50g SCA Cube Build - Lighting question

maldenreefer · Dec 8, 2017

Hello folks, I am expecting a 50g cube that I will likely house sps in the center of the tank. The cube is 24" x 24", I'm planning to have sps in the center back, in a 12" x 12" area. I've heard one of the main problems with LED's is shadowing which leads to death in the base of sps corals.

So the lighting I was considering were (2) Hydra 26 Hd's. These lights have 2 pucks each and are rated to have an 18" x 18" spread. If I were to space them 6" to the left and right from the center, I should be able to prevent a great majority of shadowing right? I will take care to make sure my rockscape does not interfere either.

If anyone has done this Hydra 26 setup I'd love to see a picture and hear about your experience.

Thegoodson · Dec 8, 2017

Didn' have and fence coral but I have 2 on my 60 cube. If I had a choice I would try and put in angle in the front or back

maldenreefer · Dec 9, 2017

Curious, why did you position your lights like that? Seems as if you're trying to mimic a Hydra52 with two 26's. I was thinking of turning them 90 degrees and separating them by a few more inches to get better coverage.

Mattyice008 · Dec 9, 2017

I have a single 26 hd over my sca 50 cube. Dead center. I've been playing with light intensities for a while.. but I'm growing everything from softies to sps. I'm planning on adding a small kessil and aiming in the tank at an angle, to help the shade spots on my montipora caps. They grow over each other and I don't wanna keep trimming them back, so I'm going to try getting those covered spots with a kessil. But honestly, just from my experience, I'm getting by just fine with a single 26 hd, white % never goes over 30%, and light is about 12" off the water

Thegoodson · Dec 9, 2017

maldenreefer said:
Curious, why did you position your lights like that? Seems as if you're trying to mimic a Hydra52 with two 26's. I was thinking of turning them 90 degrees and separating them by a few more inches to get better coverage.

I ended up turning them at the time it was the best option that I had at the time. I end up taking one off and turning it