Help: what lights to get with this 70 gallon reef?

Peter Jason · Jul 21, 2019

I saw on you tube someone with the same size tank has two of these: Hydra TwentySix HD

I was hoping to just be able to buy one of those.

This is the tank: https://www.liveaquaria.com/product...arium-white?pcatid=6406&c=3753+3829+3830+6406

Will I be ok with just one of those lights?

Ebslinger · Jul 21, 2019

I went XR15 Pro on my Red Sea Reefer Nano and really like it. Very clean install. Fits with the look, at least for me. Plus, easy to adjust and seems to have a large following with the AB+ lighting profile.

Hitman · Jul 21, 2019

One will be good for low light soft corals but not for sps in my opinion. You could always start with one and down the road once your tank matures and is ready for corals buy a second one.

Peter Jason · Jul 21, 2019

Hitman said:
One will be good for low light soft corals but not for sps in my opinion. You could always start with one and down the road once your tank matures and is ready for corals buy a second one.

I'm not a fan of SPS. I do love LPS. Will it grow LPS for me?

road_runner · Jul 21, 2019

You cannot go wrong with hydra HD, ecotech or even well planned T5.
It's about the budget and space you have above the system

JustAnt · Jul 21, 2019

IMO you need 2 for adequate coverage on the side. Otherwise sides will be dim. You need to decide your lightsbased on the types of coral you will keep; not tank size.

Worst thing that could happen is your coral will live but not grow. Then you will end up getting another light.

JustAnt · Jul 21, 2019

One ai 52 hd might be better if u only want one light on tank

Hitman · Jul 21, 2019

Peter Jason said:
I'm not a fan of SPS. I do love LPS. Will it grow LPS for me?

Due to shadowing 1 HD26 just won’t have the spread. A HD52 will if your just looking to go with one light.

Hitman · Jul 21, 2019

Also if your just looking into lps a 24” 4 bulb T5 fixture would be perfect

Peter Jason · Jul 21, 2019

The A HD52 is a $700 light!

Im a newbie, but how could shadowing be resolved by a stronger light?

Peter Jason · Jul 21, 2019

Hitman said:
Also if your just looking into lps a 24” 4 bulb T5 fixture would be perfect

I kind of what a top end light. I like the idea of controlling it on my phone and setting it through an app. Any other light you would recommend? Someone else here said shadowing would not do well with this light--- your thoughts to that?

road_runner · Jul 21, 2019

Peter Jason said:
The A HD52 is a $700 light!

Im a newbie, but how could shadowing be resolved by a stronger light?

Because source of light is not only direct but also reflections and scattered light off the water. Strong light(withen reason) can reduce shadowing. Also depend on the light type (if LED, depend on the lenses disposition and allocation) the spread varry
that being said I do not like to treat shadowing just by light intensity, I rather add light if the shadowing is due to light position..

JustAnt · Jul 21, 2019

Peter Jason said:
The A HD52 is a $700 light!

Im a newbie, but how could shadowing be resolved by a stronger light?

Have you been to the products website. They show the different par levels with 1 26hd you won’t have the needed par outside an 18 inch square box centered in your tank. Most coral need high light to grow. More than food.

Peter Jason · Jul 21, 2019

JustAnt said:
Have you been to the products website. They show the different par levels with 1 26hd you won’t have the needed par outside an 18 inch square box centered in your tank. Most coral need high light to grow. More than food.

Rimless Saltwater Reef Aquarium Systems

- Waterbox Aquariums

www.waterboxaquariums.com

the website advertises the tank with the light? Thanks for your help. I still am a bit confused. I can't find where they show the par levels???

Hitman · Jul 21, 2019

Peter Jason said:
I kind of what a top end light. I like the idea of controlling it on my phone and setting it through an app. Any other light you would recommend? Someone else here said shadowing would not do well with this light--- your thoughts to that?

The apps are nice but they allow people to play with their lights to much which is terrible for your corals. Personally if it was my tank I would go with a Aquatic Life LED / T5 fixture with 2 Kessil A360x lights.
There are 3 things in this hobby I recommend never ever going cheap on
1: Return pump. It’s your tanks heart beat, and have a spare.
2: Lights
3: Heaters. Always run 2 for redundancy and still have a spare.

Peter Jason · Jul 21, 2019

Ohashimz said:
Because source of light is not only direct but also reflections and scattered light off the water. Strong light(withen reason) can reduce shadowing. Also depend on the light type (if LED, depend on the lenses disposition and allocation) the spread varry
that being said I do not like to treat shadowing just by light intensity, I rather add light if the shadowing is due to light position..

Do you have any other recommendations for a single wifi light that is under 400? thanks.

Hitman · Jul 21, 2019

Why do you want a WiFi light? Once you set your lights it’s best to just leave them alone. Those apps allow people to play to much and cause a lot more bad issues then good. Personally all this app hype is what is causing so many tank issue threads. Just set your lights and leave them alone and a WiFi app is not needed for that.

road_runner · Jul 21, 2019

Peter Jason said:
Do you have any other recommendations for a single wifi light that is under 400? thanks.

Hmmm. Kessil have couppe options, maybe 2 of their modular light...but I do not think ita wifi..check
Honestly I advice you to get a good light rather than try to save, get bad light only to throw it away when your system scale and buy again. You will waste more money..
Why do not you start with one good light like the hydra 26 HD then scale ad your system scale.

Otherwise with your range. You can get a nice T5 setup, some of the best systems outthere are T5. Ad a matter of fact, even LED systems like mine moved to LED+T5 combo. So you can start with solid T5, then you can add LED or you might not add LED at all later on...

road_runner · Jul 21, 2019

Hitman said:
Why do you want a WiFi light? Once you set your lights it’s best to just leave them alone. Those apps allow people to play to much and cause a lot more bad issues then good. Personally all this app hype is what is causing so many tank issue threads. Just set your lights and leave them alone and a WiFi app is not needed for that.

100% agree, I would not pay 10$ more just to control light remotely. It's such a useless feature. Lights should be set and forget.

Peter Jason · Jul 21, 2019

Hitman said:
The apps are nice but they allow people to play with their lights to much which is terrible for your corals. Personally if it was my tank I would go with a Aquatic Life LED / T5 fixture with 2 Kessil A360x lights.
There are 3 things in this hobby I recommend never ever going cheap on
1: Return pump. It’s your tanks heart beat, and have a spare.
2: Lights
3: Heaters. Always run 2 for redundancy and still have a spare.

Thanks for the great tips. Would you recommend light(s) for the this tank as well as a return pump? I was just going to buy a return pump off amazon. For heater, I have an aquatop 300 watt titanium