60" T5/LED over 84" Reef

[bpro32]

Hi lighting experts,

I'm looking for lighting options for an 84"x30" softy reef. I currently have 2x AI Hydra 26hd over a 48"x24" area and I was thinking about adding 2 more and a 61" aquatic life 4x80w T5 hybrid. Do you think this will spread well enough? I think the very corners will be lower par but this is all softies anyway so I'm not majorly concerned about that.


Or are there any other reasonably priced options? Would love to hear your thoughts!

 

[Hitman]

Yes it would work on a softy tank or you could add 2 of the 60” T5 retrofit kits and place them accordingly and eliminate the shadow spot. Marine Depot has the 60” LET T5 retrofit kits for $129 per set and they are pretty easy to assemble and about a 50% savings over the fixture your looking at.

6’ Powercord

Power cord for LET T5 Retrofit kits. Works great with the LET Retro kits, however, can be used with almost any T5 ballast on the market. What's Included? 1x 6' 120V Power Cord

www.marinedepot.com

 

[bpro32]

Yes it would work on a softy tank or you could add 2 of the 60” T5 retrofit kits and place them accordingly and eliminate the shadow spot. Marine Depot has the 60” LET T5 retrofit kits for $129 per set and they are pretty easy to assemble and about a 50% savings over the fixture your looking at.

6’ Powercord

Power cord for LET T5 Retrofit kits. Works great with the LET Retro kits, however, can be used with almost any T5 ballast on the market. What's Included? 1x 6' 120V Power Cord

www.marinedepot.com

I thought about this, but I’m not going to have a canopy.

 

[Hitman]

I thought about this, but I’m not going to have a canopy.

Ah ok then your best looking option would be the Aquatic Life fixture. Just hang it we’re you don’t get light spill over. My 60 T5’son my 240 are at 16” above the water. BRS did a video not long ago after talking with WWC on light height and in the video they talked about mounting height. I played with mine a bit and ended up moving them up from 12” to 16” and honestly I think my corals are happier. I did turn my LEDs up 5% to help with with the PAR loss.

 

[bpro32]

This is great information, thank you! I haven’t seen the video you’re referring to so I’ll have to look it up.

 

[BZOFIQ]

I am working on 83" tank and already sourced the 60" ATI Hybrid for that purpose. Have no doubts it will cover the tank just fine. Perhaps there will be little less algea to wipe on the side panels

 

[Ashish Patel]

Did you decide on this lighting choice? I am in process of reconsidering my original lighting choice for my 84x36x30" tank.

4 X 60" T5 and eventually will add 4 Gen 5 radion pro perpendicular to the tank. Only issue is either side 24" will only have 2 rows of T5 coverage and the center will have 4 rows, since I have to stagger them. I would go with 4X36" but then i'd have the same cost to setup, less light, and more overhead cost.

I am strongly considering reefbrites or even a DIY for supplementing radions lighting. Thanks BRS for really makin me reconsider what I love to use as a fill light in T5 Blue plus

 

[bpro32]

Did you decide on this lighting choice? I am in process of reconsidering my original lighting choice for my 84x36x30" tank.

4 X 60" T5 and eventually will add 4 Gen 5 radion pro perpendicular to the tank. Only issue is either side 24" will only have 2 rows of T5 coverage and the center will have 4 rows, since I have to stagger them. I would go with 4X36" but then i'd have the same cost to setup, less light, and more overhead cost.

I am strongly considering reefbrites or even a DIY for supplementing radions lighting. Thanks BRS for really makin me reconsider what I love to use as a fill light in T5 Blue plus

I went with 2 36" aquatic life fixtures with 24" end plates and 4 perpendicular AI Hydra 26HD. I often wish I had gone with the 60" fixture because it would look cleaner and bulb replacements would be about half the cost but I am overall happy with the setup.

If I were you, I would do 60" T5s. You'll get plenty of PAR from those radions at the edges of your aquarium to make up for 'only' having 2 bulbs on the edges. And that's where you could put the somewhat lower light demand corals. If I could have staggered the t5's, this is 100% what I would have done.

 

[Ashish Patel]

I went with 2 36" aquatic life fixtures with 24" end plates and 4 perpendicular AI Hydra 26HD. I often wish I had gone with the 60" fixture because it would look cleaner and bulb replacements would be about half the cost but I am overall happy with the setup.

If I were you, I would do 60" T5s. You'll get plenty of PAR from those radions at the edges of your aquarium to make up for 'only' having 2 bulbs on the edges. And that's where you could put the somewhat lower light demand corals. If I could have staggered the t5's, this is 100% what I would have done.

Hi, Thanks for your response, I was definitely factoring in the cost of bulb replacement and as you said its good to have some areas with lower PAR for lower light needing corals or even when adding new SPS. Also, because of the size of the tank I will be mounting lights alot higher than I ever have before (at least 14" if not 16") - Have to get the most out of each fixture given the depth and width. I plan on adding just T5 for the first 6 month and will just purchase the radion later as I want to run a long cycle this time around. I am not thrilled about spending $3600 on LED so the 4 bulbs of T5 at under $300 is a welcome addition

 

[bpro32]

Hi, Thanks for your response, I was definitely factoring in the cost of bulb replacement and as you said its good to have some areas with lower PAR for lower light needing corals or even when adding new SPS. Also, because of the size of the tank I will be mounting lights alot higher than I ever have before (at least 14" if not 16") - Have to get the most out of each fixture given the depth and width. I plan on adding just T5 for the first 6 month and will just purchase the radion later as I want to run a long cycle this time around. I am not thrilled about spending $3600 on LED so the 4 bulbs of T5 at under $300 is a welcome addition

I think this is a great plan and your build is going to be awesome! Such great dimensions