Quote:
Originally Posted by jayball
Thought of one more, aquaticlife halo. One deluxe and one slave will run 550 (close to your budget) on Amazon. They are also a COB array below a single lense.
They are a little too bright blue (bit windex looking IMO) for my taste, rather than the deeper blue violet from the kessil. Some people have said it is easier to get the 14K Phoenix look with them. I saw one over a frag tank at someone's house and the coral popped, especially the reds and oranges. He liked it.
Edit: Zooman, I mentioned the blueacro stars because they fit the no disco requirement and he would not have to plan out a spectrum. It is as plug and play as you get, still not easy. I included the T5's because is fits his budget and will grow any SPS he wants to put in the tank, he is welcome to ignore it. I did not see that third sentence the first time around, If that was edited in I probably had the post window open. No worries either way.
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I would agree with the AquaticLife Halo's being a viable option (analogous to the Kessil A360's, not comparable to the A160's), but one may have to include the arms for mounting to the aquarium (same concern for Kessils), which would add $120 to the overall cost, totaling $670, and I am not sure their programming is easier (although it is "onboard", and therefore not additional $$$). I have however found that their color rendition is worse than offered by the Kessils (which is not the greatest IMO) - reds and oranges for corals (i.e. florescence) are usually easy under many blue channels, but light oranges and yellows (say in some fish) are not as well rendered. Blues and purples can also seem washed out. Simply put, using higher Kelvin whites alone (i.e. without warmer whites or similar) impacts color rendition in a negative way for many aquarists.
I still submit that for the constraints of the OP's budget, experience (w/ LEDs), "needs" (mixed/ SPS corals, no "disco"), and aquarium size, that the 150W/ 28" Maxspect Razor X would be their best bet if they want to employ an LED fixture. I am
not stating that other options will not work, and many may view other options as preferable within their own parameters.