So I am planning on getting a Cade 900 S2, and wanted to see how people might light this tank! It’s 36” x 24” x 24”, and will be SPS dominant. I have been looking at various LED options, but can’t decide. Some considerations:
For a single light I was narrowing it down to the Neptune Sky, Kessil AP9X, ATI Straton, or Orphek Icon. Out of those it seems like the Orphek and Kessil may have the best coverage for a 36” tank, with the Kessil potentially being a bit narrow for a 24” wide tank. The point source shadowing of Kessils also concerns me, but with two sources in the AP9X, it may be OK. The Straton and Sky might lack some coverage on the ends of the tank, but the panel type coverage seems like it would cover the middle 30” pretty well for SPS, although it’s hard to judge coverage recommendations they list, and most reviews focus on 24” or 48“ and end up recommending 1 or 2 lights (so not always helpful for a 36” tank).
Curious if anyone has experience with any of these over a 36” tank, or other solutions I haven’t thought of?
- Will be in my room, so a light that isn’t super loud and doesn’t have terrible light spillage. Not sure this is as critical as the sound from the pumps and rest of the system, as the light will be obviously be off when sleeping.
- Would love it to just be one light. Because of this it seems like the panel type LED lights might be the best option?
- I want to avoid adding fixtures in the future. Seems like this is inevitable with some LED systems as even if they have the coverage and PAR to start, their small size leads to shadowing, leading to adding light bars and or more fixtures to compensate.
For a single light I was narrowing it down to the Neptune Sky, Kessil AP9X, ATI Straton, or Orphek Icon. Out of those it seems like the Orphek and Kessil may have the best coverage for a 36” tank, with the Kessil potentially being a bit narrow for a 24” wide tank. The point source shadowing of Kessils also concerns me, but with two sources in the AP9X, it may be OK. The Straton and Sky might lack some coverage on the ends of the tank, but the panel type coverage seems like it would cover the middle 30” pretty well for SPS, although it’s hard to judge coverage recommendations they list, and most reviews focus on 24” or 48“ and end up recommending 1 or 2 lights (so not always helpful for a 36” tank).
Curious if anyone has experience with any of these over a 36” tank, or other solutions I haven’t thought of?