Lighting for IM 50 lagoon

[Fant]

Looking at setting up a 50 lagoon for my return to the hobby. Will be mostly leaning towards lps. What are some of the current better led lighting options these days. Currently thinking a single kessil ap9x. Would this be too much?

Appearance of instal is as important to me as having a successful tank.

 

Seems like it might be a bit overkill for lps. But then it seems a single a360 wouldn't be quite enough coverage with shadowing problems.

 

Just having a hard time figuring coverage. Not really interested in a puck style main light with filler strips.  Really want a clean install.

 

The other option would be two xr15 pros. What would everyone suggest?

[jservedio]

I don't like single fixtures over such a big footprint and you just don't need high power over a lagoon tank

 

I've got an XR30Pro with wide angle optics and two AI Prime 16HDs over my 50 lagoon and I think if I were doing primarily LPS, two primes would work well. It also gives you the option of adding two more - 4 primes cover the lagoon extremely well with no shading issues.

 

I love the Radion, but you just don't need the power over a tank that's only 16" deep - even primarily SPS it's at like 20% power. Coverage is way more important. When my 10 year old Radion goes, it's going to be replaced with more primes! Great little cheap lights.

 

Here's how it looks on my tank

[Fant]

Thanks jservedio. So if you went with four primes would you have two rows of two or a single row of four centered?  Was afraid this was going to go this way.. I really don't want lights hanging, was hoping to make something from 80/20 aluminum out from the wall. Do the primes have much disco ball effect?

[jservedio]

44 minutes ago, Fant said:

Thanks jservedio. So if you went with four primes would you have two rows of two or a single row of four centered?  Was afraid this was going to go this way.. I really don't want lights hanging, was hoping to make something from 80/20 aluminum out from the wall. Do the primes have much disco ball effect?

I would have two rows of two - it's not far off from square shape, so 2x2 or even 3x2 would be amazing if you wanted to go nuts. I've seen tons of modular rails that look awesome, so it can definitely be done very nicely. They are hollow, so you can hide wires very easily!

 

I originally had just the XR30 over the tank and it was okay with the wide angle lenses, but coverage is just not that great and you get shadowing with just a single fixture over such a large footprint. If I didn't have the Radion from my last tank, I would have went all Primes - they are ideal for being used in groups and aren't over powered for a shallow tank.

 

Disco is about the same as any other LED. The more fixtures you have, the less noticeable it is.

[Poodges]

2 Kessil 160s would probably do the trick if you like Kessil.  I recently switched to a ReefBreeders Photon Pro which I really like.  I got the 24” version and my tank is 36” long.  Great coverage and spread.

 

[Fant]

8 hours ago, Poodges said:

2 Kessil 160s would probably do the trick if you like Kessil.  I recently switched to a ReefBreeders Photon Pro which I really like.  I got the 24” version and my tank is 36” long.  Great coverage and spread.

 

Nice tank.. and nice stand.