Help me decide my lighting! Red Sea Reefer Nano Build

[ejoshmo]

Hello Folks, first time posting on here even though I've been following for a while. I've had a red sea reefer nano for about a year now, and just had a large move so the tank was broken down and all coral in quarantine. Now that I have the chance, I want to redo some things that I was unhappy with during the first year. Before I begin a build thread, I have one question:

 

What light should I use for an 18x18x18 mainly SPS setup?

 

I had the Kessil a160we, which I really liked. However, the highly directional light really caused a lot of shadowing on SPS that I really hated.

 

Here's what I'm thinking of right now:

 

- creating a hanging hood and combining the a160we with retrofit power compact.

 

- xr15w pro

 

- DIY Led

 

What haven't I thought of?

[ninjamyst]

NanoBox Tide, still one puck like the Kessil though. Or a Hydra 26 with two pucks.

[North Borders]

I have a Nanobox Duo over my Reefer Nano and have been very happy with it.

[mpsti05]

http://nanoboxreef.com/duo.htmlThis would be a good option

[ejoshmo]

I have a Nanobox Duo over my Reefer Nano and have been very happy with it.

Which duo model are you using? What brightness are you using?

 

Thanks for your replies so far.

[gus6464]

Nanobox wide quad. Do it right the first time.

[North Borders]

I bought mine September of last year and Dave's got many more options now. Mine is just the straight duo with Bluefish.

Lighting settings are very subjective and there's not really a one size fits all.

 

I have a mixed reef with SPS up top and a lot of softies and LPS towards the bottom. I just added a bunch of new SPS frags so I'm currently ramping up my lighting slowly to acclimate them.

 

As of today though, I'm runnning:

morning for 230 mins, 71% blues, 16% white

midday 90 min ramp, 80% blues, 29% whites

evening for 250 mins, 75% blues, 0 whites

along with a night time mode of 0.7% (I use moon cycles, so actual overnight intensity varies)