Led bars suitable under lid

Royal_pudding · Feb 3, 2023

Hi all.
I have been looking all over for info on this, but came up short. So I figured I'd just ask

I am setting up a new tank and have yet to find adequate lighting for it. I am confined to a 4 inch height canopy.
Ive been looking at the new AI Blade but shipping is incredibly expensive.
The tank is 5ft and Im mostly thinking LPS dominated with some easier SPS near the top.

So I've been looking at led bars like, Orphek, AliE, Lumenbars and others. They would have to be dimmable.
I am just worried that mounting led bars this close to the surface will result in disco effect and will possibly be to rough on the led bar itself thermal wise. Maybe they are not intended to work in such confined spaces.

To the point:
Has anybody here had experience with mounting led bars this close to the water surface, inside a.. lid basically with good effect?

The tank in question:

Also, have a great weekend everyone!

DanyL · Feb 3, 2023

With this much space, I would be worried about both burning the corals as well as the fixture itself, not to mention a possible fire hazard.

If the reason why you want to keep the lid is due to evaporation, then you can easily take a transparent plexiglass which would transfer light well enough to get good PAR numbers, or simply have an ATO which in both cases would make your life easier.

Otherwise, even if everything else turns out to be within the normal working conditions, you need to remember that you only have 4" (even less) for spread, which is quite limited and would require you to put many dimmable bars in there to be able to have a good light distribution across the tank without burning corals in the process, and most bars on the market aren't dimmable to start with.

Royal_pudding · Feb 3, 2023

Very true, this is a challenge. The lid is on for asthetic reasons. Happy wife, happy life.
However, anything under the lid is fair game, 3 bars would probably do the job.
But, splashing and temperature is a concern.