Led light for reef

[Koh23]

Hello to all! Long time lurker here, not new to hobby, but i've been few years out, and now i try to return.

Few years ago i have 120g , 60x24x20, with diy led lights.

Now i'm back with 130g, 52x24x24 (around here) tank.

What light will be good choice, i don't wanna go diy this time, in my country there's very limited offer of quality lights, and with insane price.

So i wonder, will two hd16, or two red sea 50 will be enough for softies and some lps, nothing special, just regular stuff. Or even three units?

2 or 3 rs90 are out of budget for sure, only alternative is asaqua m90, but there is impossible to find any useful data about them.

Sorry for long post, hope to get some opinions and help.

 

[vetteguy53081]

You’ll be Very happy with Orphek OR3-120 sky blue and blue plus

 

[Koh23]

Thank you.

Sadly, no shop who ships to my country sells this, or is unawailable.

Really, considering price range ai prime16hd, red sea led 50 are only lights that fit. Or course, there's plenty of other lights, but price isn't right

Prime16 is my favorite, but not sure will they be enough, even with 3 pcs....

 

[Bpb]

Among your options either of those two you listed are fine quality lights. Just place your corals accordingly and realize with such a large footprint relative to how small the lights are, you will have some areas that are just too low intensity to expect much growth and color from anything. Just manage your expectations and you can make it work

 

[bobnicaragua]

I would think you want to eventually get 4 if possible, but no need to add them all at once. Red Sea will have better blending and shimmer. Primes will have better spectrum. Either will work for what you want to do.

Another thought would be to have a couple rock islands directly under your lights and have all your corals on those islands.

 

[Koh23]

Other option, that i'm considering, is to simply use two of them (red sea or prime), and pair them with diy 4x54w t5 fixture, that should give more than enough light for my needs.

That will be best of both worlds, sunrise, sunset, spectrum adjustmenst from leds, and for those peak periods with full light, 4x54w ati bulbs will be more than enough to fully light whole tank...

Or am i wrong?

 

[oreo54]

Hello to all! Long time lurker here, not new to hobby, but i've been few years out, and now i try to return.

Few years ago i have 120g , 60x24x20, with diy led lights.

Now i'm back with 130g, 52x24x24 (around here) tank.

What light will be good choice, i don't wanna go diy this time, in my country there's very limited offer of quality lights, and with insane price.

So i wonder, will two hd16, or two red sea 50 will be enough for softies and some lps, nothing special, just regular stuff. Or even three units?

2 or 3 rs90 are out of budget for sure, only alternative is asaqua m90, but there is impossible to find any useful data about them.

Sorry for long post, hope to get some opinions and help.

Can you get lights direct from China?
And what really is your budget?
What is your cost for the Red Sea 50's?

Three of each of what you orig. picked is sort if bare minimum in my mind.
Mostly on coverage more than power.

 

[Pistondog]

Hello to all! Long time lurker here, not new to hobby, but i've been few years out, and now i try to return.

Few years ago i have 120g , 60x24x20, with diy led lights.

Now i'm back with 130g, 52x24x24 (around here) tank.

What light will be good choice, i don't wanna go diy this time, in my country there's very limited offer of quality lights, and with insane price.

So i wonder, will two hd16, or two red sea 50 will be enough for softies and some lps, nothing special, just regular stuff. Or even three units?

2 or 3 rs90 are out of budget for sure, only alternative is asaqua m90, but there is impossible to find any useful data about them.

Sorry for long post, hope to get some opinions and help.

Maybe have one side of the tank higher light for more light demanding corals.
Cheat the hd16s to one side. Add more as your budget allows.

 

[bobnicaragua]

Other option, that i'm considering, is to simply use two of them (red sea or prime), and pair them with diy 4x54w t5 fixture, that should give more than enough light for my needs.

That will be best of both worlds, sunrise, sunset, spectrum adjustmenst from leds, and for those peak periods with full light, 4x54w ati bulbs will be more than enough to fully light whole tank...

Or am i wrong?

This is a great idea. T5/LED hybrid is one of the best lighting options out there. 48 inch T5 on a 52 inch tank would be great coverage.

 

[Koh23]

I also found popbloom turing rs90 units, with price around 400$ for two lights, price range is right, even when i add VAT (25% plus)...

For me, they look as great lights, enoguh for my tank, down the road maybe add one more, but there's very few opinions and experiences, so i'm really not sure for them.

10 years ago it was a lot easier, just buy tons of 3w leds, slap them together and there's led lighting