Lighting Question

ArsenalFish42 · Sep 26, 2018

hello! I have a AIO innovative marine 30L, which tank size is about 36”long and 10”wide. I was looking at the Hydra 26 HD. Do you think this would be adequate for softer corals, and zoas and such? Have yet to set the tank up. Thanks.

ndrwater · Sep 26, 2018

Absolutely. They Hydra 26 is a great light. You might play with the height above the tank to get the desired spread.
You'll have no problem growing corals with that light.

ArsenalFish42 · Sep 26, 2018

With the tank being as wide as it is, I should only need one correct? I believe it said that the coverage is 36”. So I’m theory it should work?

ndrwater · Sep 26, 2018

You are correct, but may find that you have some shading at the extreme edges of the tank. With softies and Zoas, this shouldn't be an issue. If you plan on moving to SPS some day, a Hydra 52, or another 26 might become necessary.

ArsenalFish42 · Sep 27, 2018

Awesome. Thank you for your advice! I’m new to this, so what does the whole SPS, LPS etc lingo mean. Any threads on that lingo by chance? Haha

ndrwater · Sep 27, 2018

ArsenalFish42 said:
Awesome. Thank you for your advice! I’m new to this, so what does the whole SPS, LPS etc lingo mean. Any threads on that lingo by chance? Haha

There is a thread here with all acronyms.. lemme see if I can find it..

But to get you started...
SPS= Small Polyp Stony coral.. think the "Sticks" you see. Acropora
LPS= Large Polyp Stony coral.. Think Hammers and Torches etc

ndrwater · Sep 27, 2018

Found it...

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/deciphering-hobby-talk-acronyms-and-commonly-used-terms.330/

ArsenalFish42 · Sep 27, 2018

Makes sense. Awesome, thank you so much!

Cody Clark · Sep 27, 2018

I would recommend with a 36" in tank that you go with a hydra 52. A 26 for a softy and zoa tank is def good enough but if you can afford the 52 or 2 26s I think you would be happier with the coverage. Recommended coverage for a 26hd is 18x18 and max at 24x24. the 52 is recommended 24x24 and max 30x30. In reality 2 26s will always be better because u can properly space them and I would also go with 2 of those over 1 52 but obviously you are jumping up a lot in price from 1 52 to 2 26s. 1 26 might really be pushing it(unless you are mounting the light very high above the tank).
- you could probably even do 2 AI primes and that would be better than 1 26. The only reason I don't really recommend these is because I wouldn't personally ever use them on a larger main display tank if I had your tank and upgraded to something much bigger in the future as they are more for smaller aio and nano tanks. They are good lights though and would be fine assuming you don't plan on upgrading any time soon. Hopefully this gives you a good idea of some varied choices depending on how much you feel comfortable spending.

- for my new 60" tank I'm gonna run 2 52s on the sides and 1 26 in the middle. It will be a heavy SPS tank(the sticks he mentioned, these require much higher par(amount of lighting). just mentioning this so you can see the amount of LEDs I am going for across 60" vs the amount youll have over 36".