Lighting a 48" deep tank

[asdfjkl semicolon]

Hi -

Starting a new build and my tank is still being manufactured. Dimensions are approximately 32" square base by 48" tall, made from 1" acrylic. Overall I'm very excited for the build and will probably start a thread covering it once the tank arrives.

I'm looking for recommendations on lighting and haven't found many good suggestions for tanks > 30" deep.

Any corals I keep will be NPS, so my concerns are simply coloration and depth penetration. I am considering a kessil a360w but can't get any answers on whether or not it will be sufficient at depth.

Tank will be used for my temperate seahorses (abdominalis and subelongatus).

Thanks in advance!

 

[Sm51498]

If all you want is coloration, pretty much anything decent is fine. kessil sounds like a good option .

 

[Maximizer]

A par38 bulb will do too. Coral compulsion makes some nice bulbs

 

[ReeferMaddness843]

If you do need some punch. MH may be the way to go. Not really sure on anything aside from that on a 48" depth as haven't really delved much into that deep of a tank.

 

[Maximizer]

Who's building your tank

 

[mcarroll]

If your goal is NPS, I recommend about a ton of research before you commit too hard in that direction. Feeding requirements kill most efforts.

As far as lights, I'd keep something low power to assure algae isn't give much encouragement.

Algae + nutrients from the typical NPS feeding load = algae farm

No need to subject NPS corals to all that when they'd prefer to be upside down, growing in the dark.

 

[mcarroll]

(NPS will do poorly in the long run if allow to be on the sand bed.....definitely try keeping them upside down, up off the sand.)

 

[asdfjkl semicolon]

Who's building your tank

It is being built locally by a friend that works for an acrylics company.

 

[mcarroll]

I am considering a kessil a360w but can't get any answers on whether or not it will be sufficient at depth.

I'd imagine that would be plenty....I'd suggest maybe calling or writing them to see what they'd suggest would be best to minimize photosynthetic activity.

 

[asdfjkl semicolon]

If your goal is NPS, I recommend about a ton of research before you commit too hard in that direction. Feeding requirements kill most efforts.

As far as lights, I'd keep something low power to assure algae isn't give much encouragement.

Algae + nutrients from the typical NPS feeding load = algae farm

No need to subject NPS corals to all that when they'd prefer to be upside down, growing in the dark.

My sump consists of two 37.5 quart coolers plumbed together, the first being nothing but a deep sand bed (4" mud, 4" argonite and 2" crushed coral). There is a large algae turf scrubber mounted to the top of the DSB cooler. Nothing for physical filtration, and feeding automatic via dosing pumps and minifridge.

NPS setups are pretty easy to run when you eliminate the mechanical filtration, but not the topic of discussion (apart from pointing out that I don't need intense lighting for anything).

 

[mcarroll]

I've tried my hand a bit without much success. Further, I have seen no examples of long term successful NPS tanks.

Do you know of one (or more?) that you're modeling yours efforts after?

How do you plan to handle feeding?

You mentioned you're building a tank now.....but do you have an NPS tank currently running? How long? Pic!?

 

[mcarroll]

In case it helps, I've grown corals in a 48" deep tank using a four bulb T5....it doesn't take nearly as much as you might think.

Are you just lighting the tank to see, or are you trying to grow some photosynthetics too?