Lighting for 120g

[cidermaster]

Hello everyone , I have been out of the reefing world for the past couple years and have decided to set up a 120 gallon 4’ tank up . Not sure where to go with lighting on this tank . in the past I’ve always had T5 with great luck but it’s sounds like T5 is on the way out an all led is the way to go ..

this is an older dual overflow tank with center brace ..
will start with lps but sps dominated is the end game …

What would be the best lighting setup for this ??
Thanks !!

 

[TX_REEF]

Hello everyone , I have been out of the reefing world for the past couple years and have decided to set up a 120 gallon 4’ tank up . Not sure where to go with lighting on this tank . in the past I’ve always had T5 with great luck but it’s sounds like T5 is on the way out an all led is the way to go ..

this is an older dual overflow tank with center brace ..
will start with lps but sps dominated is the end game …

What would be the best lighting setup for this ??
Thanks !!

T5 is still up there for growth. LED obviously has advantages such as spectrum and intensity manipulation, less electricity and heat, longer life.

For LED's it depends what you want to achieve visually. If you're only interested in growth, a bar or matrix fixture will probably make the most sense for you, similar coverage to T5 arrays. Reefbreeder photons and AI blades are great options for this.

If you want "spotlight" type fixtures to emulate metal halide shimmer, Kessils are hard to beat. I use the AP9x which is effectively two 360 fixtures with optics that create a rectangular spread. You could also use multiple 360s mounted at whatever distance you choose from each other.

 

[Gtinnel]

There will be a lot of different opinions on which light is best, but one big factor IMO is what your budget is.
If it were me and I didn’t care how much I spent I would probably get Radions (I’ve never actually used them though). If your budget is lower than that but still pretty high I’d go with reefbreeders. If you were trying to stay as affordable as possible I’d use Noopsyche.

 

[rhitee93]

I did 3 Noopsyche's over my 120. That is probably more than necessary based on reviews and literature, but they are inexpensive enough that I used 3. I'm running the lights at 40% max these days.

My tank is still new, so I haven't added any challenging coral yet. I can't give you first hand experience on how well they will "Grow coral" as the kids say these days. The GSP I put in to test the waters has tripled in size in 2 months though....

 

[Gtinnel]

I did 3 Noopsyche's over my 120. That is probably more than necessary based on reviews and literature, but they are inexpensive enough that I used 3. I'm running the lights at 40% max these days.

My tank is still new, so I haven't added any challenging coral yet. I can't give you first hand experience on how well they will "Grow coral" as the kids say these days. The GSP I put in to test the waters has tripled in size in 2 months though....

If you think that’s overkill, here’s mine. I put 6 of them on a 6’ tank.

 

[starfish138]

I did 3 Noopsyche's over my 120. That is probably more than necessary based on reviews and literature, but they are inexpensive enough that I used 3. I'm running the lights at 40% max these days.

My tank is still new, so I haven't added any challenging coral yet. I can't give you first hand experience on how well they will "Grow coral" as the kids say these days. The GSP I put in to test the waters has tripled in size in 2 months though....

what mounting are you using for you lights?

 

[rhitee93]

what mounting are you using for you lights?

It is a rail for AI lights. I then just used studs and jamb nuts to suspend the light from it, and 3D printed some clips that keep the wires tidy. There are some pics in post #86 of my build thread here:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/headline-relative-noob-puts-big-tank-in-office.969261/page-5

 

[cidermaster]

There will be a lot of different opinions on which light is best, but one big factor IMO is what your budget is.
If it were me and I didn’t care how much I spent I would probably get Radions (I’ve never actually used them though). If your budget is lower than that but still pretty high I’d go with reefbreeders. If you were trying to stay as affordable as possible I’d use Noopsyche.

Thanks for the reply . There is no set budget was looking at the Radions. Do you think xr15 or xr 30?

 

[ryanjohn1]

3 hydra 32’s

 

[cidermaster]

3 hydra 32’s

Even with the center brace ?