Looking to end my lighting issues

[Jeremey’s reef]

What are you guys preference in regards to lighting, I purchased two lights that upon further review were found to be worthless. I need some insight on how to shop for lighting that can grow healthy beautiful corals. I have been on amazon looking at the Vipraspectra full spectrum dimmable 165w light, but I refuse to make another purchase before having a helping hand as I have no idea on what to be looking for in LED lighting. The product says it for coral reef grow but I want to be cautious

 

[Jeremey’s reef]

This light would be for a 29g reef tank

 

[Jeremey’s reef]

I also considered this one

 

[Anthony king]

I have one over my 29 gallon biocube the coral seem happy with it the colors look really good but i havent seen any noticeable growth im try something where i alternate weekly with t5s they seem to open up more with the t5s but look better under the leds

just my 2 cents

 

[popsbjd]

I have two viparspectra lights in my 120. It's only been running for a couple weeks so I cant speak on those. The black boxes are solid if unspectacular. Depending on your budget, there are better black boxes than others. Viparspectra is one of the better ones from my understanding. A lot of people like ocean revive lights. For my money, I'd get a sbreef light. I have two of those, one on my 29g frag tank and one on a 29 gallon biocube. I like their spectrum better than others. They are an American company using Chinese manufacturing but they have a 2 year warranty. They come with both mounting legs and a hanging kit.

18" Extreme wifi is $270
18" basic light $145


Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[NanoTowerReef]

zetlight real lights for real Reefs lol I have ran Zet light they seem to work get the UFO series you can’t go wrong 299.99 on EBay


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bhodges82]

OceanRevive Arctic-T247 Full Spectrum Dimmable 120W LED Aquarium Reef Light with Built in Timer, Bracket and remote control (48*3W, 90deg Optical Lens) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YOYD3K2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_WO85CbVAE7SWJ

This is a proven coral growing light.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[NanoTowerReef]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AquariumSchmo]

+1 for SB Reef Lights.

I had a Mars Aqua light for a long time. They are very similar to the Viparspectra's that you are looking at with two channels (blue and white). The main difference is that the Viparspectra comes with better controllability with a remote and timer (and possible the ability to ramp up/down the lights?). You definitely won't have a problem growing all types of coral. For me, soft corals and LPS corals did great, but the SPS corals that I had under them were dull in color.

Alternatively, I suggest SB Reef Lights. I switched about two months ago and have gotten much better coloration.
https://sbreeflights.com/sbox-reef-lights/70-new-18-sbox-basic.html

This is exert from their site that sold me on them:
"Talking to customers we found most set the blue channel 25-50% higher than the white channel. This means driving the blue channel harder than needed and wasting much of the white channel's potential. So we added more 420nm Violet to the blue channel and moved more 450nm blues to the white channel. The result is a light you can set closer to 50%-50%, giving more total usable power for deeper tanks, or longer life by driving the channels at a lower level for shallower tanks."

You can buy their 18" sBox Basic for $25 more than the Viparspectra. You will gain a much better light spectrum for happier corals, but lose the controlling features that the Viparspectra offers. I have mine connected to a basic timer though, running the blue channel for 10 hours and the other blue/white channel for 8 hours; so not having a built in timer and remote is not a big loss to me. They also come with mounting legs, so you don't have to hang them. They also have a wifi version, but it is quite a bit more.

If you can spend $400 or more, let us know as that opens a lot more options.

Whatever light you choose, don't plan on running them anywhere close to 100%. 30-40% max is more realistic, especially for the dimensions of a standard 29 gallon.

 

[Adam]

I am using 3 of the older Sb Reef lights, sBox 16" Basic, with T5's and they are grow coral very well. I have the same combo over a frag tank too.
They cost a little more than standard cheap black boxes but are worth the money for those on a budget.

 

[popsbjd]

I am using 3 of the older Sb Reef lights, sBox 16" Basic, with T5's and they are grow coral very well. I have the same combo over a frag tank too.
They cost a little more than standard cheap black boxes but are worth the money for those on a budget.

Unfortunately, I don't think the 16" are available anymore. I have one of the old ramping models too. Those are great as you can isolate the UV channel which really makes corals pop. I think the "extreme wifi" models do that as well and they have an app that makes programming easier. I am hoping they release some more retrofit boards so I can change out my viparspectra boards.

 

[Adam]

Unfortunately, I don't think the 16" are available anymore. I have one of the old ramping models too. Those are great as you can isolate the UV channel which really makes corals pop. I think the "extreme wifi" models do that as well and they have an app that makes programming easier. I am hoping they release some more retrofit boards so I can change out my viparspectra boards.

Yea, I see that now. I think they're trying to distinguish themselves away from the "Black Box" crowd. They have another higher end light now too.
The 18" Basic still looks good for budget the minded, like me

 

[popsbjd]

Yea, I see that now. I think they're trying to distinguish themselves away from the "Black Box" crowd. They have another higher end light now too.
The 18" Basic still looks good for budget the minded, like me

Absolutely. I think the 18" basic is better than the 16" basic, especially for a 30" tank. With the mounting legs, you will get better coverage with the 18.

The ultras look really nice but for that money, I'd rather have radions or the like.

 

[qasimja]

What are you guys preference in regards to lighting, I purchased two lights that upon further review were found to be worthless. I need some insight on how to shop for lighting that can grow healthy beautiful corals. I have been on amazon looking at the Vipraspectra full spectrum dimmable 165w light, but I refuse to make another purchase before having a helping hand as I have no idea on what to be looking for in LED lighting. The product says it for coral reef grow but I want to be cautious

i plan to get 3 of these for my 150g build