LED Lighting for 36"x18" footprint

[bristle]

Hi,

I'm setting up a new tank. It has the same footprint as a 40 breeder but will be just 12" high (36" long, 18" wide, 12" tall). The last time I set up a new reef tank was a number of years ago. I've loosely followed some of the updates in the industry but there seem to be a glut of chinese made LED lights on the market these days and I am not opposed to them provided the quality is there. I have a budget of $500 CDN but I'd obviously like to spend less than that. The goal is to have a mixed reef but I do prefer the bluer side of the light spectrum. Let me know what you think.

 

[toothybugs]

I would suggest either 2 Kessil A160s with a controller or a single BML 36" MC strip with 90 degree lenses on it.

I have a 40B and have used both setups with excellent results.

 

[Zer0.]

It depends alot on what corals your looking to keep.

for soft corals/ most LPS I love my current orbit. It's not full specturm and only .25 watt leds but it looks great in my opinion and can do moonlighting and up to 30 min. ramp up and down (not sure why the limited to 30 min or less tho)

for a full blown mixed reef, I have 3 ocean revice T-427 (may have number wrong) over my 180. I have actually bleached some corals and had to turn these way down, they are full specturm, no ramp, no moonlight. but I have some sps growing very fast under them.

 

[Bpb]

If you like living on the blue side of things and have a $500 budget I'd consider 1 buildmyled super actinic strip (classic, non XB) and 1 buildmyled 20k strip XB. The multichannel unit will run a bit more a push you out of budget. I'd prefer two led strips for 18" front to back. Just one will give super poor coverage in the upper ends of the tank. If that's too expensive, a reef breeders photon 32 would fit the bill nicely. Or a pair of used kessil a350w units. Those would be in budget as well. You can get top shelf LEDs for a 36" tank for under $500 so that's good news for you

 

[colorful1180]

I am running 2 of 165w Black Box Timer LED Lights,great spectrum and cool features,whites blues and moon channel,remote control and built in LCD screen with 3 channel timer,it works great,I am happy with that.cost me $133 each shipped,got them from GROUP BUY facebook page

 

[oseymour]

Does the tank have a brace in the middle? If not you might get away with one Kessil A360WE.

If it has a brace, I would go with 2 A160.

I have a 50 breeder and I'm running 2 A360WE. I love my tank blue.

 

[bristle]

I went with this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/300W-Dimmab...for-SPS-LPS-/261534468394?hash=item3ce4ab492a

If it turns out to be junk I can always replace it later and get most of my money back. For now I will see how it works.

 

[cloak]

I would just use a 250 watt Radium bulb with the proper ballast and call it a day. The cost of replacing a bulb each year & electricity is a wash IMO. High light corals up top towards the middle and those low light corals on outskirts. This is a very expensive hobby to begin with. GL.

 

[E Rosewater]

T5 retro fit would keep you well under 500. A 6 x 39w ATI sunpower is under 500 USD.