Tank lighting for a 180 gallon

[LBReefer]

I've setup a 180 gallon tank and I could use some advice on lighting options.

I bought a 4 bulb 60" ATI T-5 from a fellow reefer here on R2R a few months back. I supplemented that with a 60" actinic lumi light a short while later. I worry that this will still be insufficient for the mixed reef I planned. I've considered taking the t-5 to my office and bringing home the two kessils 360s I have on my office back home. I know that I would likely still need to add another kessil or two, but I think I would get better coverage and have fewer heat issues.

Alternatively I have considered a reef bright tech or xho light to my existing setup.

Any and all advice would be appreciated, although my pocketbook may do some of the deciding.

Thank you in advance.

- LBR

 

[hijinks7]

3-4 kessil 360s or 3-4 radion 30pros with a 60in aquaticlife t5 hyrid.

That will grow anything you want

 

[Daniel Waters]

If you're just keeping softies and LPS, the 4 bulb T5 will be sufficient. If you're wanting higher light corals such as acros or wanting clams, then you will want more light.

If you like the way the T5s look, you could consider adding a couple of 60" actinic LED bars (not the lumi lights, something with more power) on each side of the fixture. That should give you a nice T5 / LED combination. The aquatic life hybrid option mentioned above would be fine also with 3 to 4 kessil A360s in the center.

If you want to go all LED, 3 to 4 Kessil A360s for a softie / LPS tank will suffice. More if you want to keep higher light corals.

 

[jda]

I would rather use 4x T5s than 4x Kessils. 4x T5 can handle softies and most LPS. Nearly everybody ends up with T5s with their Kessils after a while, so if you go the Kessil Route, keep the ATI and be ahead of the game.

 

[Chef Tommy]

I have a 4 bulb t5 over a 75 and it has done great with all corals. I wanted better growth and added a sky blue and uv orphek light bar. They were $160 each, great value by Orphek!

 

[Chef Tommy]

Thought a pic would be good to share

 

[mcarroll]

Have you measured the output of your lights at any point so far?

Guessing is definitely going to lead you astray.

You can download a free lux meter app, but please buy a handheld meter of some kind. $10-20 for a basic lux meter like my LX-1010B. But there are TONS of great options from $10 all the way up the scale to pro-level devices at $500+, including lux meters and PAR meters.

 

[Chef Tommy]

A par meter is definitely my next investment

 

[Eagle aquatics315]

I've setup a 180 gallon tank and I could use some advice on lighting options.

I bought a 4 bulb 60" ATI T-5 from a fellow reefer here on R2R a few months back. I supplemented that with a 60" actinic lumi light a short while later. I worry that this will still be insufficient for the mixed reef I planned. I've considered taking the t-5 to my office and bringing home the two kessils 360s I have on my office back home. I know that I would likely still need to add another kessil or two, but I think I would get better coverage and have fewer heat issues.

Alternatively I have considered a reef bright tech or xho light to my existing setup.

Any and all advice would be appreciated, although my pocketbook may do some of the deciding.

Thank you in advance.

- LBR

I have a 125 gallon reef (6ft long) I have 2 kessil a160s on both ends (a360s work too) and a zetlight 6800 in the middle it work perfectly.

 

[Jason Collins]

How do you measure the par with that $20 LX-1010B? Is it waterproof? Do you hold it under the water for location of coral? Or are you not even using it underwater and just seeing the amount of light coming out of your actual bulbs? If so I dont really understand the point of that.

 

[mcarroll]

I just answered that in another thread:

There are/were some waterproof models out there, but you'll be in the >$50 category.

A ziplock baggie will work in a pinch. (Runs some searches or click this tag #lux to see some threads where folks have done this in the past.)

That said, I do all measurements at the surface.

The relationship with the measurements underneath are coincidental and mostly predictable to within the degree that corals care. We need to hit a range, not a specific number.

Mostly that means >10,000 lux. But technically corals can go even lower under good conditions.