Suggestions on lighting for this build

[jt8791]

Was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction on lighting for this build. I'm debating on swapping over to the fluval marine 3.0, but not sure it's worth the money even if I stick with GSP, from what I read it may not do the greatest. Don't want to break the bank too badly but at the same time I don't want to go cheap and end up with a light I can't grow anything wit. Only coral I am interested in is Green Star Polyps but I have been deliberating on spending a bit extra on lighting to get a rbta. The way my rock work ended up might make things more complicated as well, it's all crammed into a 2' wide space, so I could potentially focus the lighting on the rocks but not sure how that would look, sandbed is about 4" deep so only lighting 12" water depth give or take.

To be honest with all the lighting options I am completely lost. Swapping to the fluval marine would be the simple option but not sure how effective it would be, budget wise I could settle and just do gsp but it's not worth it if the budget light can't even make gsp thrive. Everyone suggests AI Prime but I'm just not sure if they would be worthwhile for this build, either try get by with one over the rockwork or buy a better light before buying 2 of them. The Reefbreeders Photon 24 V2 keeps catching my eye, compared to pricing of comparable lighting and the actual bulbs included I almost wonder if this would be the best for the money considering what is on the market. At that point I might as well go with an rbta, think that like would be overkill for soft corals, the fluval might even be enough for that potentially.

Anyone have any other lighting options to suggest? Seen a lot of suggestion for current usa pro model but they honestly don't look like they are worth the money they charge, slightly better par rating than fluval but not by a big margin.

Edit: Think my favorite selling point on the Photon 24 is I don't have to buy a separate mount for it, not sure how adjustable the included mount is to center the light over the rockwork.

 

[Speaker]

I was not a fan of the fluval light. I got much better growth after I switched to two ai primes. My tank is twice the depth though. Personally I would try the reefbreeder, or 2 used AI prime lights. One used Hydra 26 or 32 would probably work well too.

 

[jt8791]

Yeah that's what I'm thinking, the reefbreeder is running $360-400, cheapest would be fishtanksdirect out of florida, just wish I could put the price difference into faster shipping. An estimated delivery date would be nice but hard to argue when they are $40 cheaper than everyone else. Thinking rbta only tank, see it getting crowded very fast if I tried nems and corals.

 

[jt8791]

Think the reef breeder light would be enough for bta’s? I sure hope so because I already ordered the light. Not quite 5 watts per gallon but the with par ratings and my 2’ wide rock work I think it should be enough. Was the only light I saw with 5w and 3w leds without completely breaking the bank.

 

[jt8791]

Thinking it should be plenty with my 4”+ sand bed and rock work only 2’ long. Planning to start with it 9” above the tank for a better light spread and less shadows on the ends. Not planning on picking up the bta for a few months, got a few more equipment upgrades I want to have done before one goes in the tank.

 

[jt8791]

Trying to decide if I have my settings too high on the photon 24, guys at reefbreeders say I should turn blues down to 45% maybe lower. Currently at 80% Royal blue, cool blue and violet, 15% white, 10% red and green is off l. That’s for 8 hours peak with a 2 hour ramp up and down.

My lfs suggested whites at 15 and red at 10 for the red ogo in the tank and to keep blues at 80. Don’t want the ogo to establish itself in the rocks, just enough to keep it growing to feed the urchins and the yellowtail Pygmy angel my lfs has on order. See a lot of people with good looking bta’s with much lower lighting so maybe I’m overdoing it.

 

[jt8791]

Light is 11” above the water and centered over the rock work which is just about 2’ wide. Nem in first picture was closed up today, think it was stressed from the new fuge light spilling over onto it last night, I’ve gotta turn the down when I get home. Swapped the fluval plant for the marine model in an attempt to get red ogo to grow in the fuges.

I’ll have to take a full tank shot, haven’t taken many pictures lately. Have been fighting a bit of gha and some diatoms which has me really considering if the lights are too high. Picking up red sea test kits Friday, but according to api nitrates are 5-10 phosphate .25.