Lowboy Lighting Upgrade Recommendations

[Coastie Reefer]

So here's an early pic of my frag tank for reference. It's a 36" AquaticLife hybrid fixture with ATI B+ and Actinic bulbs along with a MarsAqua 300w LED hung 18" over a Lowboy frag tank - 48x24x10 . After running this setup for several months, I'm just not that happy with it. I don't have a PAR meter so I don't have numbers, but I think there are some serious hot spots as some frags will bleach and others will do just fine. I'm also just not sold on the color... thinking the light might be missing some of that deep blue and UV spectrum and the white light seems a bit on the lower spectrum and overpowering unless turned way down.

I run the same 36" hybrid over my 75 but with a pair of Hydra 26HDs. I really love the Hyrda's and I'm considering swapping the 300w with a couple of 26s. The ultimate plan for this setup is 75% sps and 25% other. Based on AI's spread of 18x18 I should have 3" of lower light at the front and back edge and 6" of lower light on the left and right sides. This doesn't account for the T5 bulbs, but I only run them about 3 hours in the middle of the photo period anyway.

Would 2 26's be a good replacement for the 300w, would they be enough for my goals? Would I need to lower the lights? I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments.

 

[Coastie Reefer]

Bump for the evening crowd

 

[Mike N]

Those MARS aqua lights definitely produce pronounced hotspots. Here are readings for a 16" over my lowboy for reference...

 

[TheGreatWave]

That puppy has some power how about a sheet of diffuser material from the hardware store?

Mind you it won't do anything if you don't like the color but it should do a good job softening things. Sometimes it's surprising you loose a little par in the middle but may see a slight increase at the edges if you are lucky. (This would depend on the type of diffuser, distance from the LED, whether or not the LED has lenses etc.)

I think your light may need to be lower now just for PAR from the T5. I have a 4 bulb 36" T5 that puts about 150 PAR on the floor (center) with the light about 8" above the water of a frag tank.

With regards to the Hydra, if you own them and literally don't mind swapping them, they could be utilized for spread or color choice, but whether or not they are needed power wise will depend on your PAR goal. We don't know how much power either light uses with your color setting, lets say for now either is sufficient and will be set per situation and not at 100%, then which had more power is not an issue.

With the hydra I would also prefer a diffuser due to the different colour LED. In reality you would only lose PAR if you were at 100% power to begin with.

The Hydras would give you an additional (up to) 270 watts added to your 156watt T5 fixture. If you figure the T5 can do most the lifting at 8", do you need the Hydras? Or does the 165watt light have enough?

I guess when you look at it like this, go with the Hydra because you like the color and it would in theory have better spread. Power is unknown at this point but it doesn't have less then the black box.

If I had to buy the hydras, or look at a ugly? black box on my main display, I may be tempted to make the black box work with a diffuser on the frag tank.

 

[Coastie Reefer]

Those MARS aqua lights definitely produce pronounced hotspots. Here are readings for a 16" over my lowboy for reference...

Wow that’s crazy and literally the first complete mapping I’ve seen someone do on a Mars. Thanks.

I’m only running my light around 45-50% blue and whites at minimum but I’d guess I’m still hitting 400+ in the middle based on your numbers.

Do you have a build thread on your lowboy?

 

[Coastie Reefer]

That puppy has some power how about a sheet of diffuser material from the hardware store?

Mind you it won't do anything if you don't like the color but it should do a good job softening things. Sometimes it's surprising you loose a little par in the middle but may see a slight increase at the edges if you are lucky. (This would depend on the type of diffuser, distance from the LED, whether or not the LED has lenses etc.)

I think your light may need to be lower now just for PAR from the T5. I have a 4 bulb 36" T5 that puts about 150 PAR on the floor (center) with the light about 8" above the water of a frag tank.

With regards to the Hydra, if you own them and literally don't mind swapping them, they could be utilized for spread or color choice, but whether or not they are needed power wise will depend on your PAR goal. We don't know how much power either light uses with your color setting, lets say for now either is sufficient and will be set per situation and not at 100%, then which had more power is not an issue.

With the hydra I would also prefer a diffuser due to the different colour LED. In reality you would only lose PAR if you were at 100% power to begin with.

The Hydras would give you an additional (up to) 270 watts added to your 156watt T5 fixture. If you figure the T5 can do most the lifting at 8", do you need the Hydras? Or does the 165watt light have enough?

I guess when you look at it like this, go with the Hydra because you like the color and it would in theory have better spread. Power is unknown at this point but it doesn't have less then the black box.

If I had to buy the hydras, or look at a ugly? black box on my main display, I may be tempted to make the black box work with a diffuser on the frag tank.

Good points but maybe I wasn’t clear or I misread some of your post. I wouldn’t be swapping the lights between tanks but buying 2 more 26s to replace the 300w over the frag tank.

As far as the diffuser I could try that but I could also look into removing the optics. That might give me a better spread and blend at the cost of par, but I highly doubt a little less par would be bad since I have plenty of room to crank the power up.

I’ll never be one to say black boxes won’t grow coral because I’ve used them for nearly a decade. I’m just not sure they’re always the best option.

That 700+ price tag just hurts when I could putting that into frags...

 

[TheGreatWave]

Oh OK ya I don't think I would buy Hydras either then. If anything another black box or other options. (More T5, 2X150 MH etc)

I guess you could try taking the lenses off, I asssumed they were spreading light.

 

[Mike N]

Wow that’s crazy and literally the first complete mapping I’ve seen someone do on a Mars. Thanks.

I’m only running my light around 45-50% blue and whites at minimum but I’d guess I’m still hitting 400+ in the middle based on your numbers.

Do you have a build thread on your lowboy?

No build thread as of now, but I plan to when I get some free time.
The tank is only 1 month old. I have the Mars Aqua on one side, and a xr15 G4 Pro on the other side.
Here are the XR15 numbers on coral lab setting:

 

[Coastie Reefer]

No build thread as of now, but I plan to when I get some free time.
The tank is only 1 month old. I have the Mars Aqua on one side, and a xr15 G4 Pro on the other side.
Here are the XR15 numbers on coral lab setting:

Love that super flat spread. Never would have guess a single puck light would be like that, but I guess it is only over a 14x18 area...

Curious just what I could get out of 2 26's and T5s. I'd love to get 250-350 par on about 20x36 of the 48x24 footprint just not sure how feasible that is...