Aqua Knight CREE aquarium LED light 50W

[Lynnzer]

OK Guys 'n Gals.
I'm pretty new to marine tanks and have had a 30 gallon tank, approx 80cm wide, that was set up as a freshwater one now converted to Marine.
It hasn't really done all that well. Coral growth isn't very good at all and I've probably lost more than is left.
The tank has 2 Kessil A160WE Tuna Blue lights on it with the Spectral Controller. Maybe I'm using it wrong but I guess I'll seek advice on it later.
My question right now is based on my recent purchase of a

D&D Aqua-Pro Reef 900. It's yet to be delivered so I'm trying to get everything right for it.​

I really can't afford the usual lights that most aquarist shops tend to point people to. With that in mind I have done several hours of searching and have found the Aqua Knight CREE aquarium LED light 50W. Based on reviews of their model A029 at 30W, It sounds as if the 50W model should be as good as, if not better than the earlier model. The tank isn't tall so the light doesn't need to provide really good PAR and spectrum levels deep down. I would expect pretty good coral growth from this light. I have 2 of them coming right now.

What I would like is to find someone who already has experience of them to to give some sort of review.

 

[cwerner]

I would be pretty wary of anything on AliExpress. I highly doubt you'll get the rated PAR or wattage values. If you're looking to light things as cheaply as possible I would go with something you know works. It's more expensive to buy things that don't provide value for their money and aren't built well so they'll crap out on you in under a year anyways.

Have you looked in the classifieds? A couple of used AI primes or a Reefbreeder Photon would be just the ticket. And I'd trust a used, name-brand light more than a cheap, brand new light from Amazon or AliExpress.

Something cheaper, but still brand new would be NoopPsyche: https://noopsychereeflight.com/products/k7-pro-iii-full-set-aquarium-led-coral-light

Or AI Prime's: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/prime-16-hd-led-reef-light-black-body-aqua-illumination.html

Or Photon's https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/photon-24-v2-pro-led-light-fixture-reefbreeders.html

This is what I currently use on my IM 50 gallon 30" tank (about the same size as your 900. https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/d...ht-loop-bluetooth-2-led-set-4420-current-usa/

The rub is you've got a 30" wide tank so you'll either need to run 2 or 1 very large fixture.

 

[dedragon]

never really saw a purpose to try these out when the smatfarms g5 led, noopsyche, and nicrew are already out there and have good reviews. There is even a kessil a360x clone in the a7 led on aliexpress which should put out a lot more light than the aquaknight

Smatfarms, noopsyche and nicrew all have english instructions as well and will be much easier to get support for the fixture should something ever go wrong. Smatfarms is usually $124-135, but they change almost every day with their prices

Im probably gonna end up buying these just to test them out at some point. Many times these go for around 120-135 for light and mount

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803189970536.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.11.5e1dba7fI2vBHW&algo_pvid=d64f2472-915c-407c-8036-d50eba1822f7&algo_exp_id=d64f2472-915c-407c-8036-d50eba1822f7-5&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000025492043745%22%7D&pdp_npi=3%40dis%21USD%21163.63%21114.54%21%21%21%21%21%40211bf2da16799521499231111d070e%2112000025492043745%21sea%21US%214330578567&curPageLogUid=5NuQHh52Wuk4

 

[dedragon]

I dont think the lack of growth is due to the kessils tbh as they are pretty nice lights but will matter the type of corals (some acros need more light than the a160 will put out). Alternatively you can use the kessil a160s you have and just add an led light bar. Many out there but I use this one from aliexpress just to add more blue pop and help with shading. More expensive alternatives are out there like orphek and quantareef

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832657411052.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.51fb543dAnopcO&algo_pvid=8210b269-90c0-46b7-bcd6-2c00c09ae408&algo_exp_id=8210b269-90c0-46b7-bcd6-2c00c09ae408-0&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000023689049356%22%7D&pdp_npi=3%40dis%21USD%2153.74%2142.99%21%21%21%21%21%40211be3cd16799527483338725d06e6%2112000023689049356%21sea%21US%214330578567&curPageLogUid=eW009a8djZ95

 

[bradreef]

The aquaknight 30 watt is solid. The noopsyche mini is probably a good comparison. I think the 50 watt would grow most coral.