Can i light a 30" deep tank with Ai Prime HDs?

[Sean O''Hara]

Hey everyone, so i have a question as to if prime hds will be adequate for my tank. I have a 240gallon, 72 long, 30 high, 24 wide. I currently have 4 prime hds ighting it, 2 in the middle, and 1 on each side, as the tank has two top braces, dividing it into thirds. I run a high blue/purple spectrum, with very little red/green and low to midrange cool white. Currently tank only has soft corals, zoas, mushrooms, and fish. Was thinking of adding 2 more prime hds to the ends to increase the amount of light, so i can properly keep lps and sps. Im just sure about the strength of the primes at 30", and dont have access to a par meter. Also, cant see buying hydras or radions, considering i have 4 prime hds already. Looking for any input before making a decision. Thanks everyone

 

[LARedstickreefer]

Nope. You’ll need hydra52hds for that size tank. Doesn’t matter how many more primes you add, it’s too deep.

 

[Sean O''Hara]

Nope. You’ll need hydra52hds for that size tank. Doesn’t matter how many more primes you add, it’s too deep.

Thanks for the input, i thought that may be the case. However, theyre not in the budget at this point. The tank is well established (over 5 years) and doing well. Ive been in the hobby for about 30 years myself, so not new to this either. Do you thinkit makes any sense to add a couple more primes, if i didnt plan on sps? Maybe just a few hammers and such.

 

[Potatohead]

Maybe rent a par meter from BRS and see what kind of par you're getting on the bottom under the section with two lights. If it's like 30 par you can keep mushrooms maybe and some softies but most LPS will be out of the question except for a few. If it's more like 60-80 par then most Euphyllia should be ok.

 

[Sean O''Hara]

Maybe rent a par meter from BRS and see what kind of par you're getting on the bottom under the section with two lights. If it's like 30 par you can keep mushrooms maybe and some softies but most LPS will be out of the question except for a few. If it's more like 60-80 par then most Euphyllia should be ok.

Thank you, been thinking of that too, but would rather just put the rental money towards a new prime ya know. Just figured id see what kinda feedback i got first.