Lights for a 36x36x24 tank

[ScottD]

Hi everyone,

looking for some input on what to light my tank with. I’m running into a problem with the 36” square foot print as most lights are designed for 24” not 36”. I liked the idea of the AI blades, but seem to be mixed reviews on them and some quality issues. I see @Orphek has come out with a dimming solution for their bars so that might be a better option.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[mike550]

@scott_the_reefer my reaction is either two 24” light bars like ReefBreeders or four light modules (maybe AI) that can each cover 24”x24” and have some overlap

 

[Jekyl]

T5

 

[ScottD]

T5

Ya I might go that route. I ran t5 over my tank many years ago and liked the spread from them. That’s what was drawing me to using led bars instead of individual lights

@scott_the_reefer my reaction is either two 24” light bars like ReefBreeders or four light modules (maybe AI) that can each cover 24”x24” and have some overlap

ya might end up going the AI prime route if I cant find something that isn’t too expensive. 2 of the reef breeders is out of my budget. Or maybe I’ll start with 2 of the primes and add a couple bars to supplement.

 

[Phil Steel]

I'm bias towards my Radion G4s

 

[minus9]

Quanto Pro bars and Reefi Uno Pro v2 (or Kessil's for more contrast). Blades are another overpriced cheaply made product. They rank up there with xho's. There are far better lights for less out there, they just don't come with "name".

 

[ScottD]

Quanto Pro bars and Reefi Uno Pro v2 (or Kessil's for more contrast). Blades are another overpriced cheaply made product. They rank up there with xho's. There are far better lights for less out there, they just don't come with "name".

Yes I agree the blades are an overpriced light for what you get which is why I’m looking elsewhere. I loved the idea of them when they first came out but have since lost interest in them because of quality issues I’ve seen with them and come across some better lights.
I looked into quanto lights but wasn’t impressed with them due to the fact they don’t dim. I also inquired into reefi unos and was told would need at least 2, maybe 4. So that leads me to believe at the very least I’ll need 2 with some kind of supplement bar with them.

I had also disregarded Orphek as well since their light bars don’t dim either but they finally just released their dimming module in February. I think I’m leaning towards them at the moment. I like the idea of the bars since it’s modular and can add more later as I progress with my tank.

 

[minus9]

I use 3 Quanta Pro meso blue bars and two 250w RB fixtures over my 36x36x16 tank. I don't think dimming is necessary, but get why people want that option. My Quanta's come on one at a time, 5 minutes apart from each other. The halides come on 5 minutes from each other from 11:15 to 5:45. The Quantas are far better lights than Orpheks and xho's (combined) with better spectrum, spread and overall power. I'm not trying to sell you on the lights, but they are better in several ways. Plus, the Orpheks need to be mounted much higher to achieve decent blending. @telegraham can definitely give you some insight on the Quantas and the other LEDs that you mentioned. Also, the combo of fixtures is dependent on what animals you plan on keeping?

 

[ScottD]

I use 3 Quanta Pro meso blue bars and two 250w RB fixtures over my 36x36x16 tank. I don't think dimming is necessary, but get why people want that option. My Quanta's come on one at a time, 5 minutes apart from each other. The halides come on 5 minutes from each other from 11:15 to 5:45. The Quantas are far better lights than Orpheks and xho's (combined) with better spectrum, spread and overall power. I'm not trying to sell you on the lights, but they are better in several ways. Plus, the Orpheks need to be mounted much higher to achieve decent blending. @telegraham can definitely give you some insight on the Quantas and the other LEDs that you mentioned. Also, the combo of fixtures is dependent on what animals you plan on keeping?

Thanks for the info, I’ll have to take another look at the quantas, maybe I wrote them off to quickly.

 

[ScottD]

@telegraham I’m hoping you could give me some info. I tried looking at your Instagram but couldn’t find any info on the orphek or3 bars. I did see where you posted recently about waiting to get your hands on their new osix. I know you and @minus9 are a big fan of the Quanta bars. What draws me to the Orpheks over the quanta’s is the addition of osix. I like the idea of being able to dim them, to adjust the different channels to tweak the lights for spectrum and visual looks of the tank. It would also be nice to have the ability to run all the lights off one power supply. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts in these regards.

 

[tbrown]

Hi everyone,

looking for some input on what to light my tank with. I’m running into a problem with the 36” square foot print as most lights are designed for 24” not 36”. I liked the idea of the AI blades, but seem to be mixed reviews on them and some quality issues. I see @Orphek has come out with a dimming solution for their bars so that might be a better option.

Anyone have any ideas?

I like @noopsyche lights. They're running a giveaway right now.

Facebook giveaway North America Only

amze.me

 

[dedragon]

Too many light options out there without more info. What is the budget, types of corals you want to grow, and look you want to achieve inside/outside the tank (mounting options, shimmer, ab+ spectrum, etc)?

 

[ScottD]

Too many light options out there without more info. What is the budget, types of corals you want to grow, and look you want to achieve inside/outside the tank (mounting options, shimmer, ab+ spectrum, etc)?

I’m still working on getting the tank put together and going. My budget is to stay under 1000 for now. As far as corals go, I’m not sure exactly what I’m planning yet, so need something that is flexible and can be added to later if needed. I ran T5 lights on a past tank almost 15 years ago and like how they blanketed the tank. That being said I’d like to see more shimmer than I remember seeing with them. I’m probably going to have some sort of canopy or shroud around my lights since this is going to be in my living room and want to minimize light spillage into the room. I’m not a big fan of the really blue looking tanks, would like to see more white appearance to it, but have the pop of fluorescents on my corals.