How to light shallow 3x3 tank.

dianapickles · 04/05/2016, 12:40 AM

I'm having trouble figuring out how to light my new tank.

It's a shallow cube (3x3x1.5) so depth isn't much of a problem but it's so hard to find lights that aren't crazy expensive to cover that 3x3 area.

I'm really into LED's and I was thinking two of these (http://mic-mol.com/aquapro.html) should be okay to hang above the tank. They each cover about a 22x22" area.

Would these be sufficient if I kept high light corals toward the middle? Or would I have way too much space uncovered?

scrapz · 04/05/2016, 04:34 AM

1 lumenbright large mounted 20" above the water or a lumenarc large if you want a lower mounting height. I keep SPS fine with either a 250w/400w on a 22" high of the same footprint.

dianapickles · 04/05/2016, 08:40 AM

Would a 6x24w ATI power module be good? I was also considering the 10x29 but I think that's overkill ?

I also like the metal halide idea but I'm starting to look at the ATI fixtures and they look pretty awesome.

dkeller_nc · 04/05/2016, 08:55 AM

Given the width of your tank and the small incremental cost, I'd suggest the 8-bulb ATI fixture, which is about 18" wide vs. the 13.5" for the 6-bulb fixture. You don't necessarily have to use all of the bulbs in a particular fixture if you want to cut down on electricity and bulb replacement costs. But the extra slots are there if your aquascape expands beyond your current plans and you need the extra coverage.

Not only that, if you decide at some point to add LED to the fixture, it's fairly easy to sacrifice the two inner bulbs and reflectors, and mount, for example, a couple of Kessil 360s.

Superpuma · 04/05/2016, 09:18 AM

ATI Sirius X4 is fine over my 40 x 36 x 20 inch, that's 100 x 90 x 50 cm in real money ��.

greaps · 04/05/2016, 09:21 AM

8 bulb seems perfect. I have a 6 bulb on a 24x24x20 tank. Went from LED to T5, and I am liking the change very even light. It is more costly than a set of generic black box full spectrum Chinese led's which in my opinion have a come a long way, seeing more and more examples of tank success with them.

dianapickles · 04/05/2016, 10:59 AM

What about 2 AI prime with t5 supplements? Or one hydra 52 and a t5 bulb along each side to get that extra coverage?

I'm just doing a little research and thinking about different lighting setups that seem like they'd be interesting to do. I really love the shimmer effect LED's give. Do any of these seem like good options or should I just go simple with the 8 bulb ATI?

dianapickles · 04/05/2016, 11:18 AM

Someone on another forum suggested I use 4 AI Primes to cover the entire area.

04/05/2016, 12:40 AM	#1
dianapickles Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Australia Posts: 171	How to light shallow 3x3 tank. I'm having trouble figuring out how to light my new tank. It's a shallow cube (3x3x1.5) so depth isn't much of a problem but it's so hard to find lights that aren't crazy expensive to cover that 3x3 area. I'm really into LED's and I was thinking two of these (http://mic-mol.com/aquapro.html) should be okay to hang above the tank. They each cover about a 22x22" area. Would these be sufficient if I kept high light corals toward the middle? Or would I have way too much space uncovered?

04/05/2016, 09:21 AM	#6
greaps Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Posts: 500	8 bulb seems perfect. I have a 6 bulb on a 24x24x20 tank. Went from LED to T5, and I am liking the change very even light. It is more costly than a set of generic black box full spectrum Chinese led's which in my opinion have a come a long way, seeing more and more examples of tank success with them. __________________ 50g SCA Aquarium, build in progress.

04/05/2016, 04:34 AM	#2
scrapz Saturation+100 Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 3,555	1 lumenbright large mounted 20" above the water or a lumenarc large if you want a lower mounting height. I keep SPS fine with either a 250w/400w on a 22" high of the same footprint.

04/05/2016, 08:40 AM	#3
dianapickles Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Australia Posts: 171	Would a 6x24w ATI power module be good? I was also considering the 10x29 but I think that's overkill ? I also like the metal halide idea but I'm starting to look at the ATI fixtures and they look pretty awesome.

04/05/2016, 08:55 AM	#4
dkeller_nc Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Central NC Posts: 5,062	Given the width of your tank and the small incremental cost, I'd suggest the 8-bulb ATI fixture, which is about 18" wide vs. the 13.5" for the 6-bulb fixture. You don't necessarily have to use all of the bulbs in a particular fixture if you want to cut down on electricity and bulb replacement costs. But the extra slots are there if your aquascape expands beyond your current plans and you need the extra coverage. Not only that, if you decide at some point to add LED to the fixture, it's fairly easy to sacrifice the two inner bulbs and reflectors, and mount, for example, a couple of Kessil 360s.

04/05/2016, 09:18 AM	#5
Superpuma Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 159	ATI Sirius X4 is fine over my 40 x 36 x 20 inch, that's 100 x 90 x 50 cm in real money ��.

04/05/2016, 10:59 AM	#7
dianapickles Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Australia Posts: 171	What about 2 AI prime with t5 supplements? Or one hydra 52 and a t5 bulb along each side to get that extra coverage? I'm just doing a little research and thinking about different lighting setups that seem like they'd be interesting to do. I really love the shimmer effect LED's give. Do any of these seem like good options or should I just go simple with the 8 bulb ATI?

04/05/2016, 11:18 AM	#8
dianapickles Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Australia Posts: 171	Someone on another forum suggested I use 4 AI Primes to cover the entire area.