Sizing AI Blade width for a 60" wide tank

hhaase · Feb 12, 2023

I think somebody finally has a light I'm willing to buy for my SCA150 to replace my cobbled together DIY's on my mixed reef, and I'm very strongly looking at the new AI Blades due to their mounting options.

My biggest question, since I've never used a blade style light before, is what width should I go for on my 60" wide tank? Would the hive mind recommend the 48" wide or 57" wide? I'm looking to really cut down on shadowing as much as possible but at the same time I really don't want to spend a few hundred extra dollars (Assuming 3 blades) providing a high PAR number to my carpet.

Sean Clark · Feb 12, 2023

I would go for 3 of the 57" especially if eliminating shadows is your goal.

I was looking at using a bunch of 21" and running them front to back instead of side to side.

14 foot reef · Feb 12, 2023

I think you could do either, going with the 57" will give you a lot more "Bounce/Reflection" off glass and help a lot with shadowing. I'd invest the few hundred extra and then you'll never have to second guess your decision, plus you'll be able to run them at a lower power which will allow them to last longer.

helmsreef · Feb 18, 2023

I just installed a single 57" on my 72" tank which supplements my 6 kessil a360x's, I will be trying to get par numbers very soon on how well a single one helps. Here is a picture of just the blade on preset 2 of their intensity when I was setting it up.

14 foot reef · Feb 18, 2023

Looks really nice
I'm thinking of adding 2 - 66" Blades to my 6 Radion G6's for fill light front and back, my tank is an Island view all sides visible

hhaase · Feb 22, 2023

14 foot reef said:
I think you could do either, going with the 57" will give you a lot more "Bounce/Reflection" off glass and help a lot with shadowing. I'd invest the few hundred extra and then you'll never have to second guess your decision, plus you'll be able to run them at a lower power which will allow them to last longer.

I've gotta say, I'm jealous at how even and smooth that lighting looks on your tank. Sure beats my current "Light Islands". Do you ever wish you went a bit longer? From what I can see, it looks like even the ends of the tank are sufficiently lit and kinda makes me want to steer toward the 48" blades.

I'd show my current setup, but I don't have a current picture since I added the kessil, and right now everything is dark for the night.

14 foot reef · Feb 23, 2023

hhaase said:
I've gotta say, I'm jealous at how even and smooth that lighting looks on your tank. Sure beats my current "Light Islands". Do you ever wish you went a bit longer? From what I can see, it looks like even the ends of the tank are sufficiently lit and kinda makes me want to steer toward the 48" blades.

I'd show my current setup, but I don't have a current picture since I added the kessil, and right now everything is dark for the night.

Just to be clear, this 14 foot reef is lit with only XR30 Radion G6 with difusers, I have not added the AI blades yet.

hhaase · Feb 23, 2023

14 foot reef said:
Just to be clear, this 14 foot reef is lit with only XR30 Radion G6 with difusers, I have not added the AI blades yet.

Oops, replied to the wrong tank. Thought I was replying to HelmsReef's 72" tank.

Blake509 · Feb 23, 2023

The 57in. Get the biggest one you can fit the whole point of led bar lighting is to get spread and even par by using a smaller one then length of tank defeats this purpose.

Slocke · Feb 23, 2023

I have a 60" and I went with the 48" but that is partially because I keep a elegance coral and I wanted to give them a darker corner. Thus my tank lighting is unbalanced. However when I've moved it around I do like the effect when it is in the middle.

Also last time I checked the prices the 57" was confusingly a lot more expensive then the 48".

One Reefing Boi · Feb 23, 2023

14 foot reef said:
Looks really nice
I'm thinking of adding 2 - 66" Blades to my 6 Radion G6's for fill light front and back, my tank is an Island view all sides visible

Wait is this 3 tanks in one?! I have never seen this and love it

14 foot reef · Feb 23, 2023

One Reefing Boi said:
Wait is this 3 tanks in one?! I have never seen this and love it

Yes, 3 tanks all plumbed together the two end corner bows are non reef safe fish !!!!
850 Gallons total water volume

One Reefing Boi · Feb 23, 2023

14 foot reef said:
Yes, 3 tanks all plumbed together the two end corner bows are non reef safe fish !!!!
850 Gallons total water volume

That’s a dream! Custom tank or have any details I could look this up? How big is the main/side tanks? (Gallons?)

14 foot reef · Feb 23, 2023

One Reefing Boi said:
That’s a dream! Custom tank or have any details I could look this up? How big is the main/side tanks? (Gallons?)

the reef is almost 14' long the other side is 14' flat panel the living rooom side has the 2 end corner bows.
Middle reef is 90" x 36" by 28" tall The bows are a corner pie shape 36" radius 28" tall.
The total gallons is 850 gallons

One Reefing Boi · Feb 23, 2023

14 foot reef said:
the reef is almost 14' long the other side is 14' flat panel the living rooom side has the 2 end corner bows.
Middle reef is 90" x 36" by 28" tall The bows are a corner pie shape 36" radius 28" tall.
The total gallons is 850 gallons

Custom built or does someone make tanks like these?

hhaase · Feb 23, 2023

Slocke said:
I have a 60" and I went with the 48" but that is partially because I keep a elegance coral and I wanted to give them a darker corner. Thus my tank lighting is unbalanced. However when I've moved it around I do like the effect when it is in the middle.

Also last time I checked the prices the 57" was confusingly a lot more expensive then the 48".

Did you opt for the Grow or Glow version? I'm noticing the Glow version is considerably more expensive than the Grow version. $170 difference between the two in the same length. 57" grow is cheaper than a 48" glow. If I go with a mix of 2x grow and 1x glow (or 1 and 1?) it makes 57" blades a lot more viable for me.

Slocke · Feb 23, 2023

hhaase said:
Did you opt for the Grow or Glow version? I'm noticing the Glow version is considerably more expensive than the Grow version. $170 difference between the two in the same length. 57" grow is cheaper than a 48" glow. If I go with a mix of 2x grow and 1x glow (or 1 and 1?) it makes 57" blades a lot more viable for me.

I currently have two AI primes and a coral Grow 48". My plan is to add a 48" Glow though I may just go with a Grow as I'm not convinced the Glow is any better than the Grow yet. I believe the 48" is a 100 Watt light (20W per segment) so for me 2 is more than enough for my tank that was previously running on a total of 150W. Sorry no idea what my par is.

14 foot reef · Feb 23, 2023

One Reefing Boi said:
Custom built or does someone make tanks like these?

I built this myself, its been running for 21 years !!!!!!

hhaase · Feb 23, 2023

14 foot reef said:
I built this myself, its been running for 21 years !!!!!!

Tis a stunner of a setup, no doubt about it.

hhaase · Feb 27, 2023

Decided to go with the 57" blades. You guys had me steering that way already but the final kicker was that I measured my current lighting, and the extreme end-to-end on my DIY's is basically right at 48" and I do have to admit there is some end shading I'm concerned about, particularly after a few things start to grow out a bit more.

I am going to start with 2 of the 57" Grow blades, measure the PAR, and judge if I need a third at that point. There is one video series on youtube with a nearly identical dimension tank running a pair of 57" grows for lighting. His PAR measurements are an all-around improvement over what I have. He has a close match to my peak PAR directly under my main fixtures but everywhere else in the tank I'd see increases. That and I really like the way his tanks look under the Grow blades exclusively.