Lighting Suggestions Needed

[aquaman3680]

I'm looking to upgrade the lighting on my 75 gallon tank, and am feeling just a bit lost looking at all of the options so I figured I would ask the people who have actually used these lights.

I'm mostly wanting to keep anemones, softies and would like to be able to keep clams as well. I'm looking to stay around $1200 for the lighting on the tank. What would you suggest?

There will likely be an upgrade to a 125 in the future, so I would prefer something that I could easily just add another light to fill the space on the new tank, instead of a fixture that's a specific length.

One thing that's a must in the light is being able to ramp up for a sunrise and down for a sunset throughout the day, my daughter loves being able to see the tank with me before I go to work and before she goes to bed.

I have looked at the AI Hydra 32 lights and even the AI Prime 16, but am just not sure what is going to fit my needs best. LEDs became a thing after I got out of the hobby, last I used was 400w Metal Halides. So again, I'm just feeling a bit lost with all of the LEDs out now.

Any opinions would be awesome!

Thanks,

Matt

 

[Bpb]

Pair of radion xr15’s would do just fine for your goals

 

[rtparty]

Start with a couple XR15 Radions and then add as you go

 

[Unitylover]

Ai prime is pretty good

 

[Jbell370]

I went used and had 4 AI52 which were easy to find, served my needs on the 120 and also when I started my 240, now all Radion.

 

[aquaman3680]

Pair of radion xr15’s would do just fine for your goals

Start with a couple XR15 Radions and then add as you go

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll definitely look at those, if I ever decided I wanted to would those also be okay to grow a couple of SPS if I wanted to down the line as well?

 

[rtparty]

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll definitely look at those, if I ever decided I wanted to would those also be okay to grow a couple of SPS if I wanted to down the line as well?

Absolutely

 

[Spare time]

+1 on the radions.


Another option would be the kessil a360x. The radions are more powerful but a lot of people enjoy the kessil shimmer.

 

[aquaman3680]

+1 on the radions.


Another option would be the kessil a360x. The radions are more powerful but a lot of people enjoy the kessil shimmer.

What is the spread like on th Kessil a360x? That was my big concern with the kessils

 

[vetteguy53081]

Two Ai Hydra 26 or 32 will do great as will at least two, preferably 3 Orphek OR3-120 light strips. (Two blue plus and one sky blue in the center)

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I'm going still with the A.L t5 hybrid (im running it with 2xblu plus 2xtrue antinic and 3x kessil 360x's) on 120g 48x24x21

There's allot of options with t5 and leds and you can stick with the t5 until you need more light, add a puck or two, even some a.i primes with the t5 would look cool. T5 you will get some true u.v and shadows filled.

 

[aquaman3680]

Ai prime is pretty good

How well do they penetrate to the bottom of the tank? It's only 21" tall.

 

[Unitylover]

How well do they penetrate to the bottom of the tank? It's only 21" tall.

I dont know all those specifications, but a lot of people use it.

 

[Spare time]

What is the spread like on th Kessil a360x? That was my big concern with the kessils

These should help. The amount they cover depends on what you want. For a mixed reef, mounted at 8 inches, it covers about 24x24. For SPS at 6 inches, it covers about 18x15

Kessil LED Lights

Kessil designs and manufactures advanced LED lighting products for the horticulture, aquarium and algae industries.Kessil is leading The Spectral Revolution.

kessil.com

 

[Korkuc36]

I have 2 popbloom s16 lights for my 75. My sps corals and ritteri anemone have nothing bad to say about them. I have nothing bad to say either considering I only spent 120 bucks. I'm getting 200 par about 6 inches from the bottom. From the water surface to about 8 inches down it is not lower than 300.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

4-6 bulb t5
D

 

[Projects with Sam]

I'd get two 2 bulb 54WT5HO ballasts and 8 t5 lamp holders, some 6" aluminum flashing to custom bend reflectors and you're set. 2 blues 2 whites. if you want to get fancy, get dimmable ballasts and setup an Arduino or raspberry Pi Pico to do the schedule and dimming.

 

[aquaman3680]

These should help. The amount they cover depends on what you want. For a mixed reef, mounted at 8 inches, it covers about 24x24. For SPS at 6 inches, it covers about 18x15

Kessil LED Lights

Kessil designs and manufactures advanced LED lighting products for the horticulture, aquarium and algae industries.Kessil is leading The Spectral Revolution.

kessil.com

That definitely does help, thank you!

 

[aquaman3680]

Absolutely

Thanks for the help, I appreciate it!

 

[Spare time]

That definitely does help, thank you!

Reef brite makes a hybrid kit for it with two of their strips as well as a 48 inch long fixture that can hold kessils if you are looking to up the par on them