Sps Dominant Reef Lighting

[benscorals]

I have a 80 gallon rimless deep blue aquarium that is 48” long by 24” wide by 16” tall. The tank is going to be sps dominant. I was thinking of doing a 48” hybrid aquatic life t5 4 bulb fixture with 3 Ai primes in the center. What is the best lighting setup for sps and how many would I need for this tank?

 

[WIReefer]

I would go with a 6-8 bulb sunpower love mine!

 

[desagon]

I have the same tank and the same lighting fixture. But, I have 2 Radion xr15’s in the center. My t5 bulbs are ATI and I have 2 blue +, 1 coral +, and 1 purple +. My Radions are set to the ab+ Setting for sps. This works just fine for me. I do wish I had gone with all blue + t5 bulbs though.

 

[benscorals]

I have the same tank and the same lighting fixture. But, I have 2 Radion xr15’s in the center. My t5 bulbs are ATI and I have 2 blue +, 1 coral +, and 1 purple +. My Radions are set to the ab+ Setting for sps. This works just fine for me. I do wish I had gone with all blue + t5 bulbs though.

Do you have the 36” or 48” t5 hybrid?

 

[desagon]

Do you have the 36” or 48” t5 hybrid?

I have the 48”. I did however contemplate on getting the 36”, only because if I ever upgraded my tank to a 6 foot, it would look nicer to have 2 of the 3 foot fixtures overhead rather than a 2 foot next to a 4 foot Fixture and I could just get all the same size bulbs. Not a big deal either way. The light spread is really good with the 4 foot and I’d recommend that

 

[Reefcowboy]

I've had the same tank in the past, full sps. Used a 6 bulb t5 only(Tek light) and grew sps on the sand anywhere in the tank.

Be careful with that tank, 16" tall can be tricky with lighting if you arent careful. Not sure how good the reflectors on your hybrid fixture are, the 4 bulb t5s will be doing most of the heavy lifting already. The LEDs will be for shimmer and you will have to watch on intensity.
If you go 3 of the bulbs blue plus and the fourth a daylight, such as coral plus, 75% of the lighting will be set

 

[ScottB]

I run 2 of those tanks in my basement frag system. Over a 100 SPS frags & colonies.

Each is lit with an 48" Aquatic Life fixture and 3 Hydra 26s. 4 X ATI Blue Plus. About 12" off the water. A very smooth distribution of light; no hot spots, no dead spots. The frag racks sit in about 450 peak PAR. 12 hour cycle; 90 minute ramp. The T5s run 6 hours.

(The tank in the foreground is LPS and coral QT with 6-bulb Sunpower.

Great value for the money. Highly recommend.