30 Gallon Long - 36x12x16 - Light Recommendations

mikerf · Mar 6, 2023

I am new to the hobby and need new lights for my setup.

The setup is a 30 Gallon Long - 36x12x16. Im currently running an older fluval marine LED.

Does anyone have any experience with NooPsyche their options seem affordable. I dont know if one k7 or 2 k7 minis would be better for this setup.

Ive also looked at the AI 16 HD.

Id like something is relatively future proof and will get me started on the right foot.

Hooz · Mar 6, 2023

You can light that tank easily with a pair of Primes (or probably Noop Minis). You might need a bit more if you plan to run SPS heavy. I run 3 Primes on my 30.

Spare time · Mar 6, 2023

I'd go with two noopsyche minis. Two individual pucks is always better than one dual puck fixture in terms of spread and coverage. They are surprisingly very strong lights and you could easily add more in the future for a larger tank.

vetteguy53081 · Mar 6, 2023

mikerf said:
I am new to the hobby and need new lights for my setup.

The setup is a 30 Gallon Long - 36x12x16. Im currently running an older fluval marine LED.

Does anyone have any experience with NooPsyche their options seem affordable. I dont know if one k7 or 2 k7 minis would be better for this setup.

Ive also looked at the AI 16 HD.

Id like something is relatively future proof and will get me started on the right foot.

Ai Hydra 26 or 32hd

Pair of noopsyche K7 pro's

two Orphek OR3-90 light strips ( one sky blue and one Blue plus)

fishyjoes · Mar 6, 2023

I have a single k7 mini over a standard 20 gallon long tank (30 x 12 x 12) my setup is still very new (5 months) but I have had corals for about two months and they are doing well with the light.
I have mostly LPS (candy cane, hammer, frogspawn, blasto, duncan), a few softies (zoa, mushroom, gsp), and no SPS.

I plan on getting a second light for better coverage in the future.
I run the light only up to 25%. The center 18 inches or so are well lit, but the edges are pretty dim. This is good enough for me at this point.

One thing I know is the k7mini only offers 3 channels of color adjustment: blue, white, and "uv", but the non-mini (I don't know the name) gives more channels.

nereefpat · Mar 6, 2023

Welcome to R2R!

The 36" length will be difficult to light with a single 'puck' style fixture. The spread of any of those won't be near 36". 2 of most puck fixtures would work well, like 2 Primes or Noopsyche minis that you mentioned.

There are larger 'panel' type LED fixtures that would cover it, like reefbreeders or even including the ones we call black boxes.

There are also LED strips or bars.

A 4 bulb T5 fixture would also allow you to grow anything you want in there.

mikerf · Mar 6, 2023

I guess it’s down to the 2 ai primes or they two noopsyche minis. I’m guess the larger light multi lights wouldn’t be as effective. Is there any benefit to one over the other?