Which Photon v2+ for 36x24x22?

[SliceGolfer]

Greetings all,

I’m planning a new build and research has brought me here. My new tank is 36x24x22 and will be predominantly SPS. Which Photon V2+ makes sense? One 32” unit running the length of the tank, or two 16” units running the width? Number of LEDs would be the same, however I expect coverage of two 16” units to be better than a single 32”.

 

[Reefer40b]

Since this is mainly SPS, I would use 2 of the 16's, that way you could add a little tilt to them to help with shading also. Just hang them high enough for good blending. Even better if running pure SPS would be to do 2 32's and get a full blanket of coverage. You could also do 1 32 with a double lumen bar setup...

 

[Reef Breeders]

Greetings all,

I’m planning a new build and research has brought me here. My new tank is 36x24x22 and will be predominantly SPS. Which Photon V2+ makes sense? One 32” unit running the length of the tank, or two 16” units running the width? Number of LEDs would be the same, however I expect coverage of two 16” units to be better than a single 32”.

1 x Photon 32-V2+ will be plenty, they cover 24" front to back very well since they have a pretty wide LED spread. Mount the light up a bit high at 12" since you have a relatively shallow tank.

 

[Reef Breeders]

Since this is mainly SPS, I would use 2 of the 16's, that way you could add a little tilt to them to help with shading also. Just hang them high enough for good blending. Even better if running pure SPS would be to do 2 32's and get a full blanket of coverage. You could also do 1 32 with a double lumen bar setup...

2 x 32s would be a super powerful setup. It can be done but for a tank that shallow definitely not needed. For 36" + of depth, possibly. I have seen it before though, I am having trouble finding the build thread. They have a 6 footer with 4 x 32-V2+. I think they are running them around 30% power max.

The 24 would even cover a mixed reef this size, they have quite a bit of spread.

 

[Reefer40b]

2 x 32s would be a super powerful setup. It can be done but for a tank that shallow definitely not needed. For 36" + of depth, possibly. I have seen it before though, I am having trouble finding the build thread. They have a 6 footer with 4 x 32-V2+. I think they are running them around 30% power max.

The 24 would even cover a mixed reef this size, they have quite a bit of spread.

Yes 2 32's would be super powerful... but the light coverage would be perfect! If its in his budget I say go for it. The thread with the 4 32's is Jason something forget his full username, he also ran two 80 watt T5s with them he had them on 180gal tank. I use 2 32's on my 180 and honestly wish I had 2 more, I do run 2 80 watt T5s and would ditch those for 2 more of the 32's

 

[SliceGolfer]

Thanks for the replies!

I’m surprised by a couple of factors:

1. The light is that strong. I’m very interested in PAR data.
2. A 22” tank is considered shallow.

Any ideas on rigid mounts? I’m thinking about an 80/20 stand and working up some adjustable height arms, or mounting it from the wall with shelving hardware.

 

[Reef Breeders]

Thanks for the replies!

I’m surprised by a couple of factors:

1. The light is that strong. I’m very interested in PAR data.
2. A 22” tank is considered shallow.

Any ideas on rigid mounts? I’m thinking about an 80/20 stand and working up some adjustable height arms, or mounting it from the wall with shelving hardware.

We have PAR numbers for each light in water on our site, here is the 32s readings. This was done in a running 220gallon reef tank, which is 30" deep. Keep in mind, the water is maybe 1-1.5" below the tank rim. Plus a 2-3" sandbed, so the actual depth was around 25-26". A 22" deep tank would have similar conditions- and an actual depth closer to 18".

Here is a link to a thread where one of our customers used 8020 to build a custom mount. Metric 2040 works better with these, since the bolts are M6: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/alternate-photon-v2-mounting.332661/#post-4146246

One of our clients is a service company that does mostly 4 foot deep reef tanks, the Photon V2+ supports LPS down to 48".