Budget Light for 10 Gallon

[FeistyDodo]

Hi everyone,

Sorry in advanced about posting about a topic which has been posted about many times before.

Just getting into the hobby after years of wanting to make the jump from freshwater, and I plan on starting out with a 10 gallon Florida Shallow tank.
So that means I'll be keeping mostly macro algae along with riccordia, zoas, and rock flower nems.

I have everything planned out except for the lights. I know that nems like higher light, but I am also on a college budget so I would like to keep the lighting around $100.

The ideas which I have for lighting would be

-2 Fluval Marine Nano Lights (can find for around 50 on eBay), or a 20" Reefbar Pro with sunset timer and dimmer.

I know a lot of people will recommend an AI prime, but they are a bit pricey for me used and having an activley cooled light in a dorm room is less than ideal for sound.

There are probably other options out there and I would be happy to hear them!

 

[fishski13]

Try kessil a 80

 

[FeistyDodo]

Try kessil a 80

Was looking at that. Do you think that one could cover a 10 gal by itself?

 

[fishski13]

Was looking at that. Do you think that one could cover a 10 gal by itself?

Yeah 100%, I run that over my 10 gallon nano with lps, mushrooms, and rock flower anenomes. Worked out for my college budget

 

[Jekyl]

Not sure the a80 will be enough for BTA. My advice is to not rush it.... get the tank going. Lighting isn't needed until at least a month or 3 after cycle. Save up and get something good. You're going to start yourself at a disadvantage by going cheap on a light when it's the most important hardware you'll have. You'll end up spending more on 2 coral than the thing that's supposed to keep them alive.

 

[vetteguy53081]

A80 will be limited. In this hobby, there is not much with budget pricing that will fulfill your desires. On the marketplace for R2R, you can find ai primes shipped at $150 and will have all the colors and spectrums needed for a successful reef.

 

[Tamberav]

A80 will be fine for the livestock you want to keep including flowers.

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

Neptune sky

 

[FeistyDodo]

So the conensus which I have got so far, is either
-Go with one a80
-Or wait to buy a used AI Prime

Since it is a standard 10 gallon I am pretty doubtful of a single a80 covering it. So it seems like I will probably wait to get an AI Prime for $150. How bad would the fan noise be from it though? There is also the possibility of getting 3 fluval marine nano's for the same price since they seem to be going for $50 new currently on eBay.

 

[Chrisv.]

On a college budget, I say wait for a used light no matter what. You can get a sweet deal on something if you wait a few weeks and then you can blow the money you save on beer and coral. Which is basically what you will do when you're done with college too.

As for which light....I vote for whatever you find a good deal on. I like both kessil and AI lights...but if I were going with a kessil I'd use an old 160. That's the model that's most comparable to the ai prime. Honestly there are some decent black box lights that would be fine.

 

[h20cyclone]

A80Blue would work fine for a 10 gallon. Done this on a few tanks of similar size with one. Great light for the money. Used AI is not a bad option if you plan to move up in tank size eventually. Just be sure you know what you're getting with a used light though. If you have a new light go out you can have a warranty claim on it. If you have a used light go out, it just got more expensive. That being said I've used both lights and had no issues with either. The shimmer on the Kessil is hard to beat if you like that look. The extra $$$ for the controller still drives me nuts though. Curious to see what you get.

 

[LegalReefer]

Some of the Chinese blackbox lights work pretty well. I used this on a 5-gallon and a 10-gallon and was able to grow birdsnest and lps with it. Check out Hipargero

 

[curtdog6]

Second the hipargero, not out of personal experience but Iv read and heard of a lot of people having success with it. You can also find the light under aquaknight. I think they’re like 60$ on eBay

 

[Sinibotia]

I used a luminie pixie light for a 10 gallon and had solid success with soft corals. No luck with LPS or SPS but only 2 real attempts and I think it was more water chemsitry related than light related. Only $70 too! Check my build thread for my now defunct 10g if you want a little bit of an idea.

 

[maddy999]

Hi everyone,

Sorry in advanced about posting about a topic which has been posted about many times before.

Just getting into the hobby after years of wanting to make the jump from freshwater, and I plan on starting out with a 10 gallon Florida Shallow tank.
So that means I'll be keeping mostly macro algae along with riccordia, zoas, and rock flower nems.

I have everything planned out except for the lights. I know that nems like higher light, but I am also on a college budget so I would like to keep the lighting around $100.

The ideas which I have for lighting would be

-2 Fluval Marine Nano Lights (can find for around 50 on eBay), or a 20" Reefbar Pro with sunset timer and dimmer.

I know a lot of people will recommend an AI prime, but they are a bit pricey for me used and having an activley cooled light in a dorm room is less than ideal for sound.

There are probably other options out there and I would be happy to hear them!

i would go for a g6 radion xr15 pro.

 

[noopsyche]

Fluval Marine Nano Lights (20 watts ) < Noopsyche K7 Mini(60watts & wifi control)
To provide you with one more choice, now we are discounting, the price after discount is 85$