Light for 55 gallon reef tank

[Impala67]

Im looking for a light for my 55 gallon reef tank I want to grow sps lps and softies but my biggest problem will be shadowing. I talked to the guys at bulk reef supply they said two ai prime 26 hd will do it but I think that won’t be good enough im looking im the price point of 800 max I know it’s not much but it’s what I have!!!

 

[Woodyman]

Im looking for a light for my 55 gallon reef tank I want to grow sps lps and softies but my biggest problem will be shadowing. I talked to the guys at bulk reef supply they said two ai prime 26 hd will do it but I think that won’t be good enough im looking im the price point of 800 max I know it’s not much but it’s what I have!!!

Is the tank a standard 55 gallon? 21 inches deep?

 

[Impala67]

Is the tank a standard 55 gallon? 21 inches deep?

Yes it is

 

[BartMan]

36" 6 bulb T5 fixture

 

[Impala67]

36" 6 bulb T5 fixture

From where and is it blue light?

 

[Woodyman]

Get ready for plenty of lighting options to be thrown at you!

 

[Spare time]

Depends on what sort of control you want. And yes two of the double pucked AI lights would be fine. I like reefbrites, xr15's, kessil a360x (possibly combined with reef brites), and more.

 

[Woodyman]

The truth is MH, T5, and LED will all work.

Which one is right for you is something you will have to decide for yourself.

I'm assuming it is also a rimmed tank with the center brace.

In which case a strip will reduce shadowing around the braced area, that you will otherwise get using the pick style LED.

I like the 'puck' style. I have the Red Sea Reef LEDs over my tanks. I have both the 50 and 90s. The 50 on a nano and the 90s over a standard rimmed 65 gallon.

I built my NSA to come out in 2 pieces one from each side of the top accounting for the brace, so my plan is to out lower light corals towards the middle while I have my 2 NSAs on each side of the tank.

 

[Woodyman]

Old photo but it shows that center brace up top, truthfully with the mounting arms there really isn't much of a shadow from it, but it does exist.

A strip light will reduce it even further.

Determine how you want to mount the lights as well.

Whether it be hanging them from the ceiling, mounting to the tank, or if you want that strip resting on top on the legs.

 

[Impala67]

Depends on what sort of control you want. And yes two of the double pucked AI lights would be fine. I like reefbrites, xr15's, kessil a360x (possibly combined with reef brites), and more.

Which will be the best bang for my buck I don’t want to have to buy another light in the future!!

 

[Impala67]

The truth is MH, T5, and LED will all work.

Which one is right for you is something you will have to decide for yourself.

I'm assuming it is also a rimmed tank with the center brace.

In which case a strip will reduce shadowing around the braced area, that you will otherwise get using the pick style LED.

I like the 'puck' style. I have the Red Sea Reef LEDs over my tanks. I have both the 50 and 90s. The 50 on a nano and the 90s over a standard rimmed 65 gallon.

I built my NSA to come out in 2 pieces one from each side of the top accounting for the brace, so my plan is to out lower light corals towards the middle while I have my 2 NSAs on each side of the tank.

I don’t want to hang it from the ceiling so that’s a definite no I do not want something that uses a lot of electricity and I don’t have to much money so the cheaper the better lol!!

 

[Spare time]

Which will be the best bang for my buck I don’t want to have to buy another light in the future!!

I guess it all depends on what sort of features you'd like. Anything in particular of importance?

 

[Woodyman]

I don’t want to hang it from the ceiling so that’s a definite no I do not want something that uses a lot of electricity and I don’t have to much money so the cheaper the better lol!!

If your not hanging and you want energy efficiency then LEDs with a mount would be your narrowed down field.

Plenty of good LED options at different prices.

Some budget options would be lights such as the noopsyche or the Smatfarm. There are threads about both lights on here already you can checkout, along with the more expensive options such as AIs, Radio, Red Sea, etc.

BRS has videos about all the major ones, for the budget lights you can find other product reviews here and YouTube as well.

 

[Freenow54]

Im looking for a light for my 55 gallon reef tank I want to grow sps lps and softies but my biggest problem will be shadowing. I talked to the guys at bulk reef supply they said two ai prime 26 hd will do it but I think that won’t be good enough im looking im the price point of 800 max I know it’s not much but it’s what I have!!!

I really like aquanest M8. Has an app for your phone so you can adjust it, and pre programed for SPS or LPS

 

[Cell]

Reefbreeders Photon V2 48".

 

[jordan10]

Im looking for a light for my 55 gallon reef tank I want to grow sps lps and softies but my biggest problem will be shadowing. I talked to the guys at bulk reef supply they said two ai prime 26 hd will do it but I think that won’t be good enough im looking im the price point of 800 max I know it’s not much but it’s what I have!!!

Look into reef Brite very very good for the price have many different options to choose from. And costumer service is top notch. Best of luck to ya

 

[Impala67]

I really like aquanest M8. Has an app for your phone so you can adjust it, and pre programed for SPS or LPS

I really like those how many do I need for a 55 gallon. Have you seen the aquanest plus m7? I wonder if one of these will work?

 

[Impala67]

Look into reef Brite very very good for the price have many different options to choose from. And costumer service is top notch. Best of luck to ya

I have looked into them but with these guys I don’t have many light options/controls I would have to do one or two of these then something else it looks like

 

[Impala67]

Bump

 

[jordan10]

I have looked into them but with these guys I don’t have many light options/controls I would have to do one or two of these then something else it looks like

Yea you can get a timer on a power strip or something like that. And I run them with a cheap 4 bulb t5 fixture. With great results. But I think everyone has mentioned the best lights ur going to get.‍