How would you light a wide tank?

Caleb123 · Oct 11, 2022

With the current “Made to Order” sale from Innovative Marine, I pulled the trigger on the EXT 170. They say that the wait time is 3-4 months but they happened to still have one in stock and I have already received it! I am upgrading from an IM 50 gallon AIO lit by 2 AI Prime 16HD. I have liked the Primes but I do enjoy Radions as I’ve had them in the past. The new tank is 60” x 30” x 21.75”. This is the widest tank I have had and I’m unsure of the best approach to lighting it. I do not plan on having an SPS dominant system, so I do not need to crank out a bunch of PAR, but I can’t stand to have a grossly underlit tank with bad shadowing, etc. As I stated, I really like Radions but I have also looked at more affordable options such as SmatFarm and Noopsyche. I would love to hear everyone’s opinion on how they would light a tank like this!

dstockwell · Oct 11, 2022

ATI Straton.

Dimensions:	18.5" x 18.5" (470mm x 470 mm)
Height / Thickness:	0.5" (13mm)
Light Area Size:	15.7” x 15.7” (400mm x 400mm)
Light Coverage Area:	Up to 30" x 30" (762mm x 762mm)
Power Consumption:	Up to 230 watts
Weight:	9.4 lbs. (fixture only)
Total # of LEDs:	153

thomas_neil · Oct 11, 2022

Caleb123 said:
With the current “Made to Order” sale from Innovative Marine, I pulled the trigger on the EXT 170. They say that the wait time is 3-4 months but they happened to still have one in stock and I have already received it! I am upgrading from an IM 50 gallon AIO lit by 2 AI Prime 16HD. I have liked the Primes but I do enjoy Radions as I’ve had them in the past. The new tank is 60” x 30” x 21.75”. This is the widest tank I have had and I’m unsure of the best approach to lighting it. I do not plan on having an SPS dominant system, so I do not need to crank out a bunch of PAR, but I can’t stand to have a grossly underlit tank with bad shadowing, etc. As I stated, I really like Radions but I have also looked at more affordable options such as SmatFarm and Noopsyche. I would love to hear everyone’s opinion on how they would light a tank like this!

You could get 4 more primes lol. BRS actually did an investigates on the primes and found 6 was the best for a 4' 120 gallon system.

piranhaman00 · Oct 11, 2022

I love smatfarm

Caleb123 · Oct 11, 2022

dstockwell said:
ATI Straton.

Dimensions: 18.5" x 18.5" (470mm x 470 mm)
Height / Thickness: 0.5" (13mm)
Light Area Size: 15.7” x 15.7” (400mm x 400mm)
Light Coverage Area: Up to 30" x 30" (762mm x 762mm)
Power Consumption: Up to 230 watts
Weight: 9.4 lbs. (fixture only)
Total # of LEDs: 153

These definitely look interesting! I’ll have to do a little more research before I spend that kind of cash though

Caleb123 · Oct 11, 2022

thomas_neil said:
You could get 4 more primes lol. BRS actually did an investigates on the primes and found 6 was the best for a 4' 120 gallon system.

That’s a lot of Primes! As of right now I actually plan on making the 50 a CSB anemone and Frag grow out tank. Or it may just be an observation tank for the new fish in the 170

vetteguy53081 · Oct 11, 2022

Caleb123 said:
With the current “Made to Order” sale from Innovative Marine, I pulled the trigger on the EXT 170. They say that the wait time is 3-4 months but they happened to still have one in stock and I have already received it! I am upgrading from an IM 50 gallon AIO lit by 2 AI Prime 16HD. I have liked the Primes but I do enjoy Radions as I’ve had them in the past. The new tank is 60” x 30” x 21.75”. This is the widest tank I have had and I’m unsure of the best approach to lighting it. I do not plan on having an SPS dominant system, so I do not need to crank out a bunch of PAR, but I can’t stand to have a grossly underlit tank with bad shadowing, etc. As I stated, I really like Radions but I have also looked at more affordable options such as SmatFarm and Noopsyche. I would love to hear everyone’s opinion on how they would light a tank like this!

I recommend 5 Orpkek OR3-90 bars installed vertically (3 sky blue and two blue plus)
OR
3 Ecotech XR15

thomas_neil · Oct 11, 2022

LED Light Bars for Coral Reef Aquariums | Quanta Lights

Quanta lights offers premium LED lighting solutions for aquariums. Our LED light bars are designed for coral reef aquariums and can also be used on saltwater and freshwater aquariums. Quanta lights offer value, innovation, and incredible spectrums that are simple to use and built to last.

www.quantareef.com

This is what I'm running on my 75. I have 2 misso blue and 2 reef crest. They're very good lights with good coverage. The only thing about them is a pro and con I guess. There are no times or controls on them which makes them very straight forward to use, but you will need to get a timer power strip to run them. You adjust the par by mounting height and that's the only adjustability on them.

Greybeard · Oct 11, 2022

I like the lighting in my 60x30x18" tank. 4' AL Hybrid unit, which is 18" wide, with 2x T5's (ATI B+ and Actinic) at the outside edges. I'm using a pair of Kessel AP700's in the center, which gives me 4x LED 'pucks'. The Kessel's are supposed to cover 24", which only leave 3" on each side... with the added T5's, I get excellent par, all over... and the kessels are running at about 30% power, mainly because my system is pretty shallow.

I did par testing when I put this light into service a few years back, and was very happy with the results.

Caleb123 · Oct 11, 2022

vetteguy53081 said:
I recommend 5 Orpkek OR3-90 bars installed vertically (3 sky blue and two blue plus)
OR
3 Ecotech XR15

3x XR15s is what I initially thought. However, I am concerned that they may not cover the full 30” front to back. I’m not opposed to some add-on LED strips to fill in the gaps.

vetteguy53081 · Oct 11, 2022

Caleb123 said:
3x XR15s is what I initially thought. However, I am concerned that they may not cover the full 30” front to back. I’m not opposed to some add-on LED strips to fill in the gaps.

I realize your depth and thats were the angle of diodes on orphek bars would work well. Orphek Compacts would offer better coverage front to back also

minus9 · Oct 11, 2022

Quanta Pro bars (meso blue) with your LED fixtures of choice.

minus9 · Oct 11, 2022

I think if your goal is mixed reef, then bars and a couple fixtures between the bars would cover a lot. On the budget friendly side the Smatfarm G5 is no joke and will cover a good amount of space. The downside is there’s no app to connect and control them together, but onboard programming is straight forward. Reefi duo (or their other fixture?) is pretty nice looking and people seem to rave about them. I love contrast and hate the flat look, so I’m a big fan of Kessil’s. But if you like radions, then go for it. They’re great lights, just like all the other fixtures out there, every one will do the job, it just comes down to your preference, features, looks, aesthetics, etc. Another option would be a couple or three Coral Care 2’s. They’re not heavy blue, but adding a couple bars would do the trick. See, too many options.

Cell · Oct 11, 2022

One of my priorities is maximum coverage with minimal # of fixtures/power supplies. I would shy away from something like 4x Primes, for example.

oreo54 · Oct 11, 2022

Caleb123 said:
With the current “Made to Order” sale from Innovative Marine, I pulled the trigger on the EXT 170. They say that the wait time is 3-4 months but they happened to still have one in stock and I have already received it! I am upgrading from an IM 50 gallon AIO lit by 2 AI Prime 16HD. I have liked the Primes but I do enjoy Radions as I’ve had them in the past. The new tank is 60” x 30” x 21.75”. This is the widest tank I have had and I’m unsure of the best approach to lighting it. I do not plan on having an SPS dominant system, so I do not need to crank out a bunch of PAR, but I can’t stand to have a grossly underlit tank with bad shadowing, etc. As I stated, I really like Radions but I have also looked at more affordable options such as SmatFarm and Noopsyche. I would love to hear everyone’s opinion on how they would light a tank like this!

4 of these but strictly manual control is " only" $600....