LED Lighting for 40b

MattNoir

Member
Hello! My 40 gallon breeder had a crash the other week so I am in the middle of retooling the tank. Currently I have a marsaqua black box LED more on the left side of the tank. I had my reef on that side of the tank as I was planning on making the right side have a mangrove and macro algae. I'm looking at upgrading my lighting on my tank. I feel so lost as I've looked at everything from the Maxspect Recurve to Radion G4s. Those seem a bit ridiculous. Currently I'm leaning towards 2 AI Prime HDs or a Photon 32-V2. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with those or even wanted to steer me another way?
 

Uncle99

Well-Known Member
If your looking for bang for your buck, google VISPARSPECTRA, I have two and glad I didn’t pay 500 bucks for the prime
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
LED lighting needs to be carefully evaluated. You need to take into consideration the quality of the light produced, how controllable it is, featurers, reputation of the vendor, availability of spare parts, and of course cost.

That being said I don't think you can go that far wrong with either of the fixtures your looking at. The VISPARSPECTRA wouldn't be a bad choice either.

Now I tend to like a lot of light in my tanks. If I have a 40 breeder, I'd likely opt for something like two AI Hydra 26 fixtures. However, not everyone wants that sort of cost.

The best thing for you to do is figure out your wants and needs and see how well the fixtures your considering fit into them. Since you want mangroves, and they are in effect a tree, your likely to want lighting you can raise way above the tank. I'd think pendant type fixtures would be better. Other considerations would be exist if you wanted them to run through a controller.
 

MattNoir

Member
Right now I'm really debating the AI Prime HDs and Kessil A160we. Pretty similar in price with mounts and additional controller for the Kessil. I like all the extra control options on the AI but also like the simplicity of the Kessil. Very hard decision especially since I have no way of seeing them in person with where I live.
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
Right now I'm really debating the AI Prime HDs and Kessil A160we. ...

When your looking at high end fixtures like this, you really can't go too far wrong. I'd say the Kessil's are a bit more of a point source compared to the Prime's. This doesn't make one better or worse than the other, just different. I do find the amount of control you have with AI to be nice, but once you set it up, you tend to leave it there, so it's not as big a factor as you'd think.
 

MattNoir

Member
Thanks for the help DaveK. I went ahead and got one A160 and the spectral controller. Will get a second A160 by the end of the month. Really enjoying the color the Kessil gives off.
 
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