Need help with lighting options!

[Dilan Patel]

Im not putting a lot of high light corals near the sand bed. I will have lower light coral lps near the bottom 1/3. So my lighting plan was t-5 offset to the left than kessil a160 than either two kessil 360we or one big fixture of ap700 than second kessil a160 and second t-5 fixture offset to left. I think running the kessil a160 at 100% intensity shoudl get me a decent penetration along with the t-5. I would mount these on a 10-14in heighted canopy giving me the coverage of the entire length and depth of the tank.

 

[Dilan Patel]

Also do you mean 4260we without any other lighting? Sorry for being a bit stubborn just trying to stick to my budget...will not have mcuh money in the bank after this tank upgrade lol and i gotta keep the 180 looking great also really appreciate yalls feedback on this topic!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Im not putting a lot of high light corals near the sand bed. I will have lower light coral lps near the bottom 1/3. So my lighting plan was t-5 offset to the left than kessil a160 than either two kessil 360we or one big fixture of ap700 than second kessil a160 and second t-5 fixture offset to left. I think running the kessil a160 at 100% intensity shoudl get me a decent penetration along with the t-5. I would mount these on a 10-14in heighted canopy giving me the coverage of the entire length and depth of the tank.

Ok.
Kinda makes sense. I will admit I'm not 100 sure the max of a 160 and have it cover that tank.
You'd likely turn down the ap to match. And probably get away with a slightly higher intensity in the middle. That's fine imo. More different corals. I'm not sure youd notice a 100 par difference in the middle.

My guess (and help me out here Kessil guys ), youd be around 300 400 par at the top with 160 and t5.

Also do you mean 4260we without any other lighting? Sorry for being a bit stubborn just trying to stick to my budget...will not have mcuh money in the bank after this tank upgrade lol and i gotta keep the 180 looking great also really appreciate yalls feedback on this topic!

oh no. Budget rules! My life anyway.

And yes. 4 360 alone. Would probably be fine.

 

[Dilan Patel]

Thank you! I think I will either do 2 kessil 360we witht he plan above or do the ap700 hopeflly the kessil guys can give input

 

[Dilan Patel]

Also I heard the diffusers drop the par down but if I need more spread throw those bad boys on and turn the intensity up.

 

[Dilan Patel]

So Just an update instead of doing kessils. I decided I would do 4 sb reef lights placed vertically across the tank. I use 3 on my 180gallon already and they seem to work great so it is a place where I can save some money and spend the extra on a skimmer

 

[jeffrey holloway]

I have 6 T5s, an AP 700, and 2 160s one on each side of the AP700 added since this pic. 150g tank 48x30x24. I get crazy PAR running Kessils at about 40%. all corals healthy with good growth and color.