40b lighting

[rhsoto94]

So my T5HO bulbs took a dump and and instead of getting 40$ in bulbs I was just thinking of getting another LED. But since a 40b is so deep and I know LEDs light doesn't spread as much, would I have to get dual fixtures to cover the tank. I'm keeping this tank low tech/solid low light-low med so I don't really want to spend 200+ on two fixtures. Would one planted+ suffice?


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[Brookster123]

The spread of the p plus is not all that great, to stay low tech you could do a couple things. Get an exotic e series and suspend it or get 2 current sat plus. Both fixtures are dimmable so you can fine tune light..

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[rhsoto94]

What about two regular sat's?


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[jetajockey]

Other more DIY (and much cheaper) alternatives- 20 or 30w LED floodlights. I have one over the end of one of my 40b's. I moved things around and now have one over top of each of my 40b's hanging from the ceiling. I don't think the PAR is all that great with the amount of height this is set at, but in my situation I'm not all that concerned with it. I'd guess that it'd probably take 2, possibly 3 to get really good coverage.

Other option is GU10 LEDs. You'd have to build a fixture yourself with the GU10 plugs but it's really not all that hard. Some people use the 3x1w bulbs to light up SPS/LPS tanks so the PAR is there. The GU10s typically run about 2-4$ each and as to how many you'd need, it really just depends. You can probably get away with less than a reef tank would need, but I've not done a build with these yet personally so I can't comment on that aspect. I'm ordering a bunch to put over my 15s to replace t8 shop lights sometime in the near future.