Lighting a 30g reef

reef champ

reef champ

Member
My tank is currently cycling with 51lbs of live rock. Now I'm looking into lighting for a 36"L x 12" W x 16"deep tank. I'm looking to have all different types of corals and don't know much about lighting. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.
Thanks
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
I have a Sundial T5HO on my 29G and I love it...I have sps, frogspawn, zoas, a clam, ricordia shrooms, Pipe organ coral etc
 
stanlalee

stanlalee

Active Member
Either a four bulb T5 HO set up with decent reflectors or dual 150w halides. make the right selection and you can keep anything with that (of course there are other options but these are fairly ideal IMO). I use a 150wx2 sunpod on mine. not the most advanced 150w x2 set up (and not available new) but it gets the job done. Plan on eventually upgrading to lumenmax 3 pendent reflectors still using 150wx2 but this is hardly neccessary for a mixed 30g.
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
for 16" deep, go with a tek elite 6x39w. it will be enough to get a good 200~ par on the sand bed, the current usa models will not get you that much on a 16" deep tank (i know, i have a one and we tested it in a buddies tank)
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
How long is your tank? Looking at the Tek 6 39W lights, they are 36"
My 29G is 30"....I can only tell you about a product that I have, and I have the 30" 4X24W Sundial....In mine I have 2 ATI blue plus, 1 aquascience and 1 blue special.....
I am sure there are better systems, but I have been very happy with mine, and it's affordable at about $205
 
stanlalee

stanlalee

Active Member
Originally Posted by nikeSB
http:///forum/post/3278456
for 16" deep, go with a tek elite 6x39w. it will be enough to get a good 200~ par on the sand bed, the current usa models will not get you that much on a 16" deep tank (i know, i have a one and we tested it in a buddies tank)
there is really no point using 6 bulb T5 because they'll barely fit and you'll get light spillage. a 6 bulb TEK fixture is 16" and already have wide dispersion reflectors compared to ATI, 6 bulb ATI is 13.5" and overkill as it puts out 20% more PAR than the TEK using the same bulbs directly under the bulbs (which would be EVERY inch of a 30g long) and NEP just barely fits and leaves little access to the tank without sliding it back. we are talking a 12" front to back tank. 4 bulb Current USA might not be intense enough for anything at 16" but its entry level. I think the solution is better not more. 4 bulb ATI sunpower at under 10" aesthetically fits great (although must be hung) and has more than enough intensity. 4 bulb TEK like wise fits well and has sufficient intensity to keep anything. I think even entry level with the right bulbs is good enough for a mixed reef with a few SPS up high and LPS down low as it should be.
 
nikesb

nikesb

Active Member
Originally Posted by Stanlalee
http:///forum/post/3279031
there is really no point using 6 bulb T5 because they'll barely fit and you'll get light spillage. a 6 bulb TEK fixture is 16" and already have wide dispersion reflectors compared to ATI, 6 bulb ATI is 13.5" and overkill as it puts out 20% more PAR than the TEK using the same bulbs directly under the bulbs (which would be EVERY inch of a 30g long) and NEP just barely fits and leaves little access to the tank without sliding it back. we are talking a 12" front to back tank. 4 bulb Current USA might not be intense enough for anything at 16" but its entry level. I think the solution is better not more. 4 bulb ATI sunpower at under 10" aesthetically fits great (although must be hung) and has more than enough intensity. 4 bulb TEK like wise fits well and has sufficient intensity to keep anything. I think even entry level with the right bulbs is good enough for a mixed reef with a few SPS up high and LPS down low as it should be.
for some reason i was thinking the tek 6 bulb was 13", thanks for clarifying that. if he's choosing a 4 bulb, then tek is probably what he would want. the current usa models just dont cut it even with good bulbs. as for overpowering, he could use true actinics to help the color if he were to choose the ati.
 
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