How much should a beginning hobbyist plan to spend on lighting?

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

So yesterday, I started this thread on how big a tank a new hobbyist should start with. You can join that discussion here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/g...he-best-sized-aquarium-for-a-beginner.598213/. Today, let's talk about lighting...

How do you approach lighting for someone just getting started? How much should a new reefer plan to spend? Should they jump in with both feet, start with some lower end lights and upgrade later? How do you recommend they do it?

Feel free to also talk about whether they should jump straight into LED's or should go with T5 or metal halide.

 

[BestMomEver]

If you aren’t familiar with different types of light, find a local aquarist that you trust and get them to help you find good quality used equipment. Reef clubs are good for that too.

 

[count krunk]

LED black box off of amazon that has a bunch of good reviews.

 

[hbrochs]

Depends on what you hope to grow.
I understand that you probably don’t know the answer to this yet. Even if you do have an answer, you will probably change your mind over the next few years. I would recommend you buying a used ATI t5 Sunpower fixture, non dimmable and run it 8 hours a day.

You should be able to get one for a reasonable price. I like that t5 gives great coverage and steady growth, with limited openings for you to mess it up by over tinkering. I’d hang it with the adjustable wire system that it comes with and over time you could slowly lower it closer to the top of the aquarium. I’d start at 12” over the water.

 

[Jon Fishman]

LED black box off of amazon that has a bunch of good reviews.

This.... I bought a 32" 300W Mars Aqua fully intending on it being a "stop-gap" and my tanks (on second now.... third on the way) did great with it. I would probably invest in a kessil for the aesthetics if I had a smaller cube style aquarium, as I like the look, and one could cover the whole tank..... but needing a lot of coverage, the price for aesthetics is too high when I can buy multiple black-boxes and cover a lot more area.

I say a 165w or 300w Mars Aqua is a perfect light for a starter...... even if you don't plan on corals, or SPS, or Anemones etc.... you're covered if you change your mind, because I've got them all, and they all do great. (SPS actually does better than most LPS in my tank)

 

[Demonic]

Probably half of what you think your initial build budget is.

 

[dbjonesjr]

I'd suggest an affordable T5 fixture. It doesn't have to be an ATI or Giesemann. As someone who went the cheap route with a black box I can say it is a good option but there are certainly drawbacks. The biggest drawback of LED lighting is their control as it encourages tinkering. With T5 it is simple. Choose bulbs and forget about it for a year.

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

Having gone the "start cheap then upgrade" route, if I were to do it over I would just save up and buy the nicer light to start with.

 

[Ruben's Reef]

I would said, get the best you can afford basic on your budget. I start with the VIparspectra 165w then upgrade to the 300w and now I have the Noopsyche K7 that is working great on my tank.

 

[ourcoralreef]

Whatever radions go for
Lol [emoji23]
Definitely led is your best bang for your $
Depending on what coral you are keeping
Softies you can get away with black box, sps in my opinion radions
Don’t buy anything in between because you will end up spending more on a upgrade no point in spending $ on something that is just okay
Radions (in my opinion) so far have the best growth
Kessil 360x is more expensive and doesn’t have better growth a bit lower or the same
you also can’t control individual colors on the kessil

with the radion you can have set programming (depending on what you are growing) right out of the box and then you can adjust as you please

 

[Rakie]

Buy the best you can get at every stage of the process, or pay for it later -- literally and figuratively.

This is not a cheap hobby. A beginner needs to know they will throw thousands into this hobby before the tank even has life in it. Doesn't matter if it's a 10g IM cube, you need an RODI, a quality light (300+ minimum), quality test kits, quality pumps (even for a small tank, quality pumps are worth it), etc etc etc etc.

The list (and costs) never end. You must spend a premium on everything to start right, or you'll spend twice as much on junk + upgrades. And often people have a failing tank.

 

[Jon Fishman]

I'm torn between this "Quality" vs. "Expensive" when it comes to lights. I am making the decision to stick with Black-Box lights vs. swapping out to Kessils etc. Do I think Kessils etc. would last longer etc? "Yes" but at the end of the day, despite cheap build quality, I can't seem to find any information that would suggest the spectrum/intensity/ability of black-box LEDs is any different than the proprietary/expensive ones.

I agree in buying "quality" for most things though, when there is solid reasoning for spending the loot, I'm all for it..... a tank for instance, I will shop around and spend more vs. a (insert brand here) that has seam-bursting/failure/leaking problems well documented..... not worth chancing it.

I connected $25k worth of speakers with $20 worth of monoprice speaker-wire..... If I were convinced it made a difference I would have bought high end cables..... same thing is true for lights for me. I do see the 'hybrid' lights as a nice choice though, or making a selection based on disco-effect vs. not etc.... but again, as far as growing coral.... my SPS does great with my black-boxes.... maybe many people who go "cheap" on lights go cheap on other things too (testing, dosing, whatever) so they may not be able to keep anemones or SPS or whatever, but I see plenty of people running Black-Boxes with great success...... either way.... For the new person.... look at your budget, tear it up, throw it away, and hold on.....

 

[Rakie]

I'm torn between this "Quality" vs. "Expensive" when it comes to lights. I am making the decision to stick with Black-Box lights vs. swapping out to Kessils etc. Do I think Kessils etc. would last longer etc? "Yes" but at the end of the day, despite cheap build quality, I can't seem to find any information that would suggest the spectrum/intensity/ability of black-box LEDs is any different than the proprietary/expensive ones.

Me and those I've known for awhile do not find Kessils to be quality lights for the long term. Very few tanks look good lit exclusively by kessils for the long haul. Most end up with paling corals eventually, switch out to something different, and get great results.

There's something "missing" in kessils -- I don't know what it is, because on paper they're great... But I've seen very few long term happy SPS keepers with them. And often when people chime in saying how much they love their kessils they either A) Have hybrid with T5 carrying the krapples, or B) Have junker Digi's and green dog SPS that don't even contribute to the conversation. But who wants to tell them the corals they have don't count as "corals" when were talking high end SPS (not digi's and green tenius)

 

[brewandreef]

For a beginner, buy a used MH setup locally! People are letting them go dirt cheap and you can grow ANYTHING! Best bang for your buck. I bought a pendant and 2 ballasts a little while back for $80. Factor in a new Pheonix 14K bulb, and for $140 bucks I have an amazing light. And I have no heat issues with my fan on a temp controller.

Good T5s setups can be a little pricier, but also well worth it.

Either plug and play options would give a higher chance for success.

 

[lakai]

Just get what you want in the beginning . Buy once cry once

 

[BeejReef]

Tough question. So much depends on if beginner has "beginner tank" and will be upgrading in 3 years, or if beginner bought a 200g "forever" tank.

 

[mrpizzaface]

As a very basic rule of thumb, on an 18" deep by 24" tall tank I would estimate as a minimum of $150-$175 per linear foot of tank length. For name brand equipment. It can go way up from there.

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

I went middle of the road and got primes Hd . While happy , I wished I got Radions instead

 

[Retro Reefer]

Cheap hybrid t5 fixture such as aquatic life would be a great start, you can add LED’s at your leisure to meet demands of your tank and it’s inhabitants.. Keeps initial cost down and gives you the flexibility to upgrade as needed by just by increasing number of LED modules.

 

[Ashish Patel]

T5 are the best for beginners. You already know new hobbyist want to spend 80% of their money on livestock. As you become experience it becomes spending 80% on equipment and 20% livestock.,