Light Upgrade and Help

[Scott1071]

I am looking to upgrade the lighting on my Biocube 32 Demintions are 20.25 Lx21.875 Wx21.5 H. I am ok with taking the top of it off do achieve this task as in short order I will be ordering a screen top for it. I am looking at a few different lights and want to know which would be the best option for the corals I want to have in the tank. The corals I am looking to do are LSP and some SPS, ie: Montiporas, Chalices, Favias, Stylophora, 1 Birdsnest (maybe), 1 Hammer (maybe). If I decide on higher light corals I will add a second of this light to achieve this goal. The 3 Lights I am looking at to choose from are, AI Prime 16 HD, Kessil A160WE , the Zetlight UFO 90W Led Reef Light. To Start with in the tank I will do maybe a few Montis, Favias and Chalices then go frome there. Any suggestions and adivice are welcome. Thank you in advance for helping.

Scott

Happy Reefing!!

Pic of my Tank and rock work.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

I am looking to upgrade the lighting on my Biocube 32 Demintions are 20.25 Lx21.875 Wx21.5 H. I am ok with taking the top of it off do achieve this task as in short order I will be ordering a screen top for it. I am looking at a few different lights and want to know which would be the best option for the corals I want to have in the tank. The corals I am looking to do are LSP and some SPS, ie: Montiporas, Chalices, Favias, Stylophora, 1 Birdsnest (maybe), 1 Hammer (maybe). If I decide on higher light corals I will add a second of this light to achieve this goal. The 3 Lights I am looking at to choose from are, AI Prime 16 HD, Kessil A160WE , the Zetlight UFO 90W Led Reef Light. To Start with in the tank I will do maybe a few Montis, Favias and Chalices then go frome there. Any suggestions and adivice are welcome. Thank you in advance for helping.

Scott

Happy Reefing!!

Pic of my Tank and rock work.

The Ai prime is by far the best option. The main issues with the kessil are the controllability. You have to spend extra $ on a controller and can only control whites and blue. With the ai, the controller is built in and you can control uv, violet, royal blue, blue, red, green, and white. You can also individually ramp up these spectrums are any interval. Ecotech owns Ai. The Ai prime is built with the same components as the radions. The kessil shimmer takes a very particular taste to like. I don’t like it. If you plan on keeping higher light corals, buy a used Ai hydra 26. You can usually find them for around $250. For the zetlight... I’d stay away. Not that many people run them so you don’t really know how many issues they really have. The Ai prime is king of the sub $250 category. There’s No need to compromise

 

[Scott1071]

The Ai prime is by far the best option. The main issues with the kessil are the controllability. You have to spend extra $ on a controller and can only control whites and blue. With the ai, the controller is built in and you can control uv, violet, royal blue, blue, red, green, and white. You can also individually ramp up these spectrums are any interval. Ecotech owns Ai. The Ai prime is built with the same components as the radions. The kessil shimmer takes a very particular taste to like. I don’t like it. If you plan on keeping higher light corals, buy a used Ai hydra 26. You can usually find them for around $250. For the zetlight... I’d stay away. Not that many people run them so you don’t really know how many issues they really have. The Ai prime is king of the sub $250 category. There’s No need to compromise

Thank you for your input. I was leaning more towards the AI Prime to start with as I have read that it is a great light and can support many different corals. I have looked for the Hydra 26 but it must have been replaced my the Hydra 32. I may start with a Prime then add another or upgrade. Or would it be better to go with the Hydra 32? Would that be over kill for the tank? Or would the controlibility take care if the ober Killington?

 

[45ZoaGarden]

You could dial it down. The hydra 32 is equal to two prime 16’s. The numbers are the amount of led’s. The 32 is just two of the 16 pucks. You should be fine with the 16 but if you want more sticks, you will probably need to add another prime

Thank you for your input. I was leaning more towards the AI Prime to start with as I have read that it is a great light and can support many different corals. I have looked for the Hydra 26 but it must have been replaced my the Hydra 32. I may start with a Prime then add another or upgrade. Or would it be better to go with the Hydra 32? Would that be over kill for the tank? Or would the controlibility take care if the ober Killington?

 

[Scott1071]

You could dial it down. The hydra 32 is equal to two prime 16’s. The numbers are the amount of led’s. The 32 is just two of the 16 pucks. You should be fine with the 16 but if you want more sticks, you will probably need to add another prime

Thank you again so much for your help. I think to start I will go with the prime then if I want more light loving corals I will add another prime in the future.