Lighting a 40 breeder

[Hig789]

Looking for some opinions/options for lighting a 40 breeder in hopefully the near future. I have some sps, lps and zoas. Aquascaping planning is hopefully 3 larger islands with a few smaller ones in the sand for zoas. So I could keep the sps towards the center if needed. My original plan was to just to get another NanoBox small retrofit to go along with the one I already have and make a hood for them to go in. But I've realized that I'd need 4 pucks to light it properly.

 

Preferably I'd like something that I can fit into a hood since I haves 2 year old and a 6 month old and I don't want them to be standing next to the tank and looking straight up into the lights. Also the hood would prevent "toys for the fishies" from going in there.

 

I really like the quad but I'm not sure how close I could run it to the surface if I did go hoodless and still get the proper spread to cover the 36". Also just seeing what other single fixtures that are recommended.

 

Thanks for any help.

 

Edit: would one of the 24" 4 bulb 2 puck Sunpowers that Dave offers be enough to cover it mounted fairly close to the top of the tank? I really like having the t5 supplement there and love the t5 fixtures.

[Gooburz]

Have you thought about going with just LED? Personally I'd go with the Photon 32" from ReefBreeders. I have the same thing but made by Coral Compulsion and I love the way it lights my 40 breeder up. I have the 24" fixture so the 32" would give you full coverage with no problems, the 24" covers mine with no dark spots but if you are looking at mainly SPS I'd go with that one. You can either hang it or it comes with tank mount kit which should fit under your hood.

[Hig789]

Have you thought about going with just LED? Personally I'd go with the Photon 32" from ReefBreeders. I have the same thing but made by Coral Compulsion and I love the way it lights my 40 breeder up. I have the 24" fixture so the 32" would give you full coverage with no problems, the 24" covers mine with no dark spots but if you are looking at mainly SPS I'd go with that one. You can either hang it or it comes with tank mount kit which should fit under your hood.

Cool thanks. I'll check it out. Yeah I planned on going with just leds but I really like the idea of having the t5 supplement during peak hours. Don't really like the idea of having to change the bulbs frequently but only running them 4-6 hours a day should make them last quit a bit longer though.

 

Not really going to be mainly sps. Just some mixed in.

[HarryPotter]

Nanobox hybrid!

[Hig789]

Nanobox hybrid!

Yeah Harry I wish I could swing that. The quad or the ATI retro would be at the top of my budget.

[jbb]

Yeah Harry I wish I could swing that. The quad or the ATI retro would be at the top of my budget.

What about this one ?

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/364481-cncreef-asis-824-pro-hybrid-with-nanobox-pucks-misc-items/#entry5126139

[Hig789]

What about this one ?

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/364481-cncreef-asis-824-pro-hybrid-with-nanobox-pucks-misc-items/#entry5126139

Damn. That's nice. Wish the whites were functional on all the pucks though. How big is it? Or did I just miss that?

[jbb]

24 long x 8 wide

 

With the T5 added to it , I don't think the few missing whites would really hurt anything .

[Matteo]

DIY with lumia 5.2 LED pucks

[Gooburz]

You wouldn't even need the T5's during peak hours, LED's would cover everything your corals would need. I know it's personal choice but just wanted to throw that out there.