lighting for 60”x24”x24 reef tanks.

Hawkeyebeek8

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I need some lights for a 60” sca aquarium. I want to do leds only. What are some affordable >$500... controllable lights that are more than a puck. Or are there controllable black boxes?
 

CuzzA

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QMaven 2 6800 would cover that length, but you'd have shadowing front and back unless you're doing an island aquascape. The nice thing about the QMaven fixture is the acrylic trim allows you to mount T5's right to the fixture. I added a couple SunBlaster T5's. They really round out the lighting perfect. I out a Coral Plus up front and a Blue Plus in the back. Adds a little more depth to the tank with the bluer spectrum in the back.

Here is my unit. It's a great light, great spread. The app could use a little more control ability as they only give you 5 photo periods that can be set for whatever intensity and for however long you want over 24 hours. It's a 4 channel light and at 1% on the blues it's a little too bright to call it a moonlight.

I love those dimensions on the SC150. I am planning on either buying one or going acrylic with the same dimensions. Too bad more tank builders don't make a 60x24. It's a great size that opens the doors for some large species like tangs, but gives the depth we want for a reef.


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Hawkeyebeek8

Hawkeyebeek8

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I think I just found my new light! I’ve never heard of these before but seem to be very strong and pairing with the t5s seem awesome! Thanks man!
 

CuzzA

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If you're only going LED, the answer is double what you think you need. :)
That would certainly be true for a lot of the manufacturers who make $900 fixtures that only cover a 24"x24" area. But for actual full tank fixtures there's no need to double the fixture. I do not buy from these companies. If a $900 light can't support a 3-5 ft. tank, it ain't very good, IMO. ;)
 

andrewkw

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Are you talking $500 total or $500 per light? If it's $500 total I would just try and get 5 black boxes and leave it at that. If it's $500 per light I might consider a few higher end fixtures then supplement them with cheaper fixtures between them.

I have a slightly smaller 60x18x24 tank. I use 3 kessils (A350-A360-A360WE) as well as 2 black boxes between them and then 2 T5 bulbs. I could do without the T5 but I like them and someone gave me the fixture. My tank is soft coral dominated.

While this sounds like a lot keep in mind the oldest kessil I purchased in 2012 and I fully plan on getting 10 years out of all or at least most of these components.
 

alton

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I loved my 5' x 2 x 2 Oceanic in the day. I traded corals for a 6' current CFL fixture. Gutted it, cut it down to 5', and installed 2 x 250 w metal halide lamps and one 175 metal halide in the center. All SE 12K Reeflux run on electronic ballast

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