Expensive light worth it ?

[CC_N]

really...We don't have petco here

 

[bnord]

Amazon smatfarm. Cheap, controllable, mount included. Best affordable light

I tried one and it looks great, but have trouble making it hold the settings

 

[Quoc Vu]

I went from black box leds to hydra 64s and radions. I dont see a big difference. So I vote No. Not worth the extra $$$ my 2 cents.

 

[HPfunk]

ATI has never done me wrong;Happy
Just picked up the newest one and the thing looks like an I pad. Not running the tank yet but I’ll bet my future SPS will love it.

 

[Waynerock]

I have what would be called “cheep higher tier” lights are I think they were worth the 199 per I spent. SPS, LPS no issues whatsoever. Going on 3 years straight NO issues. That’s gonna be your biggest thing I think with BB’s. How long will they be issue free with no lens burning or fan noise? Will cheep lED’s shift spectrum as they age?

 

[Fishfreak2009]

I use 2x Vivarspectra 165W leds on my 75 gallon and have been extremely pleased with both color and growth on all my corals, including a bunch of SPS.

I also have a fluval evo set up using an AI Prime 16HD, and have nothing but good things to say about that either.

As for the stock light on the fluval evo, sure some softies and LPS will grow under it, but barely, and the color sucks. I'm looking forward to eventually upgrading my other evos to better LEDs

 

[Waynerock]

I have what would be called “cheep higher tier” lights are I think they were worth the 199 per I spent. SPS, LPS no issues whatsoever. Going on 3 years straight NO issues. That’s gonna be your biggest thing I think with BB’s. How long will they be issue free with no lens burning or fan noise? Will cheep lED’s shift spectrum as they age?

Oh gotta add the Gratuitous tank pictures

 

[vabben]

You’re most likely going to have coral worth more than you’re lights in the tank, so why cheap out on the main source of life to the coral.

Maybe if we’re talking about a nano, it may might make sense to go cheap. But if you have a significant area to light, why go with an black box or “cheap light”.

 

[jmichaelh7]

Nothing in the hobby is cheap.

Pay to play, the most expensive gear is the best. Period

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Expensive light...eh.
Expensive flow? Yes.
Expensive water quality. Yes. E.g. automate your water changes. Chemicals. Ect.

Light is great but only allows photosynthesis. Yes its good but not everything...
D

 

[Doctorgori]

good thread…..I have a few brands and have been buying and wasting money on reef crap for 30yrs , not a expert but I have plenty of experience with cheap junk and expensive JUNK
…I would call LED’s not very inflation proof against technological obsolescence….
…so that $400 Kessil will last 6yrs but could it be obsolete steampunk junk in 3yrs ? …maybe
I just cop’d some of them $60 Nicrews just to see

 

[Rollman]

The threads lately are cheap lights, no water changes, no skimmer. Soon the threads will be what’s wrong with my tank. haven’t we gotten enough from China lol.

 

[Fishfreak2009]

The threads lately are cheap lights, no water changes, no skimmer. Soon the threads will be what’s wrong with my tank. haven’t we gotten enough from China lol.

My tank runs on vivarspectras. I've seen very successful tanks running them for multiple years. As for if one fails, its cheaper for me to buy 6 vivarspectra than it is for 2 (sometimes even 1) of one the "designer" lights. I do regular water changes, feed heavily, and my corals thrive. Sure, these don't have an app on my phone to play around with, but I prefer dialing in my lights and leaving them be anyways. And the corals don't seem to mind either, based on how well they are growing.

 

[Dburr1014]

I bought my Reefbreeders about 7 years ago. They are still growing sps, clam, LPS.
Cheap, maybe on the higher end of cheap 7 years ago. They have been upgrading the quality since.
Disco effect, @ 5" above the water yes, so take out the lenses. No more disco but keep a lid on the tank for splash.

Edit: just want to say I would definatly buy again!

 

[Freenow54]

Almost any light these days can grow SPS. Some just provide more options, better spectrum, better look, etc




I can't stand the disco ball effect from LEDs. There are only a couple fixtures on the market that don't have it. Black boxes look terrible IMO

That effect is caused by the surface water disruption from your power heads. I never figured out using diffusers, seems to me you are defeating the purpose. I just received my Apogee meter yesterday, and am going to do an in depth study on my Aquanest M8 lights pre programed lights now. People have been after pre programed lights forever. The BRS guys talk about it. Now I will be able to talk facts

 

[Metcho]

what do you think about the Ocean Revive T247B ?

I run ocean revive light on all three of my tanks. All sps corals and the grow and are colored up just fine. I have a total of 11 of them running for over 4yrs and wouldn’t trade them for a $$$$ light. There’s no disco light effect in any of my tanks. There’s plenty of par for the sps 350-500 no problem.

 

[ToastedRatSandwich]

Call me crazy, but I run 3 Nicrew cheap lights on my 90 gal. Im only going for a zoa garden though, so didnt have any need for high end stuff. Im growing zoas and a few mushrooms no problem for under $200 total in lighting. Forgive the pic quality, still working out how to get the best looking pictures.

 

[Joeg]

Another vote here for the 165w Viparspectra that sells on Amazon for around $150. In addition to the Viparspectra I added a 420/450/470 led bar from Aliexpress that seels for around $45 and puts other bars to shame in terms of construction quality. For around $200 in total I have par and spectrum that matches or exceeds solutions costing 3-5x as much. The markup on some of the big-brand stuff is embarrassing once you pop the hood and see what you're actually buying.

 

[billyocean]

Viparspectras here..no problems.

If you mount them creative I think they look fine

 

[BYU]

AI customer service sucks