IM 50 AIO lighting recommendations

[Spare time]

If Someone else selling the same light under a different brand? More or less $$? I'd be keen to hear more.

It was basically the same light with less control and wider+not as long. They don't make that anymore. I think for you I would check out these and decide based on features and mounting styles

noopsyche (2-3 minis I think should be able to do the trick, or two double puck fixtures)
Reefbrite Lumilite/lumilite pro
AI blade.

These are all relatively cheap fixtures that should get the job done. The reefbreeder is also an option if you want that. If it were me, I'd go with either the noopsyche or the ai blades.

 

[Midrats]

50 EXT here. Every square inch is evenly illuminated by one fixture, an 8 bulb Sunpower.

 

[nothing_fancy]

I have an IM 40 and previously had an older Hydra fixture on it that I found unreliable. The newer stuff is probably better but the fixture would lose connectivity and it was a pain to reconnect. I switched over to (2) Kessil A360X last year and have been very happy with them. Never had any connectivity issues and the coverage is excellent. You could probably get away with (1) 360x fixture if you aren't gonna get into certain corals.

 

[carguy4471]

noopsyche (2-3 minis I think should be able to do the trick, or two double puck fixtures)
Reefbrite Lumilite/lumilite pro
AI blade.

Reefbrite Lumilite/lumilite pro
AI blade.

An AI prime with a couple blades doesn't sounds like a bad solution.....

 

[srobertb]

Radion really would be the go to, but man, that price. I get that they are nice lights but at nearly double the cost of anything else that make it pretty tough to swallow.

The SR60 isn't out of the question. That really would be my first choice for a tank. You make a good point about the lighting though.

I appreciate the input!!

Assume most lights cover a 24x24x16” deep square (Radion, Kessil, etc). So a 30” tank as an example is going to require the same amount of lights as a 48”

I had 4 Kessil A360x’s die within 60 days or so of each other…right outside of warranty. I don’t recommend them anymore as a main light.

Know this- whatever light you do buy, aim for about 70-80% power. Don’t get something you have to run at 100%. It will die quicker.

 

[Spare time]

Reefbrite Lumilite/lumilite pro
AI blade.

An AI prime with a couple blades doesn't sounds like a bad solution.....

I'd start with two blades. if you want to go that route. You may not even need the prime on such a shallow tank.

 

[carguy4471]

So far the ones that have got me most interested are the Reefi Uno and the ReefBreeders Photon v2 24".

The Reefi looks like a PAR hammer! Their customer support seems to think a single Uno would work for an IM 50 or SR 60. Impressive if that's the case.

The ReefBreeder light as a bar vs a puck seems like it's have great spread and the PAR looks adequate.

Still hoping to hear more thoughts on these or other ideas. Can't thank everyone enough for their input!! I really do appreciate it!!

 

[Reefplnr]

I have a Kessil AP9X over my 50 Lagoon. It’s been excellent but I am considering putting an AI Blade over the system to supplement the AP9X. I bought the Kessil extension bar to move it forward in the tank and will place the AI Blade Grow across the back. Not sure if I should go with the 30.1 or the 20.1.

 

[tautog83]

I have the 50 lagoon AIO as well. I had 2 ai prime 16HDs for several months to start. While they did ok, I was not satisfied with the par readings or the coverage. In my opinion they are underpowered for this size tank. I have a large CSB anemone and softies and LPS. I bought a Radion XR30 pro G5 secondhand and I am much happier. The coverage and par are much better and in my opinion the single light fixture looks much better on the tank. I don’t know that I can attribute it to the light, or the maturation of my tank as a whole (likely a combination of the two), but my CSB has started to really show off it’s colors and coral growth has increased tremendously.

id probably say its mostly the maturation of the tank.. at the end of the day 2 primes can cover 29"x 18 for an lps tank no problem

 

[old salt reefer]

I have 2 Radion XR15 gen 5 blues over mine. Right now I run the AB+ spectrum at 50% intensity(meaning all colors at 100% with a point intensity of 50% and a schedule intensity at 100%.) I have spent years trying to get my SPS to color up under them with little luck.( I've used present setting for about a month waiting to see what happens) Yet I can move colorless corals out of this tank into others I have with AI Prime 16HDs and the color is back in no time. If I had to do it again I'd put 2 AI hydra 32s over it.