Deep budget lighting for coral

[Piece of reef]

Hey guys, new to the whole saltwater scene and ive been researching so much but cant get a solid answer

I have a 300 litre / 80 gallon tank
Its 90cm long by 50cm wide by 70cm high

I need a light for soft coral / lps but something thats not so expensive
Ive looked at the ai prime but i read they only go to 60 cm deep

Just wondering if anyone has recommendations please

P.s
if they can be placed directly on the tank then its a bonus for me instead of having the brackets that sit above the tank

 

[Ron Reefman]

Welcome to R2R!

Your title says 'deep budget'... does that mean you have money to spend or you are on a tight budget?

And how do you place a light directly on the tanks? Are you using glass covers for the tank and the light will sit on the glass? Or are you looking for short legs that sit on the rim?

 

[Piece of reef]

Deep tank with a budget light lol my bad
Ive gotten alot of suggestions but my tank is 70cm deep
So need something that not to expensive but good enough for the depth of my tank

And as for the placement
Either way will do, i have both glass lids and a rim to use

 

[Ron Reefman]

I'd suggest any black box led fixture other than Mars Aqua. And I only pull it from the list because they don't drive their 3 watt leds with as much power as other BB fixtures. Everybody else runs 3 watt leds at 2.2 watts each. Mars Aqua only drives their 3 watt leds at 1.8 watts which may be enough for a 20" deep tank, or even a 24" deep tank. But are even deeper than that.

I'm unaware of any BB fixtures that have legs, but then I haven't looked at BB fixtures for some time. If anybody has a 30" BB fixture with legs, that would be perfect. Also 2 BB fixtures at 16" each would work well, but you'd might need to link the lights together?

I wouldn't recommend using the glass tops on a reef tank with coral as they inhibit gas exchange between the water and the surrounding air. This is major place where water releases C02 and takes in oxygen. I also wouldn't set BB led fixtures directly on the glass as they can get hot at close range.

There is a very good quality fixture with legs. The Reef Breeder Photon V2+. The light itself is a bit better than a BB fixture and the fixture itself is MUCH better. It has sunrise and sunset ramping and 6 channels of color control and uses quality leds (some are even 5 watt leds). All that is nice for you to play with to get the look you want, but that doesn't really matter all that much to your corals.

Good luck.

If anybody knows of a BB fixture with legs, help this person out with a recommendation!

 

[JaaxReef]

I would check out some of the reef brite led strips. Take a look at the Bulk Reef Supply videos on YouTube. Great coverage and low price that you can mount pretty close to the water. I think they talk about bracket options too.

I bet you could get away with two actinic and one 50/50 and be set for softy and LPS. 3 strips total.

 

[Piece of reef]

Hey guys
So the budget has changed, after doing alot of research and watching videos

What do you guys think if i buy 2 ai hydra 32 hd's

Any insight ?

 

[JaaxReef]

Hey guys
So the budget has changed, after doing alot of research and watching videos

What do you guys think if i buy 2 ai hydra 32 hd's

Any insight ?

They have a great punch to the bottom of the tank. I have two Hydra 26HDs with 3DReefing Diffusors over my 4ft mixed reef and it is plenty of power for keeping some sps up higher on the rocks. The 32s are even stronger and have better spread, so I think that would work well for you.