44 Gallon Upgrade Lighting

[Dave Dumanski]

Hi, I'm currently running a 30 gallon (36Lx12Wx18H) mixed tank (softies and LPS) with 4 T5 lighting and about to upgrade to a 44 gallon (36Lx12Wx24H) I wanted to also upgrade to LED lighting. Was looking for some suggestions that won't break my wallet but will keep my coral healthy and growing. thank you!

 

[Crabs McJones]

Hi, I'm currently running a 30 gallon (36Lx12Wx18H) mixed tank (softies and LPS) with 4 T5 lighting and about to upgrade to a 44 gallon (36Lx12Wx24H) I wanted to also upgrade to LED lighting. Was looking for some suggestions that won't break my wallet but will keep my coral healthy and growing. thank you!

When you say break your wallet, what kind of cap are we looking at $$ wise? There are a multitude of lighting options out there from the Mars Aqua black box for 100 bucks, or all the way up to the Kessils and Radions that are 700-900$

 

[Dave Dumanski]

I was hoping to keep it around or under $500, plus I assume I'll need more then 1 fixture.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I was hoping to keep it around or under $500, plus I assume I'll need more then 1 fixture.

For 500 you could do the Photon 32-V2 https://www.reefbreeders.com/shop/photon-32-v2/
Or an SB Reef light https://sbreeflights.com/sbox-reef-lights/10-sbox-extreme-32-wifi.html
Both of these lights are awesome and grow coral like crazy.
@saltyfilmfolks will vouch for the SB lights
and you would only need one fixture otherwise with kessil, ai or ecotech you're looking at over 600 minimum

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

All great choices.
Myself , also as a huge advocate of patience (and a chronic cheapskate ), is wait till Jan if I could , a lot of folks just upgraded thier lights for Black Friday. Used is a very good option.

I had 3 Ai Sols on my 55. That's around $1500 + new. I got them for 400.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

I would go with one of the 32" Black Boxes or you could probably get away with two or three AI Prime's if your aquascape is simple and you're only going to keep LPS and softies. Right now there's a lot of stuff on sale for the holidays but like Salty said lights will probably flood the used market after Christmas.

 

[Dave Dumanski]

Awesome thank you all for your great comments I do plan on waying all my options before purchasing anything and I will definitely keep an eye on the used markets

 

[EastSideBAy]

i vote for the reef breeder photon aswell really good light and battle corals uses them as well for their sps tank

 

[Rufus’ goofs]

I would go for the photon v2 as well. I recently got one, and am very impressed so far. My girlfriend and friends comment on how much nicer it is than my old black box. Not just the fixture, itself, but the way it makes the tank look as well.

Sb reef lights are a great option as well. Those ultra’s look awfully powerful.