Equipment - Lighting a Large Reef

Print Page | Close Window

Lighting a Large Reef

Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Specialized Discussion
Forum Name: Equipment
Forum Description: This is the place to ask question about reef equipment.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=84104
Printed Date: October 18 2025 at 3:19pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.03 - http://www.webwizforums.com

Topic: Lighting a Large Reef

Posted By: kmtfishchannel
Subject: Lighting a Large Reef
Date Posted: February 25 2018 at 3:38pm

I have been planning out a reef tank build that I want to do in the future.

I'm wanting to do a Red Sea Reefer 200 Gallon tank. 6ft long x 2ft tall x 2ft wide. I'm not 100% sure what lighting I want to do. My question for today is 1 of 2.

1 Using t5's would you do a 6 or 8 bulb fixture on a take this size? It would be a mixed reef but mostly Softies and LPS. But I'd wanna be able to venture into SPS and least somewhat.

2 for the people who have larger tanks like this what do you use and recommend for lighting such a tank?

Replies:

Posted By: Marcoss
Date Posted: February 26 2018 at 11:13am

I'd use a 5' ATI fixture, with 8 bulbs. You'll have lower par on the edges, however, it should still be in the 100-200 range. I also ran 8 Kessils over an 8'x4' tank. In your case, you'd likely need 5-6.

-------------
RedSea Max S400 - 90G Rimless Frag Tanks x2 - 185 Lookdown Bin

Posted By: Hogie
Date Posted: February 26 2018 at 11:48am

I have the same tank size and I run the 60" 8 bulb ATI fixture over it with (2) 72" reefbrites. It was pricey to get, but I love it!

Posted By: badfinger
Date Posted: February 26 2018 at 2:15pm

I have an 8 bulb on a 30" front to back tank. Only reason to go with 8 bulbs is for better color choices on a 24" tank.

Posted By: Softplan
Date Posted: February 26 2018 at 4:41pm

My Red Sea Reefer 750 XXL will be here Wednesday. I have 3 Kessil A360WE that I'm going to put on it. I'm going to test it with a par meter to see if that's good enough and if not then I'll add another one.

Posted By: Wrogers
Date Posted: February 27 2018 at 5:03am

I have 4 - AI 26 HD over mine. I have the same tank.. so far so good. Im happy

-------------
William Rogers

Posted By: kevin.st
Date Posted: February 27 2018 at 7:03am

It's hard to give advice on lighting because there's so many options and opinions.

Posted By: knowen87
Date Posted: February 27 2018 at 12:02pm

Yes, lots of options. I know that Bulk reef supply has done a lot of tests on lots of the main brands of lights. You could get some info from their videos. I like how they go through the par levels in several configurations and layouts of the same basic light. I watched their episode on the AI primes. These are smaller lower powered units but when they put 4 of them in a row they still produced par in the 175-250 range through most of the tank. I decided on 4 kessil A160s because they were similar to the ai primes in output but simpler to use. I also added 2 t5 bulbs to even out the lighting some more. I never liked the idea of buying a 700 dollar light to only run it at 30%. The 4 kessils give me lots of coverage for a lower price and I could add more if I want to keep more sps.

I agree with kevin.st I think that it is not so much about what lights you choose. Most modern lighting techniques are adequate and you should just pick a light that gives you the features that you want.

Posted By: shaggydoo
Date Posted: February 27 2018 at 2:09pm

I just want to chime in and say you can't go wrong with the AI Hydra HD lights. They have wifi built in and you don't need any fancy controllers; just an app on your phone will do the trick. The customization with these lights is superb.

-------------
60g LPS Cube

Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: February 28 2018 at 7:49am

Like shaggydoo mentioned, the reason I went AI I’ve lesson was I didn’t have to buy an extra controller. It’s built in and the app works great. That being said Jessie, AI, and eco tech leds will all work great. There are tons of options available.

Posted By: love2skiutah
Date Posted: February 28 2018 at 8:32am

For 2 years, I used Radion Gen 2 pros. They were okay, but I upgraded to the Gen 4 pros and what a difference. Most of my SPS has tripled in size in the last 9 months. I'm getting really fast growth.