AI prime or Viparspectra for 75 gal?

[peachyman]

Setting up my first reef tank which will be a 75 gal with a Berlin sump. Length is 48 inches and my goal is a mixed tank with softies and lps. Maybe sps down the line sometime but I can't afford radions. I can't decide on what would be proper lighting. Would two 160 watt viparspectras do it or would I need three? Or would three AI primes be better? Or maybe two vipars with an AI prime in the middle? Help?

 

[Adrift]

Welcome to R2R glad you joined us.

 

[Jekyl]

Any of the black boxes will do it just fine, whether marsaqua, viparspectra or philzon. 2 of the 165w would be plenty. Make sure to do your homework on them. Do not run them turned up. Also keep in mind that after cycle you don't even need the lights for a couple months. Might be better off saving for the better lights. I started with black box. My recommendation is to not get them. They just don't look good. If starting over I would probably buy a T5 hybrid fixture and bring in the LED when I could afford to.

 

[MaxTremors]

I’ve never owned viparspectras (but I’ve seen them in person on other peoples tanks), so I can’t give you any real advice there. If you’re going with AIs, I would either do 3-4 of the 16s or two of the 32s.

A good budget option, which would allow you to grow anything, and that has much better spectrum than the viparspectra (someone who I really trust when it comes to lighting has said that the spectrum is nearly identical to G4 radions) are the Noopsyche V3 140 watts (you’d need 2-3). I recently switched from an AI Prime to this light (they offered to let me test out the light), and I really like it. The controller is archaic and not very intuitive, but the actual lighting is great. A few people have said that the Noopsyche fan is loud, I haven’t found mine to be any louder than my AI Prime, but that might be something to consider if noise is a concern (again, I don’t think they’re that loud, but other people have had an issue with it). I think these are currently on sale for quite a bit off (can’t remember if it’s 30 or 40% off), the msrp is around $300, they’re on sale pretty frequently though.

 

[Spare time]

You would need 3-4 primes (depending on ifg the tank has a center brace) The prime have the advantage of better spread, and being able to be mounted closer to the tank.