Best lighting for a 6 gallon zoa pico?

[Chrisv.]

Hello!

I'm new to keeping zoa's but not new to reefing. I'm in the process of setting up a small aio with the main goal of making it into a crazy zoa garden. For various reasons I have avoided them in my larger tank, and I'm excited about trying them in a dedicated system.

I'm considering lightning options. My impression is that blue LEDs (and maybe some good Photoshop skills) are needed to really make zoa colors pop.

Would a kessil a80 tuna blue do the trick? This is a small tank and I would love to minimize the crazy spill over of light.

Is this sufficient/good, or would I be better off with something else?

 

[saltybees]

Definitely, or an ai prime

 

[saltybees]

Primes have a bit of light spill tho

 

[ninjamyst]

Or a $60 nicrew 30w light from Amazon. No need to drop $200 on ai prime.

 

[Chrisv.]

If I stick with kessil, is a80 enough, or do I need to go to the 160? I don't plan to keep anything other than zoas but I don't love it when they have to stretch for the light.

 

[saltybees]

Or a $60 nicrew 30w light from Amazon. No need to drop $200 on ai prime.

99% of this hobby is based on want not need lol

 

[saltybees]

If I stick with kessil, is a80 enough, or do I need to go to the 160? I don't plan to keep anything other than zoas but I don't love it when they have to stretch for the light.

How deep is the tank? I’m sure an 80 would work but I've never personally used a kessil. Different zoos want less/more light so it’s really a placement game as long as the light can reach the bottom.

 

[Chrisv.]

How deep is the tank? I’m sure an 80 would work but I've never personally used a kessil. Different zoos want less/more light so it’s really a placement game as long as the light can reach the bottom.

It's about 12- 13 inches deep ( I think).

 

[Chrisv.]

Or a $60 nicrew 30w light from Amazon. No need to drop $200 on ai prime.

Either way I will probably wait for a local reefer to have something for sale-- so if ai is better for some reason I'm open to waiting for one to show up second hand.

I will check out nicrew though.

 

[MONTANTK]

Kessil a80 should be plenty. Personally I’d probably go with an AI Prime because they’re so close in price and the prime can be controlled via phone. No wrong decision though

 

[Chrisv.]

Are there different generations of the prime 16 , or does it just come down to a black fixture or a white fixture?

 

[Hooz]

There is a Prime (13 LEDs, no "Hyper Drive"), a Prime HD (13 LEDs with "Hyper Drive") and a Prime 16HD (16 LEDs with "Hyper Drive"). There are other differences (wifi vs Bluetooth, etc), but those are the 3 versions of the light.

All that being said, and A80 would also be fine for zoas in a small tank like that.

 

[Fakegolfnews]

Reefbrite for best spread

 

[Chrisv.]

Reefbrite for best spread

The illuminated area of the tank is only 11.5" x 8.75" and the tank is about 12 inches deep. My hope is that this small of an area won't be crazy difficult to light with even the least spaced out LED.

My biggest concern is color and to avoid zoas getting "leggy" (stretching out for the light.

 

[ninjamyst]

My $50 light from Amazon (not nicrew) ended up bleaching some of my zoas in my frag tank. I had to turn it down a bit. For a tank your size, any decent light will do. If you got the money, go for the AI with the controllability. If you want to save money, go for an off brand from Amazon. Your zoas won't care.

 

[littlebigreef]

Depending on what zoas you want to keep the Kessil and Prime might be overkill. You should aim to be in the 70-100par area and no higher (zoas just don't need the intense light). These lights are generally designed to penetrate deeper than the 12" that your pico will be. I'm guessing you can adjust the intensity but still something to consider.

I would suggest looking at a power compact (screw in base) and then maybe a simple blue LED to supplement and give the zoas some pop. However, I realize you might not want multiple lights above a pico.

 

[Karen00]

I picked up the Lominie Pixie 30 (30w) for my 5g. It was a toss up between that and the Nicrew HyperReef 30w. I think the Lominie had a few more features I liked for lighting control which is why I chose it.

 

[Hooz]

The ReefBreeders Pico might be a good choice too. No real control (timer, dimming, etc), but a nice color mix and appropriate size, and only $60.

 

[Fakegolfnews]

One 8 inch reefbrite strip is plenty of light for what you want. It also only cost like $70. You need blue and white so the lumilite 50/50 is your best bet. You can dim them too

 

[Chrisv.]

I ended up going with the ai prime 16 HD. I got a decent deal on one second hand from a local reefer. My major deciding factors were the future proofing (who knows what I will want to use it for in the long term) and the controllability (it is much nicer than a kessil in that regard--- I have a kessil a360we on another system). It's probably overkill, but I like that it can be controlled with no other hardware.

Now that said, what color profiles do you guys run to make the zoas really pop?

I have another tank that I keep at 10-14k-ish (closer to daylight) but in this tank I really want to make my rocks look like they are covered in fluorescent Skittles. People can make fun of me for having a tank full of Windex. This is my fun zoa nano.