Hydra 26 or reef breeder photon v2 ?

Currdawg12 · Jan 21, 2019

Which would be better for my 45 gallon, 24x24

ndrwater · Jan 21, 2019

saltyfilmfolks · Jan 21, 2019

Either. Both are close to the same power, the photon may be better as it’s longer and covers more of the tank.

Currdawg12 · Jan 21, 2019

saltyfilmfolks said:
Either. Both are close to the same power, the photon may be better as it’s longer and covers more of the tank.

Any other ones around that price range you would recommend?

saltyfilmfolks · Jan 21, 2019

Currdawg12 said:
Any other ones around that price range you would recommend?

SBreeflights are similar. Either the B.B. series or the Ultras.

Currdawg12 · Jan 21, 2019

saltyfilmfolks said:
SBreeflights are similar. Either the B.B. series or the Ultras.

I looked at those and I have had a lot of people mention them but everyone scares me when they can them Chinese box lights and they say the app sucks and is hard to use. But maybe I’ll end up getting them! Save a little money and from what I hear I’ll get good light

Porpoise Hork · Jan 22, 2019

The photon will provide more uniform coverage over the tank with it's led array being spread out compared to the Hydra's puck design. If you are leaning to the AI lights, then a pair of Prime HD's spaced out will also do the trick very well.

BranchingHammer · Jan 22, 2019

Have a photon V2 24 on my tank. Plenty powerful and amazing color. Grows corals like crazy.

jda · Jan 22, 2019

They are all made in China. The Photon has US support and sale... so does the Hydra. SD does too, I think, but not 100% for sure. I have no idea about the app - sorry.

Nobody should be comparing any of these to the buy-on-amazon or buy-on-ebay black-box lights that ship from China and you have no way to get ahold of them afterward and they change the names all the time. These can be fine too and some people love them, but are a different type of deal that is nothing like SB, RB or AI.

Currdawg12 · Jan 22, 2019

The light is the last thing I’m trying to buy and so far it’s the hardest decision yett

BluTang85 · Jan 22, 2019

I have both, I love the reefbreeder, in my opinion the controller is much more user friendly and allows more coverage.

reeflife3 · Jan 22, 2019

What about 1 AI prime and a aquatic life T5 setup

Currdawg12 · Jan 23, 2019

I looked at the hybrid lights and I think that is good but in the long wrong just one led I think would be cheaper to maintain and hopefully last long! I’m also looking at the sb reef light 22inch ultra

Manose · Jan 23, 2019

What about the Noopsyche K7? A few of us have got them for out tanks and soon will be fully supported in the USA.
Here is their R2R page: https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/noopsyche.1066/
Here you can see a good study done on them: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-real-black-box-light-study.503052/
At 247$ I think these are going to give the AI26 a run for it's money.