I'm going to be a bit brand biased through this as I only want to suggest lights that I have direct experience with. Hopefully members with other experiences will chime in as well.On the strip front my only experience is with Reef Brites, which have worked surprisingly well on mixed reefs. I like their blues, their whites seem hard to balance out to a color most people appreciate without several times as much blue. Color rendering is ok.I've actually seen several tanks running cheap import LEDs with softies and some LPS that grow nicely. The color rendering leaves something to be desired, as does the multi-year durability (The ones I've used were all second hand, but they've all burned out several diodes after a couple years).The used price on AI lights seems to be reasonable when they pop up, color rendering is better than the Reef Brites. I think a pair of Prime HDs would probably work.A pair of Gen3 Pro or newer XR15s (Radion) would probably do just fine with softies and LPS. I think a pair sold recently somewhere in the $200/per range. Color rendering is very good.In between the RapidLED offerings actually have decent color rendering, and are a rough equivalent to a better Gen2/non-pro Gen3 Radion. These are harder to come by used. I'm debating selling off some of mine, but they are wired up as a set of 6 which is probably overkill for your needs. On the plus side they are very quiet.A single XR30 would probably do (Gen 3 Pro or newer, $300-$400 used), and is the same cost as a pair of XR15s, but you would have visible dropoff to the sides. A pair would be overkill for your goal. Don't plan to run these at 100% as the fans are pretty loud in that use case, although even with one you wouldn't need to on that tank.I find the beam pattern is a bit too obvious on Kessil's cylindrical bodied lights. The AP700 can safely cover a 3' area, but like the XR30 is a stretch at 4' (I run them closer to 2', but with SPS in mind). The AP700 has without question the closest I've seen to halide quality shimmer, although I don't like the coloration quite as much as the Ecotech and AI lights. I haven't spent much time trying to tweak their colors, so that's based on how I've seen other tanks set up. The Ecotech offerings do have some minor disco if you get too close, although that will probably be close to negligable at your tank height. The diffusers do work, although it's another cost.I'm going to ignore halide due to bulb and operating cost, and T5 due to coloration and bulb replacement cost, although both certainly still have their place in a reef.
