Best CHEAP light?

[harrylikesfish]

I don’t wanna grow anything too demanding, just Softies. It’s a 6 foot aquarium so buying enough lights for that is gonna be expensive that’s why I want something cheap.

 

[Rstanphill]

 

[Dbichler]

3 noopsyche will take care of softies that’s around $450 or 3 mars aqua or any black boxes will grow anything for around the same. Depends on how much controllability you want.

 

[Texas Rick]

Sheeesh. What is cheap? My cheap may not be your cheap.

 

[Dbichler]

There’s nothing cheap in this hobby by my standards.

 

[Texas Rick]

There’s nothing cheap in this hobby by my standards.

Totally agree! Nothing cheap about this hobby. I didn’t know what I was getting into until I did. But I said **** it. I’m all in!

 

[Texas Rick]

@harrylikesfish , you’ll regret a cheap light. Al Prime mentioned is a good light. I use Kessil Tuna Blue with a controller attached to it.

 

[Gernader]

3 of Mars Aqua or ViparSpectra 165W will work well for any corals including SPS! I’m currently using 2 Mars Aqua for my 4 foot tank and all of my corals are doing great

 

[Dbichler]

Noopsyche is modeled after AI just cheaper. The controller does suck though but works. Have had reef breeders really powerful but expensive now.

 

[RichReef]

Current Orbits can handle softies no problem.

 

[Pntbll687]

This Light

And here's a tank that runs them

 

[Pntbll687]

I think allot of people get caught up on price, myself included.

The recent videos testing par are going to benefit some of these cheaper lights, and possibly hinder some newer up scale lights , *cough* Phillips coral care *cough*

I wouldn't hesitate to run these ^^ lights on a frag tank, or nano.

 

[blasterman]

Get a pair of Mars Aqua black boxes. Should cost less than $200. I have plenty of friends that grow massive SPS colonies with just black boxes.

Two lights wont cover the whole tank, but they will get you started and you likely don't want end to end coverage. Just enough to get started while not blowing a lot of dough, right?

Throwing more money at lights doesnt give you better lights.

 

[snowhite]

Ocean Revive T247B do surprisingly well. 2 of them over a 6' tank can grow SPS just fine and will only cost you a bit over $300 for two of them.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

Purchase lights for reef aquariums, at the price point you can do.
Upgrade them as you can.
Not all of us have unlimited wallets, some of us are just pee-ons at work, not the big cheese's, and our budgets are a bit tighter, lol.

 

[Y2kong]

Viparspectra does well. It's a very strong light.

 

[hotdrop]

T5 is cheaper and better if you are just starting out stay away from leds

 

[EMeyer]

My suggestion is grab any black box LED off Amazon that has the following features:
1. Fans. Avoid LEDs without fans.
2. Two plugs. That way you can run the blue and white channels on different timers if you like.

Thats it. I don't worry about brand, all the lights in this category are generic and very similar. You can find acceptable black boxes for about $80-$100 each.

 

[Uncle99]

Visparspectra 165watt, $150, delivered by Amazon.
You will need three.
Grows anything.
These are 4 years old now.....SPS....Clams....Nems.....

Big name and big price lights...........are just names and price......and some really neat programs which are great for adults, but fish and corals don’t care much about this stuff.

Just light, right intensity, right spectrum, consistency is everything.

 

[Wildcats1023]

3 viparspectras is what you will need. I bought mine off ebay they are a little cheaper on ebay than on amazon. Either way you get a warranty and your buying direct from manufacturer. they have 1 cord but run 2 channels which will allow you to control blues and whites separately. Built in timer too so once you decide on light schedule for each channel you dont have to buy a separate timer. Great lights will grow anything. I have 5 over my 6ft sps dominant tank.