lighting for 6' tank?

[FishyThings]

So im slowly starting to plan my future tank build and im just wondering what lights I should go with? The tank is a Innovative Marine SR Pro 2 120g Tank, and is 6ft long 22in deep and 16 in tall. I would like to stay on the moderatly affordable side, but not garbage cheap, it will be a mixed reef.

 

[bradreef]

The reasonable budget option would be 3 noopsych k3's. Are you wanting an app? General budget range?

 

[FishyThings]

The reasonable budget option would be 3 noopsych k3's. Are you wanting an app? General budget range?

I would like to spend less than $1k on lighting, but i did see that red sea 50 led's might be able to get what I need at $750 for 3 of them.

 

[bradreef]

Noopsyche lights are more than double the power of the red sea. 50 watts will struggle with sps except in the highest spots.

 

[bradreef]

If you want lower powered lights maybe 3 prime 16hd's . Those are 250 each.

3 hydra 32's would be over $1200. But you could grow anything


Radions are a bit above the budget.

 

[nereefpat]

Do you want LEDs, for sure?

What features are important to you?

A 50 watt light isn't appropriate for a 2 foot length of mixed reef. You won't be happy with that.

 

[strawberry_reef]

Maxspect Jump 165. Can't get any better "bang for the buck" light IMO.

 

[dwest]

I use an aquaticlife hybrid on my 180 and am very happy with it. You could start with only the T5’s then add the LED’s of your choice down the road.

 

[exnisstech]

Noopsyche lights are more than double the power of the red sea. 50 watts will struggle with sps except in the highest spots.

I second the noopsyche. I have six k7 pro V3 over a 72x24x24" tank and get 300 par on the bottom where my clam is with the lights around 70%. I have a canopy that only allows me to get the lights 7 inches above the water so I can't get the spread that I could if they were higher. On a 16" tall tank I think four would be sufficient to grow anything. They put out some serious par. I have radions, AI hydra and reefbreeders photon and think the noopsyche are the best bang for the buck IMO. The Photon is my favorite because it doesn't use a puck style light so there isn't a lot of light spill. I have it over a tank in our dining room with no canopy so that was important for that particular tank. I would never buy radions again. They are overpriced and mobius and I don't get along. I'm running gen 4s so I don't have to use mobius fortunately. If you look into the noopsyche use promo code REEF2REEF and they are $208 each shipped with the mounting arm. Last I heard @Zach B is the distributor in the US now

 

[vetteguy53081]

So im slowly starting to plan my future tank build and im just wondering what lights I should go with? The tank is a Innovative Marine SR Pro 2 120g Tank, and is 6ft long 22in deep and 16 in tall. I would like to stay on the moderatly affordable side, but not garbage cheap, it will be a mixed reef.

If youre doing coral-

3 radion XR15 or 30

2 Orphek Atlantiks

3 Orphek OR3-150 (2 sky Blue and one blue plus)

4 noopsyche K7 Pro

 

[FishyThings]

If you want lower powered lights maybe 3 prime 16hd's . Those are 250 each.

3 hydra 32's would be over $1200. But you could grow anything


Radions are a bit above the budget.

I might do the prime 16's because they would cost the same as the red sea led's

 

[FishyThings]

The mixed reef would be more lps dominated, so the really high par suggestions probably wouldnt be the greatest ideas. If I were to ever get into more expensive sps/light demanding sps down the line, then I would probably upgrade to higher output lights, but with my current plan, I do not believe that getting super expensive lighting just for predominantly moderate sps and lps is just not worth it.

 

[FishyThings]

This guys tank is the same in height and width, but is about 20 inches shorter, he has 3 ai prime lights, so I might go with four unless I can find a better option at around $1000

 

[mtraylor]

I would probably go with led bars. That way you can add more lighting later easliybifbyou needed it. Pay-as-you-go type of thing