lighting for 6' tank?

FishyThings · Apr 30, 2023

So im slowly starting to plan my future tank build and im just wondering what lights I should go with? The tank is a Innovative Marine SR Pro 2 120g Tank, and is 6ft long 22in deep and 16 in tall. I would like to stay on the moderatly affordable side, but not garbage cheap, it will be a mixed reef.

bradreef · Apr 30, 2023

The reasonable budget option would be 3 noopsych k3's. Are you wanting an app? General budget range?

FishyThings · Apr 30, 2023

bradreef said:
The reasonable budget option would be 3 noopsych k3's. Are you wanting an app? General budget range?

I would like to spend less than $1k on lighting, but i did see that red sea 50 led's might be able to get what I need at $750 for 3 of them.

bradreef · Apr 30, 2023

Noopsyche lights are more than double the power of the red sea. 50 watts will struggle with sps except in the highest spots.

bradreef · Apr 30, 2023

If you want lower powered lights maybe 3 prime 16hd's . Those are 250 each.

3 hydra 32's would be over $1200. But you could grow anything

Radions are a bit above the budget.

nereefpat · May 1, 2023

Do you want LEDs, for sure?

What features are important to you?

A 50 watt light isn't appropriate for a 2 foot length of mixed reef. You won't be happy with that.

strawberry_reef · May 1, 2023

Maxspect Jump 165. Can't get any better "bang for the buck" light IMO.

dwest · May 1, 2023

I use an aquaticlife hybrid on my 180 and am very happy with it. You could start with only the T5’s then add the LED’s of your choice down the road.

exnisstech · May 1, 2023

bradreef said:
Noopsyche lights are more than double the power of the red sea. 50 watts will struggle with sps except in the highest spots.

I second the noopsyche. I have six k7 pro V3 over a 72x24x24" tank and get 300 par on the bottom where my clam is with the lights around 70%. I have a canopy that only allows me to get the lights 7 inches above the water so I can't get the spread that I could if they were higher. On a 16" tall tank I think four would be sufficient to grow anything. They put out some serious par. I have radions, AI hydra and reefbreeders photon and think the noopsyche are the best bang for the buck IMO. The Photon is my favorite because it doesn't use a puck style light so there isn't a lot of light spill. I have it over a tank in our dining room with no canopy so that was important for that particular tank. I would never buy radions again. They are overpriced and mobius and I don't get along. I'm running gen 4s so I don't have to use mobius fortunately. If you look into the noopsyche use promo code REEF2REEF and they are $208 each shipped with the mounting arm. Last I heard @Zach B is the distributor in the US now

vetteguy53081 · May 1, 2023

FishyThings_YT said:
So im slowly starting to plan my future tank build and im just wondering what lights I should go with? The tank is a Innovative Marine SR Pro 2 120g Tank, and is 6ft long 22in deep and 16 in tall. I would like to stay on the moderatly affordable side, but not garbage cheap, it will be a mixed reef.

If youre doing coral-

3 radion XR15 or 30

2 Orphek Atlantiks

3 Orphek OR3-150 (2 sky Blue and one blue plus)

4 noopsyche K7 Pro

FishyThings · May 1, 2023

bradreef said:
If you want lower powered lights maybe 3 prime 16hd's . Those are 250 each.

3 hydra 32's would be over $1200. But you could grow anything

Radions are a bit above the budget.

I might do the prime 16's because they would cost the same as the red sea led's

FishyThings · May 1, 2023

The mixed reef would be more lps dominated, so the really high par suggestions probably wouldnt be the greatest ideas. If I were to ever get into more expensive sps/light demanding sps down the line, then I would probably upgrade to higher output lights, but with my current plan, I do not believe that getting super expensive lighting just for predominantly moderate sps and lps is just not worth it.

FishyThings · May 1, 2023

This guys tank is the same in height and width, but is about 20 inches shorter, he has 3 ai prime lights, so I might go with four unless I can find a better option at around $1000