Good budget nano sps lights?

[SilvermistInc]

T5

 

[oreo54]

T5

So which one for a 16" wide tank?
15.94 x 16.73 x 15

 

[ninjamyst]

Don't get the cheap 30w light. You need 50w+

 

[SilvermistInc]

So which one for a 16" wide tank?
15.94 x 16.73 x 15

That is disgustingly short

 

[GHOSTLY]

You may want to up the wattage a bit.. Your Kessil is 15w, most of the others are 30W "class" but this is 60W

Another choice from Amazon CA

NooPsyce is also high wattage.

Have you used either?

 

[oreo54]

Have you used either?

No.

 

[GHOSTLY]

No.

What light are you running currently?

 

[oreo54]

What light are you running currently?

I build and use fw lights. My suggestions are based on physics, history, how leds work and others experience

This isn't rocket science.

Take popbloom aka DSunY.
Been around awhile. Honestly tell you their wattage. Typical Chinese direct company and will customize if you so desire.
Uses reflectors over lenses.
Typical quality for the price point.
I've a history with them in the fw world.

Just need to watch their pricing. They discount here and there

Best to do a deep internet search on the lights. Even one person's opinion is not conclusive.

You'll ( well not you personally) kill more corals with bad water than with choosing the " wrong" light.

If you do a search on Nicrew you will find a general dislike of their software but other than that ..well read for yourself.

NICREW HYPER REEF 50W --Any Experience on quality, coral growth and optimum mix?

Hey guys, so I wanted to explore further on lighting and the experience people have had with the Nicrew hyper reef kit. I have been using one for 4 months for my 120 liter aquarium. Having faced a pretty big catastrophe recently with my reef tank, I wanted to understand lighting better to help...

www.reef2reef.com

Crazy.. 3rd different price for the same light

 

[educatedreefer]

I have a single Fluval Marine Nano light ($75) on my SPS dominated 10g reef tank and its been growing my corals pretty strongly for the past year. I’m planning on getting a second one tomorrow but it easily puts out 200PAR+ on the sand bed and 100+ PAR on the sand bed with less white intensity. Most other “cheap” lights from Amazon such as Hygger, Aquaknight, Lominie A20, etc all have strong lights but the diffusion and blending in my experience isn’t as good, obviously, as AI, Ecotech, T5, Reef Breeders, etc but the Fluval Marine light might be the answer you’re looking for
I’ll link a photo of PAR values with respective light intensity levels from an old thread on the forum and a photo of my tank.
My corals aren’t showing PE cuz I literally just moved them around and took them out of the tank when I took this photo hahahah but the growth is 100% guaranteed

 

[Ironwill723]

I've read good things on the Smatfarms LED from Amazon as well.

 

[MIke Wood]

search wattshine reef led on amazon. it doesnt have an attached bracket. but puts out alot of par. the blue spectrum is a nice deep blue. the only con i have noticed in the fan is kinda loud. i plan to replace mine with an f8 silent.

 

[Spare time]

A80s are a bit pricy for me even... I wanna keep some sps again mainly. I kept acros and montis after 1y of reefing then I had to quit cause I moved. Setting up a tank again and I need higher par since I sold my radion and spent it on cooking equipment

Hmm ok. I am not familiar with pricing around where you live but for budget lights I think the smatfarm or noopsyche mini are decent choices. If you can find a used a80 then maybe that.

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

This one really is a no brainer. Get yourself a noopsyche k7 mini. I paid $76 shipped for mine with a coupon That was me doing the par testing . The par numbers is insane.

 

[Acros]

AI Prime 16HD is the obvious choice, but that is double your budget. You can get them used for ~$160, mount included. They will definitely provide 200+ PAR in a 15g cube.

 

[GHOSTLY]

I have a single Fluval Marine Nano light ($75) on my SPS dominated 10g reef tank and its been growing my corals pretty strongly for the past year. I’m planning on getting a second one tomorrow but it easily puts out 200PAR+ on the sand bed and 100+ PAR on the sand bed with less white intensity. Most other “cheap” lights from Amazon such as Hygger, Aquaknight, Lominie A20, etc all have strong lights but the diffusion and blending in my experience isn’t as good, obviously, as AI, Ecotech, T5, Reef Breeders, etc but the Fluval Marine light might be the answer you’re looking for
I’ll link a photo of PAR values with respective light intensity levels from an old thread on the forum and a photo of my tank.
My corals aren’t showing PE cuz I literally just moved them around and took them out of the tank when I took this photo hahahah but the growth is 100% guaranteed

There's someone selling the halo version. Is that different?

 

[educatedreefer]

There's someone selling the halo version. Is that different?

The halo version is earlier model or Fluval 2.0 whereas the Fluval Nano Marine is essentially Fluval 3.0. They removed the aluminum heat sinks, made it sleeker, and light output much much stronger.
I'm actually going to pick up my package from Amazon that is the light and having been in the hobby for quite a while and having most lights from high-end (Radion XR30 Gen 4) to Kessil A160WE to Lominie A20, these lights are probably the light you're looking for!
Once you get a larger tank, then invest in a higher quality light, in the sense of spread and light intensity, but even then not a lot of people run their high-end Radions or Reef Breeder lights beyond 50% intensity unless you have a really tall tank or need to grow SPS on the sandbed.
I run my Fluval Nano Marine at:
Blue, Violet, Cyan at 100%
Pink at 7% but you can lower this (it's just for visual appeal)
White ramp up to 25-35% during peak
(I used the PAR distribution photos from an old R2R thread about the light as a guide)

 

[oreo54]

There's someone selling the halo version. Is that different?

2 color COB (white/blue) vs small panel (more color choices)
Both appear to be 20-ish watts though.

 

[GHOSTLY]

The halo version is earlier model or Fluval 2.0 whereas the Fluval Nano Marine is essentially Fluval 3.0. They removed the aluminum heat sinks, made it sleeker, and light output much much stronger.
I'm actually going to pick up my package from Amazon that is the light and having been in the hobby for quite a while and having most lights from high-end (Radion XR30 Gen 4) to Kessil A160WE to Lominie A20, these lights are probably the light you're looking for!
Once you get a larger tank, then invest in a higher quality light, in the sense of spread and light intensity, but even then not a lot of people run their high-end Radions or Reef Breeder lights beyond 50% intensity unless you have a really tall tank or need to grow SPS on the sandbed.
I run my Fluval Nano Marine at:
Blue, Violet, Cyan at 100%
Pink at 7% but you can lower this (it's just for visual appeal)
White ramp up to 25-35% during peak
(I used the PAR distribution photos from an old R2R thread about the light as a guide)

How long have you been using it?

 

[educatedreefer]

How long have you been using it?

Year and a half now although I’m looking into integrating T5s

 

[GHOSTLY]

Year and a half now although I’m looking into integrating t5s

Wait sorry how many are you running and whats the dimensions of your tank.