Need help finding a light for a 24 wide by 12 deep

nano reef · May 4, 2022

I am having a hard time deciding on a new light for my tank! I have a nuvo 20 that is 24 wide and 12 deep! Right now I have aquatic life edge strip light and it grows nothing but algae!

I choose that light because I only have 4 1/2 inch clearance on top (kitchen cabinets) BUT if I mount the light on the side of the tank I can mount at any height! I know it dosnt make sense but my tank is in the corner of kitchen and I have a wall next to it that kind of makes it not just a corner but more of an octogon shape, its very hard to describe but if I mount on side I can still center the light so if I get a certain mount like red seas I can lift the light and still access my cabinets!

I am now considering red sea 50 or ai prime 16 ( 60 watt) or (believe it or not) 2 fluval nanos 20 watts a piece! I am leaning strongly towards the fluvals because they are CHEAP and really would look cute lol plus might get better coverage with two separate lights! ! I just fear I may end up with more lights I have to replace. The problem with the edge strip is the white channel has warm whites that are very yellowish plus the programming is so hard to figure out! I know prime and red sea are trusted and proven lights to grow corals! I am worried though that I wont be able to get a 24 inch spread out of those lights and the since the fluvals are two seperate lights I may be better off! Plus I wont be paying for power I dont need!

Does anyone have fluvals that can tell me how well they have worked for growing coral? Also has anyone been able to get 24 inch spread out of prime or red sea?

PLEASE help! I am baffled!

MrGisonni · May 4, 2022

One 16 hd should be enough for you. I have 2 on my 30 mixed reef. 36×18×18 the light is 10" off the waters surface and I have diffusers on them. I get 175 to 200 par on the tops of my scape under the lights. Lights are important go with something proven. Find the signature series lighting spectrum you like from the website, tweak a little to suit your personal preferences, set your schedule and you're off and running

Spare time · May 4, 2022

Kessil lights are excellent when you have to mount the light close to the water.

X-37B · May 4, 2022

One 16hd would get you going. I run 2 on my 20g 18" nano cube and 3 on my 36x24x12 frag system.

nano reef · May 6, 2022

90's reefer said:
One 16hd would get you going. I run 2 on my 20g 18" nano cube and 3 on my 36x24x12 frag system.

WOW! You serouisly run 20 on a 20 gallon and 3 on a 36? I was afraid I was paying for more power then I need and afraid it would be to much since I have some corals mounted only about 6 inches from surface! Thanks for input!

nano reef · May 6, 2022

Spare time said:
Kessil lights are excellent when you have to mount the light close to the water.

Thanks! I havnt looked much into kessil. I will check them out!

X-37B · May 6, 2022

nano reef said:
WOW! You serouisly run 20 on a 20 gallon and 3 on a 36? I was afraid I was paying for more power then I need and afraid it would be to much since I have some corals mounted only about 6 inches from surface! Thanks for input!

Yea one had some shadowing and my systems are mostly acros.
My 20g nano cube and 45 frag tank.

nano reef · May 6, 2022

MrGisonni said:
One 16 hd should be enough for you. I have 2 on my 30 mixed reef. 36×18×18 the light is 10" off the waters surface and I have diffusers on them. I get 175 to 200 par on the tops of my scape under the lights. Lights are important go with something proven. Find the signature series lighting spectrum you like from the website, tweak a little to suit your personal preferences, set your schedule and you're off and running

Thanks for that attachment! I see it does cover 24 inches! Thats mainly why I was leaning towards the fluvals was getting 2 of them but it does scare me since they arent known for lights and cant find out to much info on them. I did see someone on youtube running 2 on a nuvo 20 and he said he had great growth and could even grow sps if he wanted! To bad the sale ended yesterday on primes! 50 bucks off!

I am kind of in a situation now because I just spent a lot of money on corals and my hubby would kill me if I bought lights too! LOL He was fine with it until I bought the corals but at the same time I pretty sure I wont get any growth with the lights I have now! I did change it to acclimation mode and tuned down a lot of the yellow so I may be good until my birthday in august! LOL

nano reef · May 6, 2022

90's reefer said:
Yea one had some shadowing and my sysrems are mostly acros.
My 20g nano cube and 45 frag tank.

Well that explains it! Nice tank!. I definitely shouldn't buy the fluvals! I can always use the primes or red seas in any situation and I want to get a frag tank soon! What kind of frag tank is that? I am kind of new to this and never understand if I should reply or quote and it gives me the option now to insert quotes! Can you help out a reef2reef newbie..lol

X-37B · May 6, 2022

nano reef said:
Well that explains it! Nice tank!. I definitely shouldn't buy the fluvals! I can always use the primes or red seas in any situation and I want to get a frag tank soon! What kind of frag tank is that? I am kind of new to this and never understand if I should reply or quote and it gives me the option now to insert quotes! Can you help out a reef2reef newbie..lol

My frag tank is 36x24x12 with a 40 breeder for sump. It has a small fuge in the sump. I run no baffles.
Its a standard tank with no top brace from the west coast, Aquarium Masters.
It does have the plastic brace on the bottom.
You can pm me anytime with questions.
I also have an 80g growout system thats a replacement for my old 120.
My old 120 and the new 80g.

Hooz · May 6, 2022

A single 16HD would cover the 24" width of the tank... if you mount it 12" above the water line.

Honestly, I used the Fluval Nano over a 9g Flex for most of a year. It actually did pretty well, and the features offer a lot of bang for the buck. It also has a very wide spread, so you don't have to mount it very high. I'd go for two of them on your tank for sure. Should be more than enough without having to turn the whites way up to get the extra PAR.

You could also look into the "Blue Heavy" strips from 21ledusa.com - The color mix is pretty good, you can get a nice (Sunsetter) controller for cheap, and they're inexpensive. If one isn't enough, just add a second one.

a4edwin · May 6, 2022

Can you take a pic so we can see what you are talking about? You say you have 4 1/2” clearance Abe the tank. Most lights will give 24” coverage but they need to be higher up above the tank. You’ll have serious shadowing with one light.

MrGisonni · May 6, 2022

Yeah it's true that 24-inch coverage is with the light up higher

Sleeping Giant · May 6, 2022

Since your limited to 4.5" I would look at the Fluval Marine LED. It works great and is mounted at the top edges of the tank. It sits about 1.5-2" above the tank.

Sleeping Giant · May 6, 2022

Not sure how you could mount any of the other suggestions above. The above suggestions are great if you can have more room to elevate the light.

a4edwin · May 6, 2022

Orbit marine light. I had one on my 36” bowfront kept softies, some lps, and neon spongodes under that light very little growth but kept things alive. Or how bout some Orphek bars I think they sell some acrylic mounts for them.