Lighting a 36-42” deep tank.

[Mattman1977]

So my wife and I are planning a remodel on the house and thought now is a perfect time to upgrade to the in wall build we had been talking about. We’re still in the planning stages but looking around 36” tall maybe more. That made me start thinking about the basics of a tank and lighting was on top. My question what’s the lighting options to achieve a decent par through 3’+ of water? All you monster tank keepers what are y’all using? Thinking MH might be my best choice but we all know how much heat they put out and not really wanting to run a chiller but will if need be.

thanks in advance
Matt

 

[count krunk]

I would go 30" max height. Any reason you want to go taller?

 

[Feet4Fish]

There are some LED options that could work like Masxspects Commercial flood lights. But for the value MH would be your best bet IMO.

 

[Mattman1977]

I would go 30" max height. Any reason you want to go taller?

Mainly viewing area. We cut black plastic sheeting the size of the tanks we were looking at and were leaning towards a 120”X36” tank. We tried several smaller ones and the 30” tall tanks looked tiny on the wall. Originally we were gonna do 96”X24” but looked like a sliver on the wall.

There are some LED options that could work like Masxspects Commercial flood lights. But for the value MH would be your best bet IMO.

I started reading your 650 gal build before I posted this. Wow. I’m only on page 3 lol.

I haven’t had any luck with maxspect for longevity. 2 controllers for 230 powerheads in a 2 years. So I’m guessing I’m gonna end up having to use 400w MH probably with some t5

what did you end up using. Spoiler alert I know lol

Matt

 

[Feet4Fish]

will be using a 4 400 MH /T12 fixture.

Mainly viewing area. We cut black plastic sheeting the size of the tanks we were looking at and were leaning towards a 120”X36” tank. We tried several smaller ones and the 30” tall tanks looked tiny on the wall. Originally we were gonna do 96”X24” but looked like a sliver on the wall.




I started reading your 650 gal build before I posted this. Wow. I’m only on page 3 lol.

I haven’t had any luck with maxspect for longevity. 2 controllers for 230 powerheads in a 2 years. So I’m guessing I’m gonna end up having to use 400w MH probably with some t5

what did you end up using. Spoiler alert I know lol

Matt

 

[Mattman1977]

Cool beans man sounds like MH is the plan. Why t12 over t5?

Matt

 

[Feet4Fish]

It’s not so much one over the other. I bought the fixture used and it is ore wired for the T12s. That is the biggest reason. Secondly talking to many that have experience with T12/MH combo the sung it’s praises. I confirmed that the T12s are still being made by UV and I know at the very least I can get them at Champion. Thought I would give them a shot and it wouldn’t be a huge deal to switch to T5 or XHO at a later date.

Cool beans man sounds like MH is the plan. Why t12 over t5?

Matt

 

[AlexG]

One thing I would like to know is are you wanting to keep SPS from top to bottom? Mixed reef? Softies?, LPS? MH would be a good option and I think that LEDs could also do the job but it all depends on what types of corals you would like to keep. If you are looking for SPS up top and LPS/softies on the bottom with some SPS then you might not need super high power lighting to achieve acceptable PAR levels.

 

[Ridgeway]

Here i run LED's (Hydra 52) over my tank that is 43" tall and coral grows for fun, no heat issues either. Plenty of deep reef aquariums successfully growing nice corals with decent lighting.

 

[Mattman1977]

figure I will end up doing a mixed reef. I just don’t want to limit myself later down the road if I want to go strait SPS. Plus I want the tank to be super bright. I do like my hydra 26. @Ridgeway whats your par towards the bottom of the tank?

 

[Ridgeway]

figure I will end up doing a mixed reef. I just don’t want to limit myself later down the road if I want to go strait SPS. Plus I want the tank to be super bright. I do like my hydra 26. @Ridgeway whats your par towards the bottom of the tank?

Really depends upon the lighting profile i run. These days i don't chase growth but look more for colour and hence i run a more blue light profile that i'm sure reduces the PAR numbers but when i set the tank up i remember recording something like 150-175ish, probably less today.