Lighting questions

John Sanders · Sep 12, 2018

So I have a 60 gallon lowboy that I am wanting to do sps/ lps and possibly nems. I’ve been looking in to hybrid lighting. I currently have one xr30 pro radion but was thinking about selling it and going with ai primes? Any thoughts or suggestions?

Crabs McJones · Sep 12, 2018

Welcome John to R2R! What are the dimensions of your 60 gallon? Using that XR30 with T5's would be an awesome setup and allow you to utilize lighting you already have

#WelcometoR2R

John Sanders · Sep 12, 2018

Thanks! The dimensions are 48x25x13 it’s a lowboy

John Sanders · Sep 12, 2018

48x24x13*

Ruben's Reef · Sep 12, 2018

!!! Welcome to R2R John !!! Like the tank footprint. You can also make your own Build Thread to keep us posted with your progress. Happy reefing..

29bonsaireef · Sep 12, 2018

I've seen a lot of anemones wither away under LEDs only. Can't really go wrong with a T5/LED combo IMO.

DesertReefT4r · Sep 12, 2018

You will need at least 1 more XR30 Pro to properly cover the tank. T5/LED combo is a good way to go.

jda · Sep 12, 2018

I agree. You need more. I would sell it and get 4 xr15s or HD 26s and spread them out more. Prime would be OK if you were wanting the T5s to do the heavy lifting.

None of those are going to spread all that well in a shallow tank unless you keep them up high. I would recommend at least 4 T5 bulbs to help with the shadowing.