Budget Lighting Ideas

[jreef03]

Hello, I have a 45 gal tall tank(24” tall). I need ideas for a budget light that can get good enough PAR near the bottom.
Thank You,

Jake

 

[T-J]

Good enough PAR at the bottom for what? What types of corals are you going to keep in this tank?

 

[Brymac1]

Check out the Maxspect razor r5. I ran the 150w over my 46 bow front and was getting around 350 near the top and around 150-200 at the bottom. The tank was 18” tall.

 

[Gtinnel]

Also how "budget" are we talking. Many black box led fixtures have plenty of power to reach that depth for just about any coral, and is as budget as you will find. They usually don't have the best spectrum and as for controls there is basically none.

 

[mrlavalamp]

Also how "budget" are we talking. Many black box led fixtures have plenty of power to reach that depth for just about any coral, and is as budget as you will find. They usually don't have the best spectrum and as for controls there is basically none.

nail on the head.

The 165w viparspectra lights work well enough for me. They are the cheapest lights around and I have had no issues growing lps and zoas with it. My tank is nearly 30" tall.

The controls are minimal but works well enough for my needs. The two channels adjust power levels independently.
The blue channel is ok, the white channel is overpowering (so I keep it low).

It has timer functions for each channel so I can turn either channel on and off on a schedule.

Only downside is there is no ramping in the timer function, the channels are either on or off.

 

[jreef03]

Good enough PAR at the bottom for what? What types of corals are you going to keep in this tank?

I am looking to have pretty much exclusively soft corals and sps

thank You for the response

 

[jreef03]

nail on the head.

The 165w viparspectra lights work well enough for me. They are the cheapest lights around and I have had no issues growing lps and zoas with it. My tank is nearly 30" tall.

The controls are minimal but works well enough for my needs. The two channels adjust power levels independently.
The blue channel is ok, the white channel is overpowering (so I keep it low).

It has timer functions for each channel so I can turn either channel on and off on a schedule.

Only downside is there is no ramping in the timer function, the channels are either on or off.

Would you need to run 2 of these next to each other in a 36 inch wide tank?

thank You for the response

 

[mrlavalamp]

Would you need to run 2 of these next to each other in a 36 inch wide tank?

thank You for the response

Yes, and I would stick with 2 of the 165w vs. a single 300w. It will give you greater control of power and timing and if one fixture fails you aren't left in the dark completely.

 

[Gtinnel]

I'm currently running two of the 300watt Viparspectra lights on my 125g and although they aren't fancy they will grow corals. I keep everything from SPS to softies and they do just fine.
I am getting ready to upgrade my lights to the new Noopsyche lights, they look good for the price, but I haven't gotten them yet to know how well they work. If bought directly from China they have what seems to be good sale going on right now. I recently bought 5 of them for my tank.