Best budget aquarium light

[toor.attar]

I can’t decide what lights to use on my 48”x18” tank. I’ve been looking at the Ai primes, maybe get a couple or trio of those. I love the kessils especially the A500x or Ap9x, but they’re very pricey. I’d like a light that is good quality, doesn’t look tacky, and possibly have an app I could control them on, and won’t break the bank lol. It’s going to be mostly softies and lps like zoas, acans, and hammers. But down the road I’d love to get some more sps, I currently have pocillipora and a few others. What lights do you guys recommend for my aquarium?

 

[exnisstech]

Couple of noopsyche k7 pros come to mind for a budget light. I've grown everything from softies to SPS under them. I had six over my 180 and kept a couple clams in the bottom. I moved them over to my WB 330.7 when I transferred tanks.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Personally I have good experience with nicrew and they have a good reputation as a good low budget light, a 200 watt would grow anything you wanted.

 

[jermzisurmom]

I have the nicrew 150 and kessil 160 tuns blues

 

[VintageReefer]

What’s the budget

I’ll vouch for Noo-Psyche k7 III pro. Two of them would do the job

 

[steveschuerger]

They’re a bit pricey, but ReefBreeders Meridians are a solid pick. I haven’t used em myself but used a ReefBreeders Photon v2 before selling the big tank so I can vouch for RB quality. Or possibly 2 ReeFi uno 2.1 lights or the Noops would be good on a budget.

 

[VintageReefer]

They’re a bit pricey, but ReefBreeders Meridians are a solid pick. I haven’t used em myself but used a ReefBreeders Photon v2 before selling the big tank so I can vouch for RB quality. Or possibly 2 ReeFi uno 2.1 lights or the Noops would be good on a budget.

The meridian 35 will cover a 48” tank
Not sure if it’s in the budget

 

[steveschuerger]

The meridian 35 will cover a 48” tank
Not sure if it’s in the budget

Ya hence I gave 3 choices from most to least expensive.

 

[JonErik]

I can’t decide what lights to use on my 48”x18” tank. I’ve been looking at the Ai primes, maybe get a couple or trio of those. I love the kessils especially the A500x or Ap9x, but they’re very pricey. I’d like a light that is good quality, doesn’t look tacky, and possibly have an app I could control them on, and won’t break the bank lol. It’s going to be mostly softies and lps like zoas, acans, and hammers. But down the road I’d love to get some more sps, I currently have pocillipora and a few others. What lights do you guys recommend for my aquarium?

The new Orphic bars are affordable strong and have moonlight mode

 

[shakacuz]

nicrew/smatfarm/noopsyche. if you have the budget: reefi uno/quanta reef. nothing better out there other than the ATI straton.

 

[DanyL]

nicrew/smatfarm/noopsyche. if you have the budget: reefi uno. nothing better out there other than the ATI straton.

I think shakacuz have categorized it best:
1. Budget
2. Best value, high quality
3. Pricy, high quality with better spread

Edit: and I wouldn’t even look at the AIs, they have the worst value imo.

 

[shakacuz]

I think shakacuz have categorized it best:
1. Budget
2. Best value, high quality
3. Pricy, high quality with better spread

Edit: and I wouldn’t even look at the AIs, they have the worst value imo.

i would like to add: i've used two hydra 32hd's paired with the reefbrite LED kits on each one. they were great. i only bought one hydra 32hd, and one reef brite kit new. the other pair was bought used. this was before the reefi uno came out... aside from people cranking their lights too high and burning their diodes/lenses, the lights are great. granted, this shouldn't even be a "thing" if properly designed which i suppose contributes to their value(negatively).

i edited my post to include the quanta lights. would argue they're more affordable and better than the orphek's.

 

[Hooz]

A trio of Quanta Helix would grow anything you want to grow in there. They've got full coverage and a GREAT blue spectrum. I like more blue, so I'd probably got with a pair of Meso Blues with a single Reefcrest Daylight to get the white I like.

They don't have an app, but they are 0-10v controllable, so there are options (with and without an app) for dimming, ramping, etc.

 

[DanyL]

i would like to add: i've used two hydra 32hd's paired with the reefbrite LED kits on each one. they were great. i only bought one hydra 32hd, and one reef brite kit new. the other pair was bought used. this was before the reefi uno came out... aside from people cranking their lights too high and burning their diodes/lenses, the lights are great. granted, this shouldn't even be a "thing" if properly designed which i suppose contributes to their value(negatively).

i edited my post to include the quanta lights. would argue they're more affordable and better than the orphek's.

The Hydras were great back in the day, but unfortunately didn’t survive the test of time and progression.

Even the new Edge isn’t looking great for them, at least not on paper.

A trio of Quanta Helix would grow anything you want to grow in there. They've got full coverage and a GREAT blue spectrum. I like more blue, so I'd probably got with a pair of Meso Blues with a single Reefcrest Daylight to get the white I like.

They don't have an app, but they are 0-10v controllable, so there are options (with and without an app) for dimming, ramping, etc.

I agree the Helix could be the way to go here. But I also hesitant to suggest it as a sole option as supposed to filler lights, because the spectrum is fixed and the intensity isn’t easily controllable (or rather requires additional hardware).

I do agree however that it has a great value.

 

[Keithb22]

I’ll toss my hat in on the quanta helix, dimmable and simplistic. Look great have twice as many diodes than the Orpheks and customer service is great.

 

[VintageReefer]

Just found out the reefbreeders lumenbars are all on sale 50% off right now and they come with a controller / timer built in

 

[Otto]

Two of these.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...2000031971071131!rec!US!&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

 

[Alistairn1]

I can’t decide what lights to use on my 48”x18” tank. I’ve been looking at the Ai primes, maybe get a couple or trio of those. I love the kessils especially the A500x or Ap9x, but they’re very pricey. I’d like a light that is good quality, doesn’t look tacky, and possibly have an app I could control them on, and won’t break the bank lol. It’s going to be mostly softies and lps like zoas, acans, and hammers. But down the road I’d love to get some more sps, I currently have pocillipora and a few others. What lights do you guys recommend for my aquarium?

I’ve recently bought 2x TMC Aquaray P5’s for my EA1200 and I am over the moon with the quality, easy setup and price! The TMC App is fairly easy to use with some great features, although I did have a few problems when connecting to my own network so I just connected to them directly instead. Apart from that I have no complaints and the corals are loving them (mixed reef)

 

[DHK-BHWNJ]

Smatfarm G5……

 

[Beefyreefy]

Best light from a par/wattage/controllability/quality perspective for the best price is reefi uno pros, hands down. I love them.