LED for 5 Gallon and Under?

[cheesesteak]

I went through the same thing as you (and had the same list of lighting options) when I started my quarantine reef after having been out of the game for 7+ years. The options are endless now! Its amazing. Everyone recommends an AI prime, and I have no doubt its a great light, but it was just a bit much for me on a 4G pico. 

 

I'm currently using the Fluval Marine Nano 20W on my 4G pico (10" cube). So far so great with just a few zoas, palys and macros at much less than full output. Everything is growing great at any depth (I do feed 2x a week). I have no doubt it could handle most LPS and softies in a 5 gallon, as long as it's no more than 12" in any direction. I've seen some Amazon reviews say it *can* grow SPS, but I haven't seen any real life examples. The controller is pretty good so far too, although I hear its a pain if your home loses power often since it needs to reconnect to Bluetooth after disconnecting from power in order to get back on schedule. 

 

Good luck with your restart and decision paralysis 😁

 

Edit: I should say, of all the choices on your list, I would opt for the Fluval if you know for sure you'll be sticking with a small tank for a while, I don't really have many bad things to say about it other than its max capacity is about a 5 gallon tank. If you plan on upgrading soon, or know you want some super high light corals, I would recommend the AI Prime. 

 

Also, here is what the controller/app looks like and what lighting schedule I'm running: 

 

[reef-luva]

Very cool topic, I am starting a new nano, 29 x 9 x 9, mixed (mostly LPS) reef, so maybe only 7 or 7.5 inches of water and I don't want too much par. I have bee researching nano LED's for about a month and the Hipagaro 30 watt I think will be the one. Does anyone here own that light on a shallow reef? I have been out of the hobby for three years and a lot has changed, glad to see Nano-Reef.com still around.

[Clown79]

35 minutes ago, reef-luva said:

Very cool topic, I am starting a new nano, 29 x 9 x 9, mixed (mostly LPS) reef, so maybe only 7 or 7.5 inches of water and I don't want too much par. I have bee researching nano LED's for about a month and the Hipagaro 30 watt I think will be the one. Does anyone here own that light on a shallow reef? I have been out of the hobby for three years and a lot has changed, glad to see Nano-Reef.com still around.

There are members using that LED but i can't remember who.

 

You can do a search on here and that will help

[aclman88]

You would want two hipargero lights on a 29 inch tank I think, especially one that narrow. I have on on a 16” x 9 x 9 and couldn’t imagine only using one on a 29” tank. 
 

they definitely have ample par. On my tank with blues at 70% and whites on 10-20% I’m getting 100-150 par on the sandbed and corners

[reef-luva]

57 minutes ago, aclman88 said:

You would want two hipargero lights on a 29 inch tank I think, especially one that narrow. I have on on a 16” x 9 x 9 and couldn’t imagine only using one on a 29” tank. 
 

they definitely have ample par. On my tank with blues at 70% and whites on 10-20% I’m getting 100-150 par on the sandbed and corners

Ok...thanx...I was thinking one in the center for the SPS and have more light sensitive LPS on either side. Can you post a pic pls?

[Clown79]

7 minutes ago, reef-luva said:

Ok...thanx...I was thinking one in the center for the SPS and have more light sensitive LPS on either side. Can you post a pic pls?

On long tanks you need 2 lights or 1 long one like current orbit.

 

Otherwise you get shadowing and very low light/par. Too low for the majority of lps.

[reef-luva]

2 hours ago, Clown79 said:

On long tanks you need 2 lights or 1 long one like current orbit.

 

Otherwise you get shadowing and very low light/par. Too low for the majority of lps.

Thanx, not knowing/seeing this light...hard to tell. With such a shallow reef I don't wanna burn nor shade anything. I lived in Los Angeles for 30 years, plenty of local shops, here in SW Michigan, the closest one is 45 minutes away, but it's a decent shop. So you think two of these won't be too much? Maybe two other lights? I have been out of the game three years and a lot has changed.

[Clown79]

40 minutes ago, reef-luva said:

Thanx, not knowing/seeing this light...hard to tell. With such a shallow reef I don't wanna burn nor shade anything. I lived in Los Angeles for 30 years, plenty of local shops, here in SW Michigan, the closest one is 45 minutes away, but it's a decent shop. So you think two of these won't be too much? Maybe two other lights? I have been out of the game three years and a lot has changed.

The current orbit won't be too much light. It's controllable so you have control on how high you set it according to the tanks needs. but it will cover the whole length of 29"

 

The Standard Hipargero covers 11-17" so 2 will definitely be needed to cover 29" 

 

Most any pendant lighting, you will need 2 of them because they only cover a certain length and width of tank.

 

with a controllable light you can control the settings therefore you don't have to blast the corals in such a shallow tank.

[aclman88]

3 hours ago, reef-luva said:

Ok...thanx...I was thinking one in the center for the SPS and have more light sensitive LPS on either side. Can you post a pic pls?

Sure. Just a heads up there is no way the mount arm would allow you to mount the light high enough above the tank to light it entirely or sufficiently. That's a 16” tank so you would absolutely need two  that being said they ate plenty powerful and I like the spectrum they put out. Place these on a timer and you are good to go.

[Hecdr34]

I have a barely used 20w Fluval Marine Nano with mount for $70 shipped. It's controllable with an App