Best lighting for long shallow

[DFWreefjunky]

I have a 48x12x12 that I'm looking to light with possible t5/led combo. Anyone have experience with any hybrid units? Prefer something with professional look. Two 48" led strips was my original plan, but The more I think about it, the more I want to use t5 with supp LEDs. The tank is rimless so the fixture will need to be hung, which is still open in design factors. Any helps appreciated!

 

[Zeko]

Whats your budget look like? DIY led fixtures for what i seen are your best bet and cheaper than most but i personaly love kessils 150 ocean blue have 2 of them on my 20 long and works great and also what are you lookin to keep in your tank lps, sps?

 

[DFWreefjunky]

Budget isn't really as important as finding something that makes me happy. The "kicker" is the tank is peninsula style, so it's prob gonna have to be a long fixture or multiple units hung from a bar.

 

[arnel0387]

My vote:

Main Light: ATI 6x54W (3 Blue+, 1 Purple+, 1 Coral+, and 1 True Actinic)
Supplemental Light: 48" Reefbrite Blue XHO

 

[Zeko]

Ya same way my 20 gallon long is kinda sucks i would imagine you would be happy with 4 kessils 150 2 of them 15k and 2 10k and set them up like this 15k 10k 15k 10k so you can both spectrums of light or even replace the 15k with the 20k to give you that darker blue but i am a big fan of kessil lighting i now if you look at dry good for sale section on this forum there are a few people also selling some high end brands multiple units witch you will need for sure unless u make you'r led strip i really also like radions

 

[zoanthid26]

Ya same way my 20 gallon long is kinda sucks i would imagine you would be happy with 4 kessils 150 2 of them 15k and 2 10k and set them up like this 15k 10k 15k 10k so you can both spectrums of light or even replace the 15k with the 20k to give you that darker blue but i am a big fan of kessil lighting i now if you look at dry good for sale section on this forum there are a few people also selling some high end brands multiple units witch you will need for sure unless u make you'r led strip i really also like radions

4 Kessils seems like a lot for that size tank. I would go with 2 Kessil A360 units. Dimmable knobs and you can control your spectrum as you want, deep blue all the way up to 10k and everything in the middle.
A great T5 Led hybrid option would be any 2-4 bulb (depending what you want to keep) T5 fixure of your liking, plus two additional LED strips. I recommend evolution LED strips or Innovative Marine's Skylight strips. You can outfit the T5 with any bulb spectrum you want, 10-15k if you want to keep SPS and use the LED strips to bring out some nice colors.

 

[DFWreefjunky]

My vote:

Main Light: ATI 6x54W (3 Blue+, 1 Purple+, 1 Coral+, and 1 True Actinic)
Supplemental Light: 48" Reefbrite Blue XHO

Seems like overkill for 12"x12" dims, as well as, that setup would prob be wider by a couple of inches creating massive light flooding around tank, right?

 

[Reefing Madness]

120W LED Aquarium Light Dimmable Full Spectrum Reef Marine Coral LPS SPS Lamp | eBay
Modular Design Full Spectrum Dimmable 120W LED Aquarium Coral Reef Light Lamp | eBay

 

[DFWreefjunky]

I really like the modular ones, but have thought about going with a hybrid unit. Anyone have any experience with these? http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...=pla&catargetid=530005150000091186&cadevice=t

 

[Reefing Madness]

Looks just like a retro T5 kit with strip led lighting in the center for Moon Lighting. Will work, but I would recommend at least using 4 T5 lamps. So you'd need 2 of those.

 

[saltyfish]

I would just go with T5's on a shallow tank. Why do you want LED's in combination? ATI makes a dimmable T5 fixture that would work great on that size tank.

ATI Dimmable SunPower T5 High Output Fixture. Saltwater and Freshwater Aquarium lighting from ATI North America.

 

[DFWreefjunky]

Looks just like a retro T5 kit with strip led lighting in the center for Moon Lighting. Will work, but I would recommend at least using 4 T5 lamps. So you'd need 2 of those.

Thanks for the feedback. My thoughts were to unwire all the moonlights and put some sort of 50/50 LED strip in the mid section. Blue+ and Coral+ bulbs with a stunner strip for supplemental. I used to run a 4 bulb + 10 blue Crees for supplemental on another frag system (48x24x10) and i just thought another 4 bulb might be overkill. Most 4 bulbs seem to be right at the width of 10-12" which seems like it would create lots of light flooding around the tank.

I would just go with T5's on a shallow tank. Why do you want LED's in combination? ATI makes a dimmable T5 fixture that would work great on that size tank.

I prefer atleast some blue supplementary leds for color combo, as well as, to turn off T5 and hit all blues for the real eye candy.

 

[SantaMonica]

The two Ecoxotic 48" Panorama Marines have white and blue, and I dropped one in the tank for 30 minutes and it still works great. Come with dimmers (which I don't use).