Lighting a 43" by 17" by 29" tank

[Jordanaim]

Hi I am trying to figure out what lighting I would require for a 43"by 17"by29" tank to grow corals, I would like to be able to grow all types of corals but will start with the easier ones as I have only had a tropical tank in the past.

I was looking at the MaxSpect Razor R420R 180W 15K LED Lighting and wondering if one of these would be enough to light the whole tank or a would I be better going for 2 or 3 smaller lights, also another question about corals am I right in thinking if a coral doesn't like the light you can just put it further from the light source and it will be OK and vice versa for a coral that likes the light putting it closer to the source.

Thankyou for any help
Jordan

[Ron Reefman]

That Maxspect Razor is OK, but you are going to have a lot of light fall off at the ends of the tank. That's not a bad thing per se, but if you don't like the look, maybe 2 smaller units would be better.

If you like the one fixture look, there are several 32" fixtures out there that will work. The Reef Breeders Photon V2 32" is 5" longer, has 6 channels of color control and sunrise/sunset for only 10% more than the Maxspect. I think Viparspectra and Euphotica both have less expensive (less options) fixtures as well.

The answer to your question is mostly yes. Corals are fairly adaptable over time and can adjust some to light intensity. But higher in the tank and directly under the leds can be PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation) values that are 3 to 5 times higher than deeper in the tank and away from being directly under the leds. Minimum PAR values of 50 to 100 and high end values of 400 to 500.

[Volcmreefer]

SB reef lights