Need lighting for mixed reef tank

[BSej]

Hello,

I am looking to buy a new light as the two LED bars we have are not sufficient.
The tank is 52" x 28" x 28"
We want a mix of corals but don't really care if we can't do sps. Just want some good growth and color out of the beginner(ish) corals.

I am wondering if the photon 32-v2 pro will suffice? Or the photon 50-v2 pro?
We cannot mount the light above the tank, it has to rest directly on top of the tank. Also prefer just one solution instead of 3 x some bar or etc. We currently have a glass top, but we can get a mesh.

Thanks for any help!

 

[jda]

Some of these nicest corals that I have ever seen are under Photon v2 alone. Go and find Therman's threads. They are great for acros, so they will be great for beginner corals too.

I would get the 50. I have a 7 foot tank and lighting it with 6 foot lights disappointed me, so I always light end to end now.

 

[BSej]

Some of these nicest corals that I have ever seen are under Photon v2 alone. Go and find Therman's threads. They are great for acros, so they will be great for beginner corals too.

I would get the 50. I have a 7 foot tank and lighting it with 6 foot lights disappointed me, so I always light end to end now.

Any issues with having it directly on top of the tank? Do I need to lower the intensities? Can I keep the glass top? It's not exactly crystal clear. Thank you for your help!

 

[jda]

I would never keep a glass top on a reef tank. The lack of gas exchange is too much of an issue for me.

The unit comes with legs, I think. I would get it off of the top a few inches.

 

[BSej]

I would never keep a glass top on a reef tank. The lack of gas exchange is too much of an issue for me.

The unit comes with legs, I think. I would get it off of the top a few inches.

I don't have any room for it to be raised. I can change the top to a mesh, would that work?

It is hard to tell in the picture, but the wall where everything is mounted splits the tank right about down the middle. Half of the tank is inside the wall. There are only about 1.5 inches of space between the wall and the top of the tank from then on backwards.

 

[exnisstech]

I love my 3 photons. Two 32s over one tank and a 24 on another. They come with legs to mount on the tank and hanging kits. I would never set a light directly on the tank even with glass lids, which I do not care for reasons mentioned above.

 

[Dburr1014]

I don't have any room for it to be raised. I can change the top to a mesh, would that work?

It is hard to tell in the picture, but the wall where everything is mounted splits the tank right about down the middle. Half of the tank is inside the wall. There are only about 1.5 inches of space between the wall and the top of the tank from then on backwards.

You are in a predicament.

I have a 48" photon V2 and they do come with legs and a hanging kit.
But you would have to set it on the tank or at least hang it above. This unit is I think more than an inch thick(trying to remember) but less than 1.5"
The problems I see are the fans, top thru the bottom, you'll be covering them completely(zero cooling effect), and spread of the LED's. You will have zero spread that close unless you take the lenses out and be completly exposed to water splashes.

I think you might want to look at t5's
Mount some in front of the wall and some in back.

IDK.

 

[BSej]

You are in a predicament.

I have a 48" photon V2 and they do come with legs and a hanging kit.
But you would have to set it on the tank or at least hang it above. This unit is I think more than an inch thick(trying to remember) but less than 1.5"
The problems I see are the fans, top thru the bottom, you'll be covering them completely(zero cooling effect), and spread of the LED's. You will have zero spread that close unless you take the lenses out and be completly exposed to water splashes.

I think you might want to look at t5's
Mount some in front of the wall and some in back.

IDK.

description says 1" thick. Half of its width would stick out on the open side and half of it under the wall if it were centered. Is that too much of a problem? How much of a problem is the spread? Yikes

I feel like the cooling wouldn't be terrible with half of it exposed and a mesh top, and being so close to the tank it wouldn't need much intensity? Not sure about the spread.

 

[jda]

If you ever do set a light directly on top of a tank, I would never tell a manufacturer that when you likely have to file a warranty claim. The environment is pretty harsh compared to even a few inches above.

 

[Dburr1014]

description says 1" thick. Half of its width would stick out on the open side and half of it under the wall if it were centered. Is that too much of a problem? How much of a problem is the spread? Yikes

I feel like the cooling wouldn't be terrible with half of it exposed and a mesh top, and being so close to the tank it wouldn't need much intensity? Not sure about the spread.

My light is 4" about the water.
Logan suggested I take the lenses out for spread so no disco effect. At the time I had acrilyc covers. Worked great. I made sure it was not mounted flush to the canopy.
Now, I mounted the covers to the fixture so the tank can breath.

No disco.

 

[BSej]

This might be a better picture. You can see one LED bar between the wall and tank here.

 

[Spare time]

If you can't raise it off the glass, I would get reef brite lumilite pros. Ai blades would probably be similar, but I know the lumilites don't have the hotspot issues that something like the photons will have.

 

[BSej]

If you can't raise it off the glass, I would get reef brite lumilite pros. Ai blades would probably be similar, but I know the lumilites don't have the hotspot issues that something like the photons will have.

Won’t I need a ton of these?

 

[BSej]

I’m thinking of mounting the photon about 4” above the water on the front half of the tank without the glass under it. And then having my lancia 2 bar under the wall on top of the glass in the back half. Most of my corals will be up front anyways and anything in the back will only be about 12” deep. I can just put some lower light corals there and keep the higher light ones up front. What do you guys think?

 

[Spare time]

Won’t I need a ton of these?

The nice thing is you can start with 3 and if you need more, add them down the road.

 

[Patx]

All my tank are cover (no choice) , gaz exchange happen in sump...
Black box led whitout lense ore whatever brand that are not "puck" work great for that type of need...

 

[MrGisonni]

I wouldn't put powerful LED fixtures right on the glass. Keep your present lights and add some pucks, every spaced. Fabricate something to keep them off the glass if you can even if it's from a peanut butter jar. A couple of AI Primes and your good

 

[VintageReefer]

Can you mount the photon an angle
So the long edge closest to the front is maybe 1” off the glass and the edge farthest from the front is 4”.

Then it’s shooting light into the tank diagonally towards the middle area and would direct more light inwards

 

[BSej]

The photon is already on the way, so I'll try what VintageReefer suggested and also try pointing it straight down.

 

[Spare time]

The photon is already on the way, so I'll try what VintageReefer suggested and also try pointing it straight down.

Avoid putting corals in the center