Need advice for lighting 24" x 24" x 22" cube
 

I am trying to figure out what would be the best lighting option for a 24" x 24" x 22" cube tank. I would ideally like to go the LED route and do not want to be limited at all by the light I choose.

Some of the options I am considering:
Radion XR30w G3 PRO
AI Hydra FiftyTwo

Any input would be great. Thank you.

250w halide would give you all the punch you need

I have given that a lot of thought. I don't like the idea of the heat of a halide. My place isn't super cool and I don't want to have to run a chiller ideally.

I don't have any experience with halides though. Maybe one would be the best option.

I have a single hydra 52 over my 30x30 cube and I think its great. Although I do prefer t5 I think.

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Light
 

Get a kessil a360we nice clean look lots and lots of light.

Everyone knows I love MH, but a tank that size will heat up quickly. Almost certainly requiring a chiller. Probably not the best choice for that setup.
If I were lighting a cube that size, I agree with the Kessil suggestions. I really like the color and lack of color separation with these.

I have the same size tank, I'm using a Kessil a360w. Love it.

24" ATI hybrid Powermodule , go big or go home lol

My tank is 24+24+12. I have a halide and have yet to see fans come on to cool it. Though my tank in the basement. It was plus 29c here a few days ago and tank was 80.2

Hmmm.... I hadn't considered a kessil. Would this be enough for SPS in a 22" deep tank? I don't have any hands on experience with these.

Wow those are really cool and amazingly expensive.

Why do you prefer T5? Everything I've looked into says that I would need a ton of T5's to light a deep tank.

Kessil
 

Oh the kessil is tons of light for sps

Agreed, they have a lot of penetrating power


Also the 2' maxspect would work well, had one on my 2' cube and the corals did great

single Mitras 6200HV

K i lied yesterday the fans came on at 80.9f lol

I agree with Aquattro, MH on a tank that size would most deff. cause heat issues.

You don't need to go pro (Radion Pro or Hydra 52) with only 20" deep. The "regular" Radion G3, Hydra or Kessil 360 would more than suffice.

Ray

Coverage Area
A360N: 18" surface diameter by 4' to 5' penetration
(on average)
A360W: 24" surface diameter by 3' penetration

If you should go with kessil go with the a360w

I think if you want SPS, you can't go wrong with a power module or even a dimmable sun power. 8 bulbs will be great for your set up. I run leds on my LPS and zoas and will only even run leds for LPS. I run T-5s for SPS and the only thing I would replace my T-5s with is MH, even then I would supplement with T-5s. I like the warm glow and how well the T-5s cover everything uniformly.

Wow. There is a lot of info here. I think I'm more torn than ever. I really just want what is going to be best. I think I'll have to keep doing research before I make a decision.

I believe dv from Madjelly runs all three lol

all depends on where your tank is. I have a 250w pendant on a 24*24*20 cube, and my tank stays between 77-80, even during the hottest days. but it is in a cooler basement.

Kessils are great for the uniformity as other have mentioned. you just need to think if the "minimal" controllability is an issue for you.

I am surprised nobody is asking what types of corals the OP is planning to keep.

Once the coral type is determined, we can then begin to recommend some lightning options.

Most of the LED's will work no matter what type of coral is being kept because the lighting intensity can be dialled back.

With that said, if he plans to keep SPS, I would shy away from LED's if maximum coloration is the goal. I don't know why but LED's are just not there yet if you want world class coloration. MH or T5 is usually a better choice.

He stated that does not want to be limited with the lights he chooses so I assumed mix reef including sps

I am planning on focusing mostly on SPS so I definitely need a light that is more than capable.

We planning to build a shallow cube (24x24x18) as a display tank in our showroom.

I purchased a 24" Giesemann Spectra 400w SE that also includes 4x24" T5.

I will run a 400w 20K Radium MH and ATI Blue Plus T5 for actinic.

Best of both words. :mrgreen:

That's my combo. But I run 2 x Radium :)

You have great taste. :lol:

Just hope I'm not being greedy with 2 bulbs! It's a lot of light!

I've seen a bunch of Kessil tanks and you can't go wrong with them. I haven't really seen any other commercial LED fixtures that do it for me for various reasons. It's why I built my own a few years back :)