Lighting for 180 gallon.

[bonnie.klassen1]

In the process of gathering supplies for a 180 gallon. What lights is everyone running or do you suggest?

 

[bked120]

It really depends on what type of corals you will be keeping. LED / T-5 combos are pretty popular right now and will grow almost anything. I use Kessil and would recommend them to you. They are the most natural looking to me and the shimmer is amazing.

 

[bonnie.klassen1]

It really depends on what type of corals you will be keeping. LED / T-5 combos are pretty popular right now and will grow almost anything. I use Kessil and would recommend them to you. They are the most natural looking to me and the shimmer is amazing.

I have a Kessil 360 over my 50 cube and love it! I was looking at the Kessil ap700. But would likely need 2 for a 6' long tank [emoji19]

 

[Ron Reefman]

I switched my 180g from 4 MH (2 @ 250W & 2 @ 150W) and 4 t5 bulbs to 2 of the 32" Reef Breeder Photons and they worked great. I had them for 5 years and the tank was a mix, but mostly sps and lps. But 78 months ago the 180g sprang a leak.

My new tank is a 5' 125g and the 32" fixtures don't fit the new length. One isn't enough and two are longer than the tank. So I got a new 50" Photon V2 which is MUCH nicer with 6 channel color control, sunrise/sunset control, super slim modern looking and probably will 2 will cost you $1150 vs $1800 for two AP700.

Have you looked at the ReeFi-Lab.com led pendants? You'd probably want 3 at $300 each. I just put one to use over my 2'x2' frag tank and I really like it. A real glass lens that is adjustable focus, Cree leds, a controllable fan and very good software for color control and timing. It's new to me, but I'd say it's really worth a look if you like pendant light fixtures.

 

[bonnie.klassen1]

I switched my 180g from 4 MH (2 @ 250W & 2 @ 150W) and 4 t5 bulbs to 2 of the 32" Reef Breeder Photons and they worked great. I had them for 5 years and the tank was a mix, but mostly sps and lps. But 78 months ago the 180g sprang a leak.

My new tank is a 5' 125g and the 32" fixtures don't fit the new length. One isn't enough and two are longer than the tank. So I got a new 50" Photon V2 which is MUCH nicer with 6 channel color control, sunrise/sunset control, super slim modern looking and probably will 2 will cost you $1150 vs $1800 for two AP700.

Have you looked at the ReeFi-Lab.com led pendants? You'd probably want 3 at $300 each. I just put one to use over my 2'x2' frag tank and I really like it. A real glass lens that is adjustable focus, Cree leds, a controllable fan and very good software for color control and timing. It's new to me, but I'd say it's really worth a look if you like pendant light fixtures.

Thanks for the advise. I'll check those out!

 

[jason2459]

I'd start with 2 32" fixtures. Photonv2 or aquasanrise are great options from reefbreeders.

 

[grigsy]

It depends on what you want to keep in your tank but I have always liked using metal halides. I feel they produce the most natural color from your corals and give the most natural shimmer effect to your tank. They are also amazing lights for coral growth.