20 x 20 x 20 Considering Different Lighting Options

[Cjk90978]

Hello Everyone,

New to reef tanks, purchased the set up a week ago. 20 x 20 x 20 35 gallon. Running a Eheim 250 Classic Filter. Protein skimmer and wave maker soon to come (if you have any suggestions on these items as well please let me know.)

Currently running a simple Deep Blue 20" Daytime/Night Time Led light for the fish.

Interested in purchasing a quality coral light while keeping pricing below the $250 mark.

I've come to the conclusion with the dimensions of the tank and my future plans for soft and hard corals, that a ~160W light will be necessary. It will have to be dimmable and programmable as my schedule varies through the week so I will not always be around to change the lights myself.

The 3 main brands I've looked at are Kessil, ViparSpectra, and Euphotica.

Kessil recommends purchasing 2 of their 150w lights for a tank my size, but I'm not looking to spend $500 when there are potential options I can walk away with around $250 for 1 unit. (The Euphotica or Vipar).

I'd appreciate any recommendations on what lights to go with. Again my plan is ultimately to grow soft and hard corals along with a maxima clam in the distant future.

Attached are some photos to help you guys understand the exact set up I'm working with (Excuse the dirty water photo it was right after I filled the tank, only pic I have of entire tank from afar.)

 

[biecacka]

250 watt radium bulb will rock that out. Plenty of light, and coverage.

Corey

 

[Mark Bianco]

Slightly over your price of 200.00 but it comes in at 230.00 I really like the Aquamaxx 1.5 hang on back skimmer I had a AquaC HOB and I did not care for it finicky and noisy.

As for the figures of wattage per gallon that applies more to T5 or Metal Halide lighting.
Leds that's out the window. Take for instance the AI Prime 199.99 at 45 watts and a par value of 93 it is perfect light for your tank. That being said there is nothing wrong with the other lights you listed and yes you will need to lower the intensity on any of the lights listed.. The only light I have an issue with is the Kessil Kessil uses what they call a dense matrix arrangement for their leds.

 

[10Seconds]

250 watt radium bulb will rock that out. Plenty of light, and coverage.

Corey

This exactly. If budget is not your friend, get a ebay special MH/T5 combo Odyssea light and out new bulbs ( I would get a Phoenix bulb for it) and ballasts (used m80 from LFS $25, or luxcore for $100) on it and it will work great on a tank your size. I know these lights get slammed on the forum but I have one on a tank (60 cube) and while yes my Giesemann Spectra on my 220 is far superior, I am getting great results on all my corals in that tank.