Wide tank lighting

[alpenreef]

My new tank is 5ft by 30 inches. My budget is around 2K. My plan is a mixed SPS/LPS reef.
My initial though was to buy 2 XR30s and be done - but I am afraid that may leave the corners and the front and back too dark.
I love the width of the tank but I am a bit stumped by adequately lighting it with $2000

 

[TX_REEF]

Here are some options I'd suggest you to consider:

Reefbreeders photon. You could get 2 of these in your budget and have plenty of coverage.

Photon 50-V2 Pro LED Light Fixture

Simple, Effective, and Powerful. ReefBreeders Photon V2 PRO LED Light fixtures are perfect for almost any reef tank. From Fish Only aquariums all the way up to SPS dominant tanks, the ReefBreeders Photon V2 PRO can do it all! The Photon V2 Pro uses the long awaited Reef Nexus app for next...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

Reefi duo. You could get 3 of these and stay in budget, and even add a couple kessil A80s for spot lighting and shimmer.

ReeFi LED Duo Extreme – ReeFi Lab

www.reefi-lab.com

Orphek LED bars. You could craft a full array of these for excellent coverage and easily stay in budget.

Reef Aquarium LED Lighting

Explore and Purchase Orphek Reef Aquarium LED Lighting, including the Atlantik iCon, Atlantik iCon Compact, OR3 60/90/120/150 Reef LED Bars, Aquarium Mounting Arms, and Fixing Brackets. Benefit from Free Worldwide Express Shipping, Door to Door!

shop.orphek.com

 

[DenverSaltyFarm]

my 2 cents is I have a 200 gallon peninsula with 2 radion g4 pros, 3 radion g6 blues and 2 6FT light bars and currently in the process to go back to metal halide.

3 brand new metal halide lights only cost me $380 and will grow sticks better than any LED and the best spread IMO

 

[nereefpat]

I assume that you want LED only? An 8 bulb 5 foot T5 fixture would add a blanket of coverage and be less than a $1000.

Asking each XR30 to cover 30"x30" might be reasonable, especially at first. I would expect some shading issues on your sticks as they grow. I think that's inevitable with an 11x7" LED fixture.

2 "rows" of LEDs would be a good solution to the 30" width. That becomes too expensive with Radions, obviously. I like the idea of 2 48" Reefbreeders Photons. With Noopsyche K7s (basically more powerful AI Hydra 32s but with a Chinese App), you could run 6 (two rows of three fixtures) and be way under budget and have a ton of light.

Another LED puck/panel option I would look into would be Reefi Unos. 3 or 4 would be under or at budget. They are a powerful 270 watts, so you can hang them high or use the included 120 degree reflectors for good coverage.

The other LED-only option would be bars of some sort. You can spread them as far apart as you like and mix and match colors. Brands I would look into would be Quanta bars, Reefbreeders lumen bars, SB. There are others.

 

[jackson6745]

60” 8 bulb ATI sunpower with 2 led strips of your choice (so many these days). You’ll be way under 2k and grow corals like you’ve never seen before.

 

[twentyleagues]

With proper coral placement 3 Reefi uno 2.0 pros would cover it great. If you wanted more concentrated lighting and shadow reduction 4 may be needed. With the 120 degree lens you have about 36x36" coverage off one, they are 270w so no issues pushing par. I have one on a 28x28x24" tank at about 116 watts I am getting 200ish par about 10" down. They are really customizable color wise too. I was worried that a lot of videos showed them really pink looking I got that out without changing the base settings too much. That purple pink hue comes from the 380-400 nm range I just bumped the blue up and added some more lime and white to make it pleasing to my eye. These are $500 each so with 3 you'd be under budget. Like @TX_REEF said you could save some money for spot lighting or bars of some sort for additional coverage.

 

[alpenreef]

Thank you all. This is really helpful. The strongest contenders are:

* 4 x Reefi Unos
* 2 x XR30
* 4 x XR15
* 3 x AI Blade 57 inch (2 grow, 1 glow)
* Hybrid 2 blades + spotlights (2 XR15s or 6 Kessil A80)
* 6 AI Prime

Mounting and extendability is important, for example I would trackmount and ceiling mount everything, with the option to add a blade with a bracket at a later stage)

 

[FUNGI]

Cant go wrong with this one..,..great light output and cant beat the price...

Maxspect Razor X 300w LED Lighting Fixture (CLOSEOUT)

Effective Coverage: 64in x 22in | Maximum Coverage: 72in x 26in Dimensions: 47.2in x 10.2in x 1.25in (LxWxH) | Suited for tanks: 47in - 59in

store.coralvue.com

 

[mrpontiac80]

I really love my reefbreeders photons and likely will not try another style light unless I have to. I currently have 3 of them. 2 o er a 180 gallon and 1 over a 65 gallon. I’d go with the first suggestion and go with two 50s side by side.

 

[Magic031707]

I would do Noopsyche k7 pro iii
2 rows of 3, 6 total

 

[trmiv]

I’m about to light a 71x30 tank (IM 200 ext) with 4x Radion XR15 G5 Pros and two 6’ Quanta Pro Meso Blue bars. I already have the 4 radions over my 4’ tank though that I’m upgrading from, so it’s not like I’m buying new. But should be plenty for a mix reef.

 

[vetteguy53081]

three ai Hydra 26 or 32hd and 2-3 Orphek OR3 light bars (sky blue and blue plus)

 

[alpenreef]

I’m about to light a 71x30 tank (IM 200 ext) with 4x Radion XR15 G5 Pros and two 6’ Quanta Pro Meso Blue bars. I already have the 4 radions over my 4’ tank though that I’m upgrading from, so it’s not like I’m buying new. But should be plenty for a mix reef.

Please start a build thread, would love to see that, almost went with the 200 ext, but wife said no to 6ft tank