Looney4Nano Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 HI all, Getting back into the hobby after a 15 year hiatus. Want to grow some entry level sps (birds nest and montis) and as expected I've been told stock bio cube 32 lights won't be sufficient. Need to keep the hood on the tank due to the chance of some of my fish jumping out. I've been directed to Steve's LEDs but they are way out of my price range. I need to be under $200. Help me nano reefers your my only hope. Quote Link to comment
Looney4Nano Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 Are there no options? Quote Link to comment
ChristopherDido Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 I've been curious on this too. I have a JBJ 28, would love to upgrade the lighting and have more control. Quote Link to comment
Paleoreef103 Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 How much time and effort are you willing to put into this? How many tools do you have available? If you have to DIY skills, I'd make a top with a mesh net in the center of it to keep jumpers in the tank (easy for rectangular tanks, less easy due for you due to the bowfront of the Biocube). Then I'd probably buy an SB lights sBox 16" basic LED light for the tank. That's the best I can come up with for under $200. I don't like recommending those black box lights because they've got some issues (they're basically an LED light built with cutting every corner in mind), but the SB lights version SEEMS to be a little bit better built. As for fitting it directly into your existing hood? I wouldn't recommend it. It's going to be hard to get cheaper than Steve's LED kits without having serious issues with color banding or heat or lack of output. 1 Quote Link to comment
burtbollinger Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 Yank the hood and use an AI Prime HD. You certainly don’t need it... Back in the hobby, you really wanna start out messing with DIY wiring? Do a DIY net cover instead. You waited 15 years....please wait longer to save up the extra 50 bucks so you can buy a suitable, top tier light that would perfect for your needs. 1 Quote Link to comment
Looney4Nano Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 1 hour ago, Paleoreef103 said: How much time and effort are you willing to put into this? How many tools do you have available? If you have to DIY skills, I'd make a top with a mesh net in the center of it to keep jumpers in the tank (easy for rectangular tanks, less easy due for you due to the bowfront of the Biocube). Then I'd probably buy an SB lights sBox 16" basic LED light for the tank. That's the best I can come up with for under $200. I don't like recommending those black box lights because they've got some issues (they're basically an LED light built with cutting every corner in mind), but the SB lights version SEEMS to be a little bit better built. As for fitting it directly into your existing hood? I wouldn't recommend it. It's going to be hard to get cheaper than Steve's LED kits without having serious issues with color banding or heat or lack of output. Thanks PaeloReef I'll research the the SB 16" lights! Quote Link to comment
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