That depends how high you want to mount your light. It’s not a problem we have different optics to accommodate almost every mounting height.What mounting height would you recommend here @Reef Breeders ? Based on what I’m reading, I may have a went with to big of a light for what what I need.. I choose the meridian 45 over the 35 on my 48x24x24 tank (no center brace). From what I’m gathering here if I go with the recommended mounting height of 14” above I’m going to have light spill over side to side. So I should make the mounting height lower than that, but if I do so I will sacrifice the coverage front to back?
I recommend getting a PAR meter preferably the apogee 510 or Vabira and use that as a point of reference to determine when/if you want to make any adjustments to your current setup.
Just to clarify, when I say approximately 14 inches, that does not mean it has to be exactly 14 inches. “Approximately” means it is a general range, not an exact number. So you could have the light at 12, 13, 15, or even 16 inches and still be within that ideal zone. Fourteen inches is just the midpoint. The default optics are designed to perform best within that 12 to 16 inch range. Once you go outside of that, either higher or lower, you start to move away from the optimal coverage pattern they are intended for.
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