So, for trying to light a 42" span, if my math is correct, I *might* be able to get away with using the 120W two-puck maxspect razor if I mount it around 10-12" above the surface of the water.
Having a ton of PAR isn't the end of the world, but I'm trying to have this tank be primarily Montipora with a few softies or LPS scattered around the far perimeters, the rockwork will essentially just be an artsy-interpretation of a solid 5-8" tall straight-line about 2-3" from the back-glass.
I think that at around 80% A and 100% blue I should be able to achieve nearly 150-200 PAR throughout the entire 6" depth-mark. But I imagine this would probably cause a near-unlivable hotspot under the center of the pucks - likely 500+ PAR, which just seems like a waste - although I could scape easily enough around it.
The other Idea I have is to try to sell the newly-refurbished 120W model I have for around $300 and then replace it with three 23-watt ABI Tuna-Blue PAR bulbs, hung about 8-12" from the surface of the tank, spaced out in one of two ways; either @ 7 1/2", 21", and 34 1/2"; or @ 5 1/4", 21", and 36 3/4" with the outside two bulbs angled towards the center at 15 degrees.
The downside to this plan is that I'm not certain what the PAR values will be lol, I can only work with the advertised lens-spreads (30 degree effective center and 60 degree lensing) and make cutesy little diagrams like this one (which is flawed, of course, as it assumes a single, central origin-point for the lighting and doesn't account for the 5" plane which houses the LEDS):
Anyone with experience or thoughts care to offer some assistance? I may just end up buying them to trial things and then return them if it doesn't work out, I figured I can get some PAR readings in air and then subtract about 25-20% and have a decent idea of what I'll be dropping onto the animals.
Appreciate any time and advice to be offered!