Thoughts on lighting for drop down tank

[MONTANTK]

Setting up an IM 20 drop off tank that will mainly be SPS. Currently I’m planning on using my 2 existing AI Prime HDs. I was tinkering with the idea of getting a Photon V2 16 (not V2+) and a XR15 G5 pro instead as I feel it may provide slightly better coverage. Not sure if I’m just looking for an excuse for new lighting or if it’s actually worth consider for the reason mentioned or possibly others. What would you do?

 

[Saltyreef]

Keep the 2 primes. Plenty of coverage for a 20g tank.

 

[dedragon]

Agreed, I would just add an orphek or3 bar if you really wanted to increase the par for cheap but its probably unnecessary

 

[MONTANTK]

Agreed, I would just add an orphek or3 bar if you really wanted to increase the par for cheap but its probably unnecessary

Yeah I think I’m getting pretty good par now. I think I’m just looking for an excuse to get a new light lol

 

[Zakery Murray]

Yea I would use the 2 primes have one over the shallow area, one over the deep area. If you even wanted you could play with the settings and have one be a bit brighter because it is deeper, and the shallow one not as bright. Overall the 2 primes will get you the best coverage and you wouldn't have to spend anymore cash on lights instead you could buy some nice corals for it.

 

[MONTANTK]

Yea I would use the 2 primes have one over the shallow area, one over the deep area. If you even wanted you could play with the settings and have one be a bit brighter because it is deeper, and the shallow one not as bright. Overall the 2 primes will get you the best coverage and you wouldn't have to spend anymore cash on lights instead you could buy some nice corals for it.

True, I was planning on running them equally since at the bottom of the drop off I would have zoas and probably a hammer coral. The SPS will be in the upper portion

 

[Zakery Murray]

True, I was planning on running them equally since at the bottom of the drop off I would have zoas and probably a hammer coral. The SPS will be in the upper portion

Yea you could do that, just saying that they are separate units you could fine tune them to exactly what you needed instead of one big unit, that's why I'd stick to the 2 primes you can get exactly what you want with them.

 

[dedragon]

lol they are already the newest version of the ai lights, you cant really do better for color or par. Different, sure, like if you wanted to add kessils for the better shimmer go for it