Help me choose lighting for 36x24x16

[RaymondNoodles]

I’m setting up a new Fiji “cube” which is 36” long x 24” deep x 16” tall. I have a Neptune Sky that I mounted above the tank and I’m just not a fan of the look it gives the tank, for the scape I’m going for. I welcome shaded areas but the Sky lights everything so well that I get hardly any shaded areas for fish and critters to hide and hang out. Just not a fan of the T5 look. There is absolutely no shimmer or contrast. I want this to be a mixed reef with LPS and softies but I’m not going for wall-to-wall corals, just some here and there. I’ll consider used lights such as Kessil AP700, Kessil A360/X, Kessil A160x, Radion G15/30, AI 26/32/52/64 etc. Pic of tank with Neptune Sky attached.

Edit - the light is no longer 18” from the tank. Currently have it about 9” (before someone says it’s mounted way too high lol) I can attach another pic tomorrow perhaps showing a more realistic height if anyone wants to see it, but I currently have the light off during cycling.

 

[blaxsun]

I think you'll be much happier with the Neptune SKY 9-10" above the tank. You may want to try playing around with the color channels before ditching it.

 

[Jekyl]

Huge fan of Kessel here. 2 Kessel 360 would be more than enough. Or 1 500.

 

[RaymondNoodles]

I think you'll be much happier with the Neptune SKY 9-10" above the tank. You may want to try playing around with the color channels before ditching it.

Yes I’ve tried different heights and played around with the various pre-sets and color channels. This pic was “photo mode” with the light about 16” from the surface but currently have it 9”. Raising the blue and violet channels made it look better color wise. You got me right before I added the edit lol

 

[RaymondNoodles]

Huge fan of Kessel here. 2 Kessel 360 would be more than enough. Or 1 500.

I’ve never seen a Kessil in person but I like what I’m reading, especially about the visual aspects. Also their fixtures look super classy which is important because this is in our office and that was one of the wife’s requirements. This tank will be the background for many Microsoft teams and zoom calls to come. It just so happens the computer faces that wall and it was the only open wall big enough to accommodate a tank so I promised to make it look super sexy.

edit - I looked at the 500 but afraid it will spill too much light out the front and back of the tank

 

[rtparty]

Throw some XHOs on there and done.

I hated my time with Kessils and the half of my tank that had them did visibly worse than the half with Radions.

 

[oreo54]

I’ve never seen a Kessil in person but I like what I’m reading, especially about the visual aspects. Also their fixtures look super classy which is important because this is in our office and that was one of the wife’s requirements. This tank will be the background for many Microsoft teams and zoom calls to come. It just so happens the computer faces that wall and it was the only open wall big enough to accommodate a tank so I promised to make it look super sexy.

edit - I looked at the 500 but afraid it will spill too much light out the front and back of the tank

White Mitras are pretty sexy.
Reflectors cut down on spill/glare better than most lenses.

 

[Kellie in CA]

The kessils look super clean on my 36” tank. I added shades.

 

[RaymondNoodles]

White Mitras are pretty sexy.
Reflectors cut down on spill/glare better than most lenses.

Ohh very sexy indeed! I hadn’t looked at the Mitras previously but they sound and look very nice. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[naterealbig]

For my build (exact same dimensions, but SPS dominant) I'm using 2 x 36" XHO 50/50 + 2 x Kessil A500X. The 500X is overkill (I'm thinking future upgrade), so the XHO + 2 x A360X would be my formal recommendation.

Option - swap the 2 x 50/50 XHO for 2 x Actinic XHO. (I'm going for the whiter look on my system).