IM Skkye LED Light

NakiFantaki · Nov 1, 2016

Howdy folks!

Quick lighting question..

I'm in the process of setting up my first tank and I have an Innovative Marine Nuvo Fusion 20 Gallon which came with 2 of their Skkye lights. They are 18 watts each for a total of 36 watts. So.. how adequate are these lights? For my first tank I'm not trying to have anything too difficult - maybe just some softies and or zoas. This tank is just a starter/intro tank for me and if I enjoy the hobby I will be getting into bigger and better equipment. Anyways - I don't love the fact that these lights aren't dimmable and don't have the ability to be set on a timer. I also don't like the fact that they don't have just a basic moon/night light. Other then that, what do you reefers think about this light? Will it be okay for starting out? Also, what can I use for just a standard moon light? The moon light obviously wouldn't be for growth but mainly so I can see in the tank at night. I have looked around for just some regular blue LEDs but it seems as if most of the ones I found are supposed to hook up to cars. Can anyone recommend something I can use?

Thanks!

WadePW · Nov 1, 2016

The Skkye lights, if they are the ones i'm thinking of, have whites and blues in them, and are on separate plugs.... With that being said, you can plug them into timers then into the outlet. I ran my IM nuvo 16 with 2 Skkye lights for a while, sustained coral fine, Zoas and shrooms mainly... Then I started getting into acans and various LPS and running out of room on the rocks so had to put pieces down lower... Didn't feel like they were getting enough light, then eventually my light went out so I decided it was time to upgrade.. Went with an AI Prime HD+, cost a bit more, but trust me... well worth it, and you will thank yourself down the line for getting it at the beginning. So to sum it up, The Skkye lights can work fine for softies, but if you want to get into some of the more light hungry LPS and SPS I would suggest an upgrade.

NakiFantaki · Nov 1, 2016

Awesome. Thanks for the reply! If I end up really enjoying the hobby I am for sure going to upgrade. How many AI's do you have on your 16? Just 1?

Yes these lights have blues and whites but I don't think they are on separate plugs. Each unit had its own plug but each unit has both the mix of blue and white LEDs. I still would like a little bit of blue moon lighting for at night.

WadePW · Nov 1, 2016

Ahh ok, the ones I had were on 2 different plugs, but yea I can for sure see wanting more blues. I am just running 1 AI over the 16, go check out my build thread... think I have full talk shots when I had skkye lights and the ai.. can really see a difference

NakiFantaki · Nov 1, 2016

Your tank looks amazing Wade!!! I can only hope mine can look as good someday! That AI light looks great as well. Talking my wife into letting me buy a $250 light might be a challenge, however I'm hoping she falls in love with the tank and then it wont take much convincing. :)

WadePW · Nov 1, 2016

Thanks :) It was tough convincing myself to go with a $250 light, but then I thought... I could go with a cheaper one, be limited on what I can have, and possibly have to replace the $120 light in a year, or I could spend the $250 and not be limited and know that this light *should* easily last 3-4 years.

MBX5 · Nov 1, 2016

Also ran the Skkye lights for a bit on my Nuvo 20. Worked okay for softies and shrooms. Upgraded to a Radion xr15 now. The Skkye lights color never looked right to me and wouldn't grow spa well but they can work for lower light stuff.

NakiFantaki · Nov 1, 2016

Copy that. Well at least its good to know I can at least start with these lights.

Does anyone have any sugesstions for some type of moonlighting or blue LED's that I can use for the meantime?

WadePW · Nov 2, 2016

I ran a couple of these led strips on my red sea max c-250, Worked pretty well for the price.

https://www.amazon.com/Mingdak-Aqua...qid=1478068478&sr=8-2&keywords=reef+moonlight

Ladysabertooth2 · Nov 2, 2016

The Nuvo lights are ok. I have one over my Nuvo 10 that came off the 20 I also have. My mushrooms do ok they don't show any color or extend like the ones in my 20 with the upgrade light. Since my tanks are right near each other you can totally see the color difference. On my 20 I run a Ocean Revive t247 or something along that. I can't remember the exact number. Lol too early in the morning. Come tax return time I will be upgrading the Nuvo 10 IA Prime HD. But the stock lights look good over a freshwater tank......