Lighting suggestions for a 120 build

jandlms · Sep 5, 2020

Tank surface will be 4’ by 2’. The Kessil A160 Tuna Blue canisters seem to be a reasonably priced option.
Tank will be a mixed reef. I figure the center will be blasted by light for a few sps and the tank ends will be fine for lower light LPS. Does anybody have a 120 that can relay what they have had success with? Any thoughts on what to utilize for lights would be appreciated because I have not ordered anything yet.

Reefer40b · Sep 5, 2020

You will want a 360 not a 160 for that size tank if choosing kessil.
other options
Expensive-Radion xr15s will need 2
somwhat expensive - Reefbreeders V2 48, 32 may work if you have room to hang higher
cheapest- vipraspectra will need 2

muggle0981 · Sep 5, 2020

I have same tank and run ai sol whites i believe they are

Have had for 6 years on my 120g

Corals i run are hammers, kenya trees, colt coral, mushrooms, cabbage leather coral, sun polyps, so polyps, toadstools, candy cAnes in one pic i lost

all seem to be happy

jandlms · Sep 5, 2020

Reefer40b said:
You will want a 360 not a 160 for that size tank if choosing kessil.
other options
Expensive-Radion xr15s will need 2
somwhat expensive - Reefbreeders V2 48, 32 may work if you have room to hang higher
cheapest- vipraspectra will need 2

Why the 360 versus the 160? The 160’s specs indicate a spread of 24 inches as do the 360’s. I really don’t want a SPS high light tank. I know the 360’s are the latest greatest thing but what’s the difference other than a sleeker looking canister and a bit more light output?

Reefer40b · Sep 6, 2020

jandlms said:
Why the 360 versus the 160? The 160’s specs indicate a spread of 24 inches as do the 360’s. I really don’t want a SPS high light tank. I know the 360’s are the latest greatest thing but what’s the difference other than a sleeker looking canister and a bit more light output?

The 160 would do like a 15in square at 24in par would drop off a lot even if not doing a sps tank, which I wouldn't recommend a kessil for sps anyway. 360 can handle a 24in spread. I wasn't saying you had to buy the newest 360x the 360we is just fine, yes only difference is higher light output and bigger spread.

A sea K · Sep 7, 2020

My 80 gallon is a shallow version of your 120 (same 4'x2' footprint). I've been using 2 Kessil 160's and a maxpsect razor since I first set it up almost 4 years ago. After many months of consideration I just ordered 3 of the Noopsyche K-7 pro lights. It will be a LOT more light than what I currently have but I plan to start out at a lower power and this should give me a lot more flexibility in both color aesthetics and intensity. Oh, not to mention they seem to be a very affordable option as well.

Acros · Sep 7, 2020

A sea K said:
My 80 gallon is a shallow version of your 120 (same 4'x2' footprint). I've been using 2 Kessil 160's and a maxpsect razor since I first set it up almost 4 years ago. After many months of consideration I just ordered 3 of the Noopsyche K-7 pro lights. It will be a LOT more light than what I currently have but I plan to start out at a lower power and this should give me a lot more flexibility in both color aesthetics and intensity. Oh, not to mention they seem to be a very affordable option as well.

Is Noopsyche basically an AI Hydra 32HD? It looks very similar.

X-37B · Sep 7, 2020

My 120 was 8T5's 4" off the surface.
Today 2-250watt MH.
waiting for them to come on as I just finished setting it up.
T5's were used almost 15 months with great results.
Lights on. It will tale a weel or so for them to burn in.

jandlms · Sep 7, 2020

Anybody have any full tank shots of a reef with the noopsyche lights on it?
ive seen the kessil lights and they are great both visually and with coral growth.

A sea K · Sep 7, 2020

jamesdomini4 said:
Is Noopsyche basically an AI Hydra 32HD? It looks very similar.

Yes, very similar.

A sea K · Sep 7, 2020

jandlms said:
Anybody have any full tank shots of a reef with the noopsyche lights on it?
ive seen the kessil lights and they are great both visually and with coral growth.

Pretty sure Dana Riddle did a comprehensive study of these lights and if memory serves he used 2 of the Noop lights on the same 120 as you have

pseudorand · Sep 7, 2020

I have a 120 with 4x Lumia 5.2 diy controled by a raspberry pi. It's working great so far, but I haven't got anything other than green palys (other stuff still in QT). It looks plenty bright and I only run them at 30% (I'll bump it up as I get more coral).

Although I have only nice things to say about the folks at LEDbuygroup, I'm not sure I'd recommend DIY. With heat syncs and other equipment, I'm pretty sure I could have gotten a few kestle 360s for what I ended up spending (to say nothing of the time I spent).

The only up side is that my heat syncs have both physical space and cooling capacity for more lights, and my constant current controllers should be able to support up to 2 more channels, so I can add lights if I need to. That will let me spotlight specific corals with specific colors (I can attach single leds to the heat sync too, not just the 25-led lumia 5.2s) and even put them on their own light schedules. Given the amount of work and troubleshooting it was, I'm not sure I'll be willing to actually try that, but in theory...

A sea K · Sep 10, 2020

Here is a thread with some pics, and some review with both good and bad feedback. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/noopsyche-k7-pro-ii-crimsons-review-and-growth-thread.528007/
Hope it helps.

nereefpat · Sep 10, 2020

jandlms said:
Why the 360 versus the 160? The 160’s specs indicate a spread of 24 inches as do the 360’s. I really don’t want a SPS high light tank. I know the 360’s are the latest greatest thing but what’s the difference other than a sleeker looking canister and a bit more light output?

The 160s are only 40 watts of LED and cover about 12-15" diameter.
The 360s are 90 watts and get you much closer to the 24" diameter, although probably closer to 18" unless you hang them high.

You did say "mixed reef," which to many of us means a mix of SPS, LPS. If you meant just LPS and soft corals, your lighting requirements do drop a bit.

jandlms · Sep 10, 2020

Always been a fan of the encrusting montis so a bit lower isn’t terrible. I’m really considering a pair of the 360s. Hopefully by only using two I will have some lower par areas on the ends of the tanks.

T-J · Nov 12, 2020

I'm going with 2 EcoTech Marine Radion XR15 Pro Gen 5's on my new 120 mixed reef. I'll probably add a 3rd, but it will end up over the center brace, which I'm not thrilled about. If I end up with 4, I'd be better off with 2 of the XR30's for the same price.