Lighting suggestions please

[AndCoy]

I was hoping to get some suggestions on lighting. I have a standard 48x18x21 75 gallon tank. It currently has a Finnex marine 24/7 light on it. I do have some Kenya coral trees, and leather cabbage coral that is doing pretty well and was wanting to get some more colorful corals. I have tried to do as much reassuring as I could on this light, but I can’t find much on it. Most of the stuff I have read says it should really be used for a FOWLR setup. Almost all of the corals that I have really liked have been in the moderate lighting requirements. I just don’t think this light is strong enough for those corals. The second part that makes picking the lighting so hard is my canopy. There is only 5” from the top of the rim to the top of the canopy. I want to keep the canopy as the tank is in my living room and want to keep light spillage to a minimum. So far the only lights that I think might work are the orbit marine dual pro, and the maxspect razor. I really like the 27/7 setting on the Finnex and would like to have a light with similar settings. I’m wanting to keep it under $700, and honestly don’t see myself wanting to get into SPS or any crazy light demanding corals because of the dosing requirements, and light spillage as mentioned before. Just a good light with enough par to most LPS corals. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[LIreefguy]

Imo 5 inches from water to canopy top isn’t really enough room to put most powerful led lights, unless maybe your will you cut a hole in the top of the canopy

 

[divewsharks]

With only 5" of clearance and wanting softies and some LPS, I would look at strip LED's like https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/aquarium-lighting/aquarium-led-lighting/reef-brite.html
You could mount the RB strips to the canopy and get even spread around the tank. I'd go with 50/50 unless you like the blue look, then 50/50 and All blues. Total of 4 of them whichever color you pick.

 

[cvrle1]

With only 5" of clearance and wanting softies and some LPS, I would look at strip LED's like https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/aquarium-lighting/aquarium-led-lighting/reef-brite.html
You could mount the RB strips to the canopy and get even spread around the tank. I'd go with 50/50 unless you like the blue look, then 50/50 and All blues. Total of 4 of them whichever color you pick.

I never used these, but I ma not sure if they would be enough to add to already weak light fixture. It's hard to find too much info on them, but 24" fixture is 30W out of 48 LEDs. They are using 0.5W LEDs or something in that range, which are only good for really shallow tanks, or low light corals. If he already had good lights, and was looking for supplemental lighting, then these would work, but like I said I dont think these would do much with weak light fixture.

At 5" you would have issues with most LED fixtures, as they need to be placed higher to get proper light spread, and PAR. In theory they could work, but what most likely would end up happening is that you would have dark spots on the sides of the tank, with really low PAR, and really bright middle of the tank. I guess if you planned out properly coral placement, it could work, but it is extra step that you need to worry about.

Maybe using 2 Noopsyche K7 Pro units would work. They are mounted higher than 5" but maybe they could wok. @Manose, what do you think. Would these work for his tank and canopy height?

 

[divewsharks]

I'm not sure why you would use a 24" fixture over (I did not suggest that) I would use 4 of them at the full length of the tank.
Would they grow light demanding SPS, I'm not betting on it. Could they grow Softies and LPS, yes.

At 5" there are limited options.

I would also reach out to BRS directly and ask their opinion based on what they have seen and have tested for all the light options that they have.

EDIT: These specifically are 3W LEDs. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/50-50-xho-led-strip-light-reef-brite.html

I do have a question though, with only 5" of clearance, is that enough room to get into the tank when you have to service something?

 

[cvrle1]

I'm not sure why you would use a 24" fixture over (I did not suggest that) I would use 4 of them at the full length of the tank.
Would they grow light demanding SPS, I'm not betting on it. Could they grow Softies and LPS, yes.

At 5" there are limited options.

I would also reach out to BRS directly and ask their opinion based on what they have seen and have tested for all the light options that they have.

EDIT: These specifically are 3W LEDs. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/50-50-xho-led-strip-light-reef-brite.html

I do have a question though, with only 5" of clearance, is that enough room to get into the tank when you have to service something?

I didnt say use 24" fixture either. I was saying that they are not using 3W LEDs, and used 24" fixture as an example of W vs LEDs.

 

[divewsharks]

I didnt say use 24" fixture either. I was saying that they are not using 3W LEDs, and used 24" fixture as an example of W vs LEDs.

My bad.

They have a mix, some fixtures are more powerful than others (at a cost). All depending on what the ultimate destination is will determine the final options.
T5's are an option as well, just need to vent out the heat produced.

 

[AndCoy]

I'm not sure why you would use a 24" fixture over (I did not suggest that) I would use 4 of them at the full length of the tank.
Would they grow light demanding SPS, I'm not betting on it. Could they grow Softies and LPS, yes.

At 5" there are limited options.

I would also reach out to BRS directly and ask their opinion based on what they have seen and have tested for all the light options that they have.

EDIT: These specifically are 3W LEDs. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/50-50-xho-led-strip-light-reef-brite.html

I do have a question though, with only 5" of clearance, is that enough room to get into the tank when you have to service something?

Thank you for the input on the lights, I never even thought of using strip lights like that. I also didn’t realize BRS would actually answer questions like that. Pretty cool being such a big company. I uploaded a picture of the canopy. The entire top lifts up so you can get into the tank. I’m starting to think a new canopy might be the best route to get into better lights.

 

[AndCoy]

I never used these, but I ma not sure if they would be enough to add to already weak light fixture. It's hard to find too much info on them, but 24" fixture is 30W out of 48 LEDs. They are using 0.5W LEDs or something in that range, which are only good for really shallow tanks, or low light corals. If he already had good lights, and was looking for supplemental lighting, then these would work, but like I said I dont think these would do much with weak light fixture.

At 5" you would have issues with most LED fixtures, as they need to be placed higher to get proper light spread, and PAR. In theory they could work, but what most likely would end up happening is that you would have dark spots on the sides of the tank, with really low PAR, and really bright middle of the tank. I guess if you planned out properly coral placement, it could work, but it is extra step that you need to worry about.

Maybe using 2 Noopsyche K7 Pro units would work. They are mounted higher than 5" but maybe they could wok. @Manose, what do you think. Would these work for his tank and canopy height?

I looked into those lights, but I didn’t think that any lights with fans on them would really work in that amount of space. Just to have a better understanding of how PAR works, would I not have higher par with the LEDs closer?

 

[cvrle1]

I looked into those lights, but I didn’t think that any lights with fans on them would really work in that amount of space. Just to have a better understanding of how PAR works, would I not have higher par with the LEDs closer?

Thats a valid question, and answer is yes and no. You would have higher par directly under the lights, but on the sides it would be much lower. When light fixture is so close to the water, it doesnt have enough room to spread out properly. As you move the fixture further up, PAR will start dropping directly underneath the fixture, but it will start to increase on the sides. Take a flashlight, have it close to the floor and shine it. You will see a really bright spotlight, but no light dispersion. As you move flashlight away from floor higher up, there is less of a spotlight, and much more light spread on the floor. Same idea here really.

 

[AndCoy]

Thats a valid question, and answer is yes and no. You would have higher par directly under the lights, but on the sides it would be much lower. When light fixture is so close to the water, it doesnt have enough room to spread out properly. As you move the fixture further up, PAR will start dropping directly underneath the fixture, but it will start to increase on the sides. Take a flashlight, have it close to the floor and shine it. You will see a really bright spotlight, but no light dispersion. As you move flashlight away from floor higher up, there is less of a spotlight, and much more light spread on the floor. Same idea here really.

Thanks for the analogy, that makes complete since now. Yea, it’s looking like getting a different hood is the way to go. Thanks for your help.