LED single unit recommendation for prime day

[vsiege]

Prime day is tomorrow and I'm looking to pick up a new LED single module lighting unit. Below are the dimensions of the tank and livestock.

30" wide
20" tall/to the sand
12" deep
37 gallons currently has old LED unit over it with two timers that control daytime and nighttime light arrays. I would love I'd the timer was part of the light but not a deal breaker.

Mushrooms
1 portie
Kenya trees

1 Clown
4 chromis
1 Lemon peel angel
1 basslet

I'd like to keep it below $400.00.

Thanks for your help.

 

[DaveK]

There are a lot of considerations when selecting LED lighting. You could go with LED strip lighting, but you'd need 2 or 3 strips to get the amount of light needed for corals. This kind of begs the question, what lighting do you currently have? Please give us specs and so on. The reason I'm asking is that I'm not sure any LED strip lighting would give you a big improvement in your existing lighting.

The other main alternative is pendant lighting. EcoTech, AI, and Kessil are the big players here, but there are other manufacturers that can work out well also. One thing about pendants is that they typically will light up only about 18 to 24 inches of a tank. LEDs tend to direct their light straight down, and it doesn't spread out that much. If you try using one pendant, you'll likely end up with dim ends of the tank, and this will be more apparent near the surface. Think of the lighting pattern as an "A", with out the cross bar.

If your going to go with pendants, I'd recommend getting two of them to span the 30" you have. It will look about 10 times better.

Selecting a vendor. Unlike T5, PC, and MH lighting, which can be repaired with off the shelf parts, LED lighting usually uses proprietary electronics. This means your at the merch of the vendor to supply replacement parts. If they can not, and you have a problem your out of luck. On the other hand, some of the unknown vendors are so inexpensive that you could just take your loss and replace the fixture.

If this were my tank, I'd likely go with two AI Prime fixtures. This would be about at the limit of your budget. You might also need to get two mounting kits for them, depending upon how you want to mount them. The one limitation of the AI Primes is that they may not be enough light if you want SPS corals at some point. You could consider a pair of AI Hydra 26 fixtures, but these would cost you a lot more money.

There are several other fixtures that would also work, but offhand I think they would cost more.

 

[Uncle99]

Visparspectra 165w LED, with timer, dimmable and hanging kit.
130 ish Amazon delivered.
I have two, each does a 24 cube but, running intensity only at 50%
Yup, Chinese Blackbox stuff, 12 months now, I also do SPS and Maxi clams with them....happy....so far

 

[vsiege]

Thank you both for your recommendations and experiences.

If this were my tank, I'd likely go with two AI Prime fixtures. This would be about at the limit of your budget. You might also need to get two mounting kits for them, depending upon how you want to mount them.

I currently had LED strip lighting that I assembled back in 2012. Some the LEDs are out for to water damage. The array I use for night time is just a few strips with blue photogel covering. Both the white and blue arrays are housed in an old lighting fixture.
The pendants look to be a good fit should I choose to go name brand. All said and done 400 for both units and another 50 or so for 2 mounting kits. I really like the non flexible option but it does up to the price a bit.


As for the cheaper off-brand option. It has the appeal of just using one to cover the full tank. I would need a way to mount it as I don't have option to hang it. Seems to have pretty decent reviews accept for timers looking time in some instances and a bit difficult to setup (I'm sure that's not everyone).

The options are have their own merit and I'll keep an eye out to see if the pendants go on sale.
Thanks

 

[DaveK]

You would need to get the longer VIPARSPECTRA fixture to light the entire tank. It shouldn't be too difficult to work out some sort of DIY method to hang the fixture.

The other big difference between the name brand fixturere is the amount of control you have. You can only control the white and the blue channel on VIPARSPECTRA. The AI Prime can be adjusted on each of it's 7 different colors of LED, and is wifi connected, so you can do this via your computer or smart phone. You can also set up ramp up and ramp down times, and other "special effects".

The additional control comes in handy if your want to reduce the red and green LEDs to help with algae control, or increase the blue, or violet and UV to make the coral colors pop.

Is all this additional control really needed? That depends a lot on how your feel about spending the extra money to get it. Either fixture will work.

BTW, shop around, sometimes the best price is not on that real big seller that's having that special day for sales.

 

[vsiege]

@DaveK thanks for the additional info.

Funny you should mention algae, I've been revently trying to clear up a minor cyano bloom. Many water changes in and next going to use a product I've used successfully in the past (so others have the info: so everyone is aware of turning off the skimmer, increasing the oxygen, and doing a major change after treatment) to do the final push. I've been cons8dering new lights because I thought they may be contributing to the overall issue. Being to able to turn reds and greens down would help. For now, water changes and a shorter light cycle.

Thanks again!

 

[vsiege]

Looks like AI Prime in white is price locked. This is most likely an agreement they have with the manufacturer.

 

[Uncle99]

Yes, absolutely true, VISPARSPECTRA does not have all the cool controls, but does come in a 30 inch, 350 watt model. Special effects are neat, but just too too tempting to play with all the controls.
For me, likely disastrous.

Kessil limits user control of colour blending and many report excellent colour,shimmer dispersement and growth.

I have a 6inch band of natural sunlight which crosses the tank from left to right in about three hours a day, this works (and looks ) great

 

[r2d2]

Same question here... I´m looking for a modular lighting that I can buy gradually to not brake tha bank at first but upgrade with time.
My tank is about 60" long and 28" deep, so I was thinking (after reading this thread) on buying 3 AI Prime units, one at a time.
What do you think?

 

[DaveK]

You have a deeper tank then the one in question. I think the primes would be a bit under powered. So if your going to go with AI, get the Hydra 32 HD. Yea I know it's about 75% more than the Prime, but you don't want to skimp on light.