading is still a problem. I'm aiming for 50-100 PAR on the sandbed, our reef club here in Tampa bay FL has a PAR meter that they rent out for members, $10/yr is worth it just for that...though I haven't used it yet...

Not to hijack this thread but.....I like a pretty blue tank, any suggestions for where to start? The 2x 32" V2+'s plus the pair of 60" t5's will be going over a standard 180, I have not built the hood yet so height is TBD, open to suggestions there too (not TOO high, don't want a massively tall hood). My guess with the pair of t5's would be about 50% on the 3 blue channels and whatever else looks good for aesthetics (probably in the 10-15% range on whites) at say 15" from the water surface and I should end up with a pretty good chunk of the tank at the 200-300 PAR level. Mixed reef sps/lps.

 

[Reef Breeders]

Thanks for the suggestion. I ended up going with a single pair of the T5's, could always add a second pair later on if shading is still a problem. I'm aiming for 50-100 PAR on the sandbed, our reef club here in Tampa bay FL has a PAR meter that they rent out for members, $10/yr is worth it just for that...though I haven't used it yet...

Not to hijack this thread but.....I like a pretty blue tank, any suggestions for where to start? The 2x 32" V2+'s plus the pair of 60" t5's will be going over a standard 180, I have not built the hood yet so height is TBD, open to suggestions there too (not TOO high, don't want a massively tall hood). My guess with the pair of t5's would be about 50% on the 3 blue channels and whatever else looks good for aesthetics (probably in the 10-15% range on whites) at say 15" from the water surface and I should end up with a pretty good chunk of the tank at the 200-300 PAR level. Mixed reef sps/lps.

That sounds about right to me- I would start a little lower and work up to 50% over a few weeks though, just to be safe.

 

[lolmatt]

Awesome, I'll have a real build thread here once I get started building the stand and I'll put up some par numbers too hopefully.

Feel free to ship me my lights any time

In all seriousness, I love seeing good products out of stock, usually it means you're doing well and I certainly hope that's the case here!

 

[Ashish Patel]

Easy,, 3 radions gen4 and 4 DIY T5 lighting with ATI Blue plus bulbs. If its too expensive get a few of the single ones and spread them out. If the radions are too expensive go with 8 DIY T5 bulbs from LET. This all could be done under $800 and the best part is the T5 just rock. If thats too much electricity get some cheap chinese LED and supplement them with some T5, that what i'd do