Cali Kid Corals

Lighting Questions

Ckletter

Ckletter

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I am trying to decide what lighting to get for my brand new glass 190 gallon. It is 27" and it has a canopy and I am planning on a mixed reef. Ideally I would love to install lights in the canopy and keep a glass lid on the tank. The bottom of the canopy is 6" over the water level. I was thinking about buying 2 Kessil AP9s, because they are thin LEDs and have good recommendations. Any suggestions or strong reasons not to do this? I am concerned about coral growth, spread, heat, coverage, etc.
Thank you!
 
You are on the right track. I’d also suggest some supplemental T5’s or reef brite strips to help with spread. 6” is not a lot of height for any LED. Or you could go exclusively T5
 
If you install AP9x, you'll need a bit clearance and the light will be prone to salt. Also the control display will be harder to access since it's on top. I'd go with 360x because it'll be less intrusive inside the canopy. The glass lids also interfere with the ap9x while the 360x can be positioned around the lid.

Any possibility to raise the canopy legs? 6" is too low IMOP

my elementary sketch of the canopy
canopy.jpg
 
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What are the dimensions of the tank? 2 ap9x are likely not going to be enough unless you're OK with some pretty dark areas.
Might be worth checking out some of the brstv investigates on various lights. They show par data at different mounting height and spacing configurations that can help figure out which light will be best for your situation.
 
I agree that the aquatic Life Hybrid fixture is great and gives you a neat way to mount LED lights. But...that may not work well with a canopy since the lights would be pressed up against the top and may not get enough ventilation. Unless the canopy is open top.

The T5s give you a nice blanket of light with a perfect spectrum - you just have to change bulbs once a year.
 
6 inch's away from the water is a very shallow canopy to mount a light in. I would suggest raise the canopy, if I remember correctly, most good LED lights suggest a mounting height of 12"-16". BRS has some good videos on this.
 
Mounting lights inside a canopy can be a good thing, but is more often a bad thing.

Key is that height affects the spread. Light comes out as a cone from the LEDs. Can be 45 deg, or much more or less depending on lenses.
So the higher you raise them, the wider the light spreads out.
That means it covers more area, but PAR gets weaker as it spreads out.
So all a big area/cost/PAR tradeoff.

Also, inside the canopy you have a ton of moisture.
That affects electronics, but especially fans.

But without a canopy you can have real glare problems at certain angles.
Especially if you have a low couch close to tank.

When I did DIY, I went with a very low canopy, lots of smaller LEDs, and it worked really well, but that was with old LED tech long ago.
When I replaced that with new off the shelf lights, the low canopy was a problem.

I am using lots of AI primes right now.
But I am not sure I would really recommend them. I keep having to replace the fans.

So my suggestion would be a taller open top canopy, or ditch the canopy.
 
Meshmez said:
What are the dimensions of the tank? 2 ap9x are likely not going to be enough unless you're OK with some pretty dark areas.
Might be worth checking out some of the brstv investigates on various lights. They show par data at different mounting height and spacing configurations that can help figure out which light will be best for your situation.
Click to expand...
Yes, I watched this and some other BRS videos about lighting. I am now leaning more towards the 360Xs.
 
I have a similar sized tank (Red Sea Reefer 750) except it’s rimless without a canopy. I’m lighting it with 8x A360X’s and I’m happy with it. If I had a canopy I’d probably use one of the LED/T5 hybrid fixtures with 4 A360X’s or 2 AP9’s.
 
T5's have various advantages, but I will never go back.
The big problem - me. I often put off changing bulbs. Then when I finally do, there is a big shock to the tank as
brightness suddenly increases.
LED is install and forget, except some rare fan cleaning.
 
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