Looking for lights

[Jay York]

Looking for lights for my 75 gallon. I have current dual IC PRO x 2 and I don't feel like they put out enough light. Relatively new to the hobby (1 year in) so I'm no expert on lighting, just feel like I need more if I want to keep coral. Shoot me what you have and how much you are asking. Thanks.

 

[HawaiianReef]

I know you're looking for equipment and prices, but I just want to offer a little advice through my opinions. As lighting is absolutely not a cut and dry subject in the reefing community.
It really depends on what corals you want to grow.
I started out with a 55g that came with a led bar like yours, just not as nice as yours. It was decent. But not to grow really anything well except cyano. But that was just in my case.
Only a year in, I didn't want to invest too much. So I found a used cheap t5 fixture, $50. It was a Coral life in my case. That light was a huge difference. Then I bought new bulbs for 100 bucks. Ran them for about another 18mo. Thats when I decided I want to do this long term. So I invested in some quality leds. But those were crazy expensive. Especially how frugal I am. Ok.. I'm friggin cheap, fine.
The china made leds (black box) have really stepped up their game and there's a lot of reefers out there using them, regardless of price. I've never run them myself, but I did visit a local reefer that only uses them and his tanks looked amazing. I plan to try them sometime.

So:
t5 lights will grow Anything and are pretty much plug and play.

Leds are a bit finicky but are great if you're into wanting to adjust and play with your equipment. The cost is higher.

If I could do it over. I would buy 2 black boxes and a Seneye reef monitor to measure my lights intensity. That would be an investment of about $400.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/VIPARSPECT...-Light-Full-Spectrum-Reef-Coral-/182743176216

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/seneye-reef-monitor.html

But you can't beat the used t5 fixtures that sell all the time for 50-100 bucks, fitted with 4 new ATI, Giesemann or something equal in quality. Then you're set for 12-18mo before you change the bulbs. But you can put Anything under those lights and they'll grow.

I hope this helped you.
If you feel I hi-jacked the thread (I kinda did) and don't want it posted, pm me and I'll remove it, no worries.

Good luck and Good Reefing!
David

 

[Jay York]

I know you're looking for equipment and prices, but I just want to offer a little advice through my opinions. As lighting is absolutely not a cut and dry subject in the reefing community.
It really depends on what corals you want to grow.
I started out with a 55g that came with a led bar like yours, just not as nice as yours. It was decent. But not to grow really anything well except cyano. But that was just in my case.
Only a year in, I didn't want to invest too much. So I found a used cheap t5 fixture, $50. It was a Coral life in my case. That light was a huge difference. Then I bought new bulbs for 100 bucks. Ran them for about another 18mo. Thats when I decided I want to do this long term. So I invested in some quality leds. But those were crazy expensive. Especially how frugal I am. Ok.. I'm friggin cheap, fine.
The china made leds (black box) have really stepped up their game and there's a lot of reefers out there using them, regardless of price. I've never run them myself, but I did visit a local reefer that only uses them and his tanks looked amazing. I plan to try them sometime.

So:
t5 lights will grow Anything and are pretty much plug and play.

Leds are a bit finicky but are great if you're into wanting to adjust and play with your equipment. The cost is higher.

If I could do it over. I would buy 2 black boxes and a Seneye reef monitor to measure my lights intensity. That would be an investment of about $400.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/VIPARSPECT...-Light-Full-Spectrum-Reef-Coral-/182743176216

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/seneye-reef-monitor.html

But you can't beat the used t5 fixtures that sell all the time for 50-100 bucks, fitted with 4 new ATI, Giesemann or something equal in quality. Then you're set for 12-18mo before you change the bulbs. But you can put Anything under those lights and they'll grow.

I hope this helped you.
If you feel I hi-jacked the thread (I kinda did) and don't want it posted, pm me and I'll remove it, no worries.

Good luck and Good Reefing!
David

That is all great info! Thank you so much!

 

[HawaiianReef]

Keep us all updated on your decision and how you achieved your success.
We all use eachother's experiences to help make our own decisions.

If you go the black box route, don't just pick the one I linked. There's a few out there and a little research, here and Youtube, could mean the difference between happiness or hell.

David Miller

 

[Jay York]

Thanks David. I ended up going with two Radion xr15 pro gen 4 lights. I’ll probably add a third at some point but I wanted to see how two would perform. I’ll let you know how I like them when I get them next week!