Lighting for a 6 foot fowlr

[Cael Gallery]

I have a 6 foot tank (red sea g2 750) that is to be a fowlr. It will have butterflies and angels, but maybe i will eventually decide to try some softies down the line. I was thinking of going with 3 AI prime 16hds on the 18' flex mounts, or 2 hydra 32s on the same mount. Which do you think would be better? I plan on having some fairly shy species in there, so the lights would only be on full power for a few hours around mid day with the lights ideally ramping up and down from sunrise to sunset. In Australia, the hydra option works out to be about $200 more expensive than 3 primes.

 

[JaaxReef]

Hanging the three prime HDs may give you better coverage than the flex arm for a tank that large. If you don’t plan on getting corals, you could also look at the Prime Sol to save a little cash. You may want them higher over the tank than the arms allow.

The two hydras would likely have a lot more light spill and wouldn’t cover the entire tank well even if hung higher than the typical 12” above the water to try and cover a long tank.

You could also look at AI blades or Quanta bars to go over the tank for better length coverage. May save you money overall especially if you buy two small bars to cover the tank rather than one large one.

 

[Cael Gallery]

My tank is located in a shed with a very tall metal roof so no hanging. I don't like the blue colour of the sols, i like to see my fishes natural colours. If the hydras had more light spill wouldn't that mean they have better spread over the tank?

 

[BristleWormHater]

My tank is located in a shed with a very tall metal roof so no hanging. I don't like the blue colour of the sols, i like to see my fishes natural colours. If the hydras had more light spill wouldn't that mean they have better spread over the tank?

What about attaching a shelf to the wall to hang the lights from?

 

[BristleWormHater]

If you are looking for natural colors, why not run t5 lights?

 

[Cael Gallery]

The aquarium is pretty much in the middle of the room so there's no walls nearby. How do you mount t5s? if they're mounted like those striplights with the brackets on each side of the tank those looks quite bulky

 

[FUNGI]

Just a thought.......T5's for my 60" ......(During my build)

 

[JaaxReef]

My tank is located in a shed with a very tall metal roof so no hanging. I don't like the blue colour of the sols, i like to see my fishes natural colours. If the hydras had more light spill wouldn't that mean they have better spread over the tank?

Not really, because you’ll get better spread with two primes further apart from each other vs one Hydra with two pucks that can’t move. Raising the hydras will result in more light spill and still won’t cover as much left to right as two primes. Especially since you don’t need high par.

Have you seen the AI Sol over a tank? Plenty of white, not a blue forward light, actually. But, it is missing red, green, or warm white for even more enhanced fish colors.