1 AI Sol or 2 Nanos for 65g?

Wow, first post to the forum, too bad it doesn't show how much time I've spent on here looking around without posting

Anyways, I'm new to saltwater and starting up a new 65g tank (36x18x24) and I have myself pretty convinced about going with an AI LED. I'm just looking for some opinions deciding if one Sol mounted parallel would give me the spread I need for the whole 36" ? I know the specs say it will cover 30 but I'm wondering if I mount it higher and boost the intensity a little (since most people seem to run them on a lower %) if that will cover the extra 6 inches. I also don't know if their specs are going off of a parallel mount or the double rail mount. Seems silly to get a whole extra unit for 6 inches..

My other option is to get 2 nanos, which cover 18 each, giving me my 36.. And if I go that route, is there any known difference performance-wise between the Sol and the Nano?

Thanks in advance for any and all advice !

 

The nano is about 60% as powerful as the AI Sol. If it were me, I'd get 2 AI Sol units. I had 1 over a 40 gallon and needed another for SPS.

 

Welcome to the forum! This depends on what you want to keep in the tank. If you want SPS then I agree on going with 2 Sol units. Nice to see yet another 65g on the forum, check out this thread http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-off-your-fish-tanks/unofficial-65g-club-122271.html

 

I agree, based on the PAR numbers from the contour plot in this article, you would need two SOLs to get decent coverage for SPS.

Feature Article: LED Lighting Tests: Aquaillumination, Blue Moon, Eco-Lamp KR-91, Ecoxotic Panorama — Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine

I haven't seen a PAR contour plot from the nano, but a single sol (from the above article), puts out a bit of a spotlight effect and won't really cover more than about 6" of good SPS PAR (300+) at 24" from the fixture. I think the power of the SOL is that where they overlap, you get a summation of the PAR, so there is good coverage, but just one, the coverage is pretty narrow. With two, you would get about 27" of 300+ PAR coverage at 24" from the light and another few inches on each side of decent 150+ PAR on each side, so, would cover the tank pretty well.

 

I'd wait for the Pheonix, it might cover that.

 

This seems to be the standard answer everywhere ;D I still haven't seen PAR contour plots, or even detailed specs, so, that seems like a big "might".

I would put money on it "not" though, as it's still only 75W. You can't gain that much coverage out of thin air, you need more watts as the LEDs, for all intents and purpouses are pretty much the same.

 

Thanks for all the replies, I appreciate it, definitely made me think.. Am I maybe in the wrong ballpark with the AI's ? Is there something similar out there that would have more spread where I would only need one unit? I'm just thinking about the price of needing 2 and being at about 900$.. is there any LED system anyone can recommend that would work for me for about 600$ max maybe? I'm not looking to grow anything crazy, the toughest I'm planning at this point is maybe a clam and some bubble coral.

Thanks guys

 

I just put together a DIY kit from rapidLED on a 30 inch long heatsink for about 400 bucks. The DIY kits from rapid or aquastyle are by far the best bang for the buck for LED lighting. If you aren't a DIY type of person, you may look at some PAR30 bulbs from boostLED. You could do 6 PAR30 bulbs for less than 500 bucks and they should cover your 65g nicely.

 

The nano sol puts out 60% of what a sol does. The Phoenix is two nanos put together, so you will not gain much by waiting for it. The way I see it, if you go with two nanos, you have the ability to split the output across the entire tank.

As far as other options, there's really nothing in that price range that will hold a candle to ai if controllability is a selling point for you. If that's not a big deal to you, I would check out some other options.

Michael Rice
Marine Engineers
Sent from Tapatalk

 

Thanks for all the advice,

I have been talking to Mike from RapidLED since you mentioned DIY, I might venture into giving their 36 Ultra Premium Kit a try. Looks kind of scary though ! With the boostLED lamps, it seems like there would be a spotlight effect wouldn't there ?