Lights over 29 Gal.

[Reef Hollister]

OK, I'm ready to add another tank. It is a 29 Gallon 30 x 12 x18 with a nice solid wood stand and canopy. The canopy was required by my wife, but it does limit my options in LEDS. I am determined to use LEDS, but have never done so in the past so I have been reading and looking voraciously.

 

So far, I have purchased a slightly used JBJ Unibody. Due to its compact size it will work well under the canopy, but I'm not sure it will cover the ends of the tank very well. To take care of that I was thinking of getting a pair of Panorama Pros and put one towards each end of the tank. They will do very nicely in the canopy. I would like to keep a few SPS along with the regulars. Does anybody see a problem in this and if I did this, what colors would my fellow nanoreefers recomend for the Panoramas?

 

Another option would be to mount four or five Panoramas on the canopy. Something like White in the center. Blue and white on the outside of this about 6 inches and blue/magenta towards the ends of the tank. That then frees up the JBJ for another project.

 

I'm still a relative noob, especially with lighting issues, so any suggestions/criticisms are appreciated. Well, as long as they are civil.

[mike c]

I have 3 Panoramas over my JBJ28. I used to run a magenta/blue, but I got tired of the strong pink color that it gives off. Ironically, a couple of the LED chips burnt out. I had it replaced, but this time with a white/blue module. Now I run (1) all 12k white, (1) all 445nm blue, and (1) 12k white/blue. Great color, and coral growth.

 

For your dimensions, you probably would only need 3 modules. I suggest an all 445nm blue in the middle, and a 12k white/blue on the left and right side of that. The all 12k whites are very bright. Hit up Ecoxotic's Facebook page. They'll tell you exactly what you need.

 

Heres a pic of my tank, to give you an idea of the color. I have the all blue in the middle, the all white on the right, and the 50/50 on the left.

 

[Reef Hollister]

Thanks for the reply Mike but it is now a moot point. A visit today to a LFS ended with me purchasing a locally made LED system. It will work fine with my canopy. I got home and played with it some over my BC14 and am amazed at the difference. I am now an LED fan.

[up.left]

I wired x3 18x1.4'' heatsinks into my 29g's hood with 14 leds each string. Worked out great.