45g cube, looking for light recommendations

[Danzig]

Hopefully someone out there with a similar sized tank can point me in the right direction.

Just getting back into hobby after 8 years. Im grabbing a SC aquariums 45 gallon rimless cube. Here is a link http://www.scaquariums.com/SCA-45-Gallon-Starfire-Tank-p/sca-45g.htm

It measures 24x20 and 20" tall. Not interested in HID lighting for operating cost reasons. Sorry if this has been discussed before but in 8 years a lot of technology has changed. I will be keeping a mixed reef, some sps.

I was looking at the kessil a360 but i am concerned about the shimmer issue some people have expressed concern about. This will be in a living room, so will likely annoy myself and my girlfriend. Also this is an $$$ option.

Another option would be t5, will i have a problem mounting it on a rimless tank? How many bulbs would my fixture need to be? What brand and bulb configuration do you guys recommend?

 

[cody6766]

6 bulb for T5s IMO. It's not so much for intensity as it is for color blending.

Kessil lights are nice. I had some A350s on some previous tanks and they were fine. Shimmer was strong, like metal halide lights, but the color needed a little help. I ran my 120 with 2 A350s and a 4 bulb T5 set up and it looked great.

I've been really impressed with the (expensive) Ecotech LEDs lately. They will grow anything and the color can be anywhere between awesome and as blue/actinic as you want. AI also makes some good LED fixtures...not quite Ecotech good from what I've seen, but they'll also grow anything you put under them.

I'm running a 6 bulb ATI T5 fixture over my 60g cube with great results. A little LED supplementation adds a little color pop, but isn't necessary for growth. It has more light spill than any modern LED light I've seen, but I don't mind.

 

[Danzig]

45g cube, looking for light recommendations

6 bulb for T5s IMO. It's not so much for intensity as it is for color blending.

Kessil lights are nice. I had some A350s on some previous tanks and they were fine. Shimmer was strong, like metal halide lights, but the color needed a little help. I ran my 120 with 2 A350s and a 4 bulb T5 set up and it looked great.

I've been really impressed with the (expensive) Ecotech LEDs lately. They will grow anything and the color can be anywhere between awesome and as blue/actinic as you want. AI also makes some good LED fixtures...not quite Ecotech good from what I've seen, but they'll also grow anything you put under them.

I'm running a 6 bulb ATI T5 fixture over my 60g cube with great results. A little LED supplementation adds a little color pop, but isn't necessary for growth. It has more light spill than any modern LED light I've seen, but I don't mind.

What exactly is light spill? Leaning toward t5, not overly concerned with "œcolor pop" what t5 brand do you recommend? Is a 6 bulb enough for mixed reef with some sps sprinkled in? The 8 bulb is a bit more costly and i dont want it if its unnecessary.

 

[cody6766]

What exactly is light spill?

Light spill is light that's intended for your tank that spills out in to the room. It's not normally a big problem unless you get blinded by your aquarium light while sitting on your couch, or when it washes out your TV.
For instance: If I raised my T5s up a few more inches the bulb would be in my direct line of sight and look like an uncovered light shining in my eyes.
LEDs typically have a much narrower beam due to the diode/reflector design and allow less light outside the tank. This is light that spills out from above and through the glass. It's a bit of a generalization, but I've found it accurate.

Now, is it a problem? Not in my experience. I've always been able to adjust bulb height (regardless of MH/T5/LED/Etc) to meet the needs of my tank and not bother people in the room. We're talking happy to glad stuff here.

Leaning toward t5, not overly concerned with “color pop” what t5 brand do you recommend? Is a 6 bulb enough for mixed reef with some sps sprinkled in? The 8 bulb is a bit more costly and i dont want it if its unnecessary.

Color pop is important...why else keep cool colored animals? It's not everything, though. T5s will definitely get you some great colors, but finding a way to supplement the blue/violet spectrum will bring out some cool florescence without making your tank look like it's full of Windex.
But, back to the question...
I like ATI bulbs. They offer quite a variety of colors, which is key to dialing in the look of your tank. Luckily, pretty much all modern T5 bulbs will grow coral. Back in the day the white bulbs were the grow bulbs. You got very little useful light out of the actinic bulbs, so you relied on the whites. Now you get a ton of usable light out of all colors.
The more bulbs you use, the better color blend you get. I have 6 bulbs, bit I'd love 8. 6 will grow anything I want (SPS, Clam, LPS, etc.), but an 8 bulb would give me more flexibility to blend bulb colors for a better look.
I have an ATI fixture. I bought it used, so it's pretty old. It's a great looking light and has great reflectors. I have some LEDs on heat sinks on each side of the light. Mine are royal blues and I need to change some out to get a little better color pop. They're just bare chips, so they aren't really adding to light useful for growth. They do help add a little color pop, though.
So, quick answer after the long one...a 6 bulb is plenty for for an SPS tank and more than plenty for a mixed reef. A 6 or 8 bulb won't give you any problems, but there's no need to buy an 8 bulb unless you want the color options unless your tank is really deep.