72'' vertex illumination 260

reefinman · Jul 23, 2012

Hello,

Bottom line is this vertex light worth the money? I am trying to digest spending 3,200 on a light fixture. What attarcts me is the programable weather, is this something thats really even needed? Can the light produce as much light as a mh? Can i get something equally as effective for half the price, with out running a chiller. I have so many questions so little time.

Thank you for reading the rambles of a mad man.:bigsmile:

larryl · Jul 23, 2012

Bump I'm wondering who has used one or has more info.

-Logzor · Jul 23, 2012

Well you could get 4 Ecotech Radion's for about the same amount of money. I'm sure the Radion has similar weather programming, which isn't necessary, it's a novelty in my opinion. Some people have reported spawning in their tank from the storm cycles, which is really cool.

I'm thinking the Ecotech Radion's might be a better option because they have more colors than the standard blue, royal blue, and white LEDs. I remember the Vertex having only those standard colors.

Also, do some research on the need for UV LEDs. I don't know much on the subject but I think it's something you might want to look into before making your purchase.

Reef Breeders · Jul 23, 2012

-Logzor said:
Well you could get 4 Ecotech Radion's for about the same amount of money. I'm sure the Radion has similar weather programming, which isn't necessary, it's a novelty in my opinion. Some people have reported spawning in their tank from the storm cycles, which is really cool.

I'm thinking the Ecotech Radion's might be a better option because they have more colors than the standard blue, royal blue, and white LEDs. I remember the Vertex having only those standard colors.

Also, do some research on the need for UV LEDs. I don't know much on the subject but I think it's something you might want to look into before making your purchase.

Honestly, the weather features are useless. What I see, is people use them for maybe 2 weeks, and realize just how much lightening freaks their fish out. If I were you, I would diy, and just program an apex to do the storms, if you still wanted them. Then, you could include violet LEDs, which neither fixture has. Believe me, the reds and greens will help too, regular blues IMO are used too heavily, they don't do enough to be used in the amount they are on the vertex. The 460nm royals will give the pop, 7500k whites balabce the color out, and teh reds, greens, violets, and blues just supplement colors. They don't do much for growth, as 420nm LEDs are not very bright at all, however they bring out very nice, crisp purples, blues, and of course violet colors in corals.

Bob Loblaw · Jul 23, 2012

I have two 24" models on 3' tanks- they recommend 12" shorter than tank length. I believe it was money well spent- granted they are much cheaper now compared to when I bought them. The weather feature is available on most LEDS out there- it's a gimmick feature imo. I turned the lighting on once to see it in action and my 12 line wrasse shot out of the tank, have not used it since. My H. mag was under a 250w halide before the Vertex, nems color is much improved under the Vertex.

BRS just did a review on them--
[video=youtube;eJOlYH3jS_A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJOlYH3jS_A&feature=player_embedded[/video]