Cheapest light for corals/marine life 40 breeder.

[Fishguy679]

I have been out of the hobby for a while now but am getting back in. I used to have a bunch of freshwater tanks and one saltwater tank. Whats the cheapest light could grow corals and support marine life in a 40 breeder? Also what are some cheap protein skimmers that would work? Also is a 40 breeder a good size for a small reef or would a 55 gallon have more fish options?

 

[johnnyberotten]

I have been out of the hobby for a while now but am getting back in. I used to have a bunch of freshwater tanks and one saltwater tank. Whats the cheapest light could grow corals and support marine life in a 40 breeder? Also what are some cheap protein skimmers that would work? Also is a 40 breeder a good size for a small reef or would a 55 gallon have more fish options?

I've been running a Caralife 125 skimmer on a 30gl tank for 4 days now and it's doing awesome. Easy to set up and is well made for the money.
I'm anxious to move into a bigger tank. The bigger the better.

 

[nvladik]

My local reef club members have a lot of luck with chinese black box LEDs, similar to what you find on Ebay or Mars Aqua. The new small puck Kessils might work out too, but they are a little more expensive and not as powerful.

 

[Oscar123]

I've got hagen power glo and marine glo t8s on mine.. seems others have good successful growth with soft corals but don't take my word for it. What works for some may not work for others.

I've got a Kent submersible nano skimmer, nice and cheap, works well but you'll find that you'll be emptying pretty much everyday.

The bigger volume the better stability and obvs more options, if you can go bigger then do it.

 

[fishfanatic80]

Current orbit marine leds are around $100-150, they can grow soft corals including kenyas, zoas, fingers, and mushrooms. They have a controller with great ascetics settings. They're a good fixture if your not looking to get into lps or sps. Although the tougher lps like pogoda cups grew fine under them even. But if you were going into any higher light corals I recommend Kessils but they are one of the more expensive brands on the market. To light up my 120 it costs me a little over a grand with the 2 kessil 360we, goosenecks and controller