What lights should I get for my tank?

joshg · Aug 5, 2017

I am setting up a new 220 gallon 72x24x30 and wanted to get into the coral\reef side of the hobby. I was planning on using 3 Kessil A360s, but they're pretty expensive.

Are there any cheaper yet good quality lights that I can use on my tank if I'm going for a predominantly lps+. Sps tank?

Flippers4pups · Aug 5, 2017

A lot of us went to the Chinese black boxes because of cost. Sb reeflights are a good choice because of the track record of growing SPS corals and have a US warranty. Yes, you do have to hang them. That may not be something you want to do.

Me, I went Mars Aquas and since I like DIY'ing things, I recently modded them to the SB reeflights diode layout. I also pulled all my lenses and the coverage is perfect. Growth and color of my SPS have never been better.

Looking at the cost of what's available out there, I made the correct choice.

racin2438 · Aug 10, 2017

This well all boil down to what your budget is..........that will dictate the type and brand...

NickNiz · Aug 10, 2017

+1 to the above. There are very popular and inexpensive LED fixtures out there.

They're sort of similarly priced to the Kessils, but have you checked out Aqua Illumination? Their Hydra 26 is about $50 less than the Kessil per fixture, and it comes with all of the controllability needed (everything can be tuned and scheduled out of the box) without having to spend the $100+ you'd need for the same controllability with Kessil...

hart24601 · Aug 11, 2017

I ran hydras before and liked them. I also had some radion g3 but didn't like them quite as much but that probably had to do with my rock work. I have also had kessils and all sorts of other lights.

My favorite is what I am running now. Reefbreeder photon v2. No joke they blow the g3s away (but that could be my rock not working with the clusters). They are a good value, but even with unlimited budget I would be hard pressed to swap them for another light.

Kessils are sweet for sps frags and lps, just a bit spendy and don't have some of the controls if that matters. I like a moonlight and it's a pain to add them to kessils.