BRS Lighting Review Priced Out - Questions

[T-J]

I'm currently setting up a new 120g (48x24x24) mixed reef. I love the BRS lighting reviews, and really appreciated all of the amazing work they did. Once of the issues I had was that they only rate their lights for tanks that are either LPS/Softies or SPS. They don't give their thoughts on the Mixed Reef tank setup that many of us have.

I desire higher PAR in the mid to upper levels of the tank for my sticks, but lower PAR below that for all of my fluffy sofites, swaying torches and Zoas.

With that in mind, I broke down their top 10 lights and put together a cost if you went with their SPS tank recommendations. But here is my question:

Do you feel that their recommended number of lights is correct if I want to do a mixed reef? Remember, the number of lights for each brand below was their recommended number for SPS dominated tanks.

Radion XR15
$420 each
4 @ $1680

Radion XR30
$840 each
3 @ $2500

Kessil AP9X
$839 each
2 @ $1680

AI Prime 16HD
$210 each
8 @ $1680

Kessil A360X
$449 each
4 @ $1796

AI Hydra 32
$366 each
4 @ $1466

Lumi Lite Pro
$189 each strip
4 @ $756

AI Hydra 64
$630 each
3 @ $1890

ATI 8 Bulb T5
$826 (fixture)
8 bulbs @ $20 each (average)
$986 total

Reef Brite XHO
$297 each strip
5 @ $1485

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

I truly feel bad for anyone starting the hobby and trying to decide on lights. I will say this, a hybrid system that uses t5 and LED or halides will give you the best spread of light and reduce shading that will allow for a tank full of coral at different levels.

 

[Nathan Milender]

I run a mixed reef with 3 ai Primes and an ati hybrid fixture that holds 4 T5s. Mine is a 6 foot 125 gallon 18 inches deep (front/back). The lowlight corals do fine on the bottom and sides. Euphelia is pretty happy. Under the LEDs I have had trouble with too much light and bleaching and have had to turn them down. Psammacoral, birdsnest, and pavona adapted after some bleaching. It was too harsh for a stylo and even a pocillo if you can believe that. There is definitely a spike of light right under the leds and softer to the outside. I did not use a par meter. Not sure what the price is, but it is pretty cheap compared to high end lighting. I have had no problems with the T5 housing or the AI primes. You do have to buy an extra special mount for the primes to make them work with the fixture.

 

[Alphasig293]

Yeah, it's a pain right now. I'm setting up a 230 (72x24x30), plus the tank has two plastic cross pieces. I really like the shimmer on kessils, so I was thinking 3 a360x's (one in each area) and throwing in T5's or Reef brites. I think AP9x is just too big (unless I mounted front to back vs side to side.

 

[T-J]

I truly feel bad for anyone starting the hobby and trying to decide on lights. I will say this, a hybrid system that uses t5 and LED or halides will give you the best spread of light and reduce shading that will allow for a tank full of coral at different levels.

I couldn't agree more. I've been doing this for 20+ years, and it's still a pain. It's funny you mention hybrid, because I'm leaning that way, or full T5. I'm old school, and really liked my old MH with T5 supplements back in the day. So I think full T5 or LED with T5 may be the way to go.

 

[MikeIkerson]

I think your math is wrong on the Kessil a360x. 4x449 = 1796 not 1466

 

[T-J]

I think your math is wrong on the Kessil a360x. 4x449 = 1796 not 1466

Thanks for catching that! Fixed!

 

[mcshams]

I am not an expert, but I would make the argument that any of the lights you highlighted will all work, just work with mild differences in how you set them up and overall look of the tank. Having devoted myself to watch nearly everything that BRS puts out in video and consuming any additional information I can get my hands on, the differences are not is PASS vs FAIL, but rather how subtle differences in the lights play out, with ALL the light scenarios working, and just mild modifications as to how.

There are distinct preferences with what people like and swear buy, but there is no scenario in which all reefers using AI primes fail 100% of the time for instance. When my wife and I picked our lights, we considered budget, spread, looks, ease of use, and desired affect as well as reviews as to what people thought of the light in terms of programming, ease of use, durability and longevity.

I know I sound like a politician in that I didn't give any information but said a lot...but I think you can't lose with any of the lights you picked from BRS reviews.

 

[T-J]

I am not an expert, but I would make the argument that any of the lights you highlighted will all work, just work with mild differences in how you set them up and overall look of the tank. Having devoted myself to watch nearly everything that BRS puts out in video and consuming any additional information I can get my hands on, the differences are not is PASS vs FAIL, but rather how subtle differences in the lights play out, with ALL the light scenarios working, and just mild modifications as to how.

There are distinct preferences with what people like and swear buy, but there is no scenario in which all reefers using AI primes fail 100% of the time for instance. When my wife and I picked our lights, we considered budget, spread, looks, ease of use, and desired affect as well as reviews as to what people thought of the light in terms of programming, ease of use, durability and longevity.

I know I sound like a politician in that I didn't give any information but said a lot...but I think you can't lose with any of the lights you picked from BRS reviews.

I agree ! My big question tho was: should I go with their SPS recommended number of lights, or less since I’m doing a mixed vs full SPS.

For example, I know I’ll be fine with 4 XR15s, but would 3 work just as well for my mixed? (I think they recommended 2 for an LPS tank)

 

[Nick Steele]

I think it would be up to how you want to set it up. If you center your sps around the lights you’d probably be okay with 3xr15’s for example maybe possibly just 2 if you wanted more lps dominated with only a few sps.

 

[T-J]

I think it would be up to how you want to set it up. If you center your sps around the lights you’d probably be okay with 3xr15’s for example maybe possibly just 2 if you wanted more lps dominated with only a few sps.

That’s kinda how my current tank is set up. Top is SPS, then montis etc in middle, zoas, lps in the bottom.

 

[Kyl]

More fixtures come into play mostly for single point installs like radions, kessils, etc when your frags start turning into larger colonies. If you're just starting out, shadowing won't really be a problem for a solid year most likely with SPS, unless we're talking plating montipora or something like birdsnest.

There is another T5 replacement option just released but I'm unaware if BRS has anything in the works for testing (Straton).

 

[X-37B]

Well on my 120 I went with a used 6 bulb ati for $100 and added a 2 bulb unit after 10 months.
Worked well for 14 months and could grow everything.
I had at startup, and just got them up a month ago, 2 lumen bright mini's with 250 watt 14 k de phoenix bulbs on m80 ballasts.
Total cost was $600 for fixtures and ballasts.
Bulbs were$50 a piece.
So $700 for all.
Not a bad price for a system that will grow anything.
If I was to use led's I would opt for used gen4 xr30's and probably get 3 for my 120.
On their 14 k setting they look incredible and can grow anything, too.
My upgrade will be MH and radions combined on 3x my 120's size.
Best of both worlds for me anyway.

 

[mcshams]

I agree ! My big question tho was: should I go with their SPS recommended number of lights, or less since I’m doing a mixed vs full SPS.

For example, I know I’ll be fine with 4 XR15s, but would 3 work just as well for my mixed? (I think they recommended 2 for an LPS tank)

I don't think 3 lights versus 4 lights will matter in the strictest sense of obtaining PAR necessary to grow either....but it WILL have an impact on overlapping and avoiding shadow. It's not a matter of needed 4 for LPS and 3 for mixed or soft. It's a matter of depending on overlap, rock structure, coral structure and the casting of shadows as to whether or not you have spots that are much more PAR restricted and thus limited in what you can put there.

Nearly all the lights featured can really crank out the PAR. And most have decent spread as well, but when spread too thinly across the length of the tank, you can have "dead" spots in which coral growth can be lacking. We check our PAR and in areas of lower light, we just grow corals that enjoy it more.

That's my take on it.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

I couldn't agree more. I've been doing this for 20+ years, and it's still a pain. It's funny you mention hybrid, because I'm leaning that way, or full T5. I'm old school, and really liked my old MH with T5 supplements back in the day. So I think full T5 or LED with T5 may be the way to go.

For what it is worth... next to nothing really LOL. But I just built that 600 gallon tank in my avatar. three 400 watt halides, eight 4' T5 bulbs and two reef brite strips. There is NOT a better system for growing SPS. Period, hands down, absolutely no comparison. Colors and shimmer are out of this world. You simply can't mess up with MH and t5.

 

[T-J]

I don't think 3 lights versus 4 lights will matter in the strictest sense of obtaining PAR necessary to grow either....but it WILL have an impact on overlapping and avoiding shadow. It's not a matter of needed 4 for LPS and 3 for mixed or soft. It's a matter of depending on overlap, rock structure, coral structure and the casting of shadows as to whether or not you have spots that are much more PAR restricted and thus limited in what you can put there.

Nearly all the lights featured can really crank out the PAR. And most have decent spread as well, but when spread too thinly across the length of the tank, you can have "dead" spots in which coral growth can be lacking. We check our PAR and in areas of lower light, we just grow corals that enjoy it more.

That's my take on it.

What you wrote made a lot of sense, and it's really driving me toward a hybrid system. I feel that I can probably reduce their SPS recommendations by 1 unit in most cases, and instead go with supplemental T5. Such as 3 AI Hydra 32's with the ATI 48" T5 Hybrid fixture. I'm also seriously considering 3 or 4 Noopsyche with the same 48" ATI T5 fixture.

 

[CindyKz]

I think if you go with a hybrid system you can probably cut down by at least one fixture. I have a 180 gal tank with an ATI 4 bulb hybrid/ 4 Kessil a360s over it, mixed reef with just a few sps at the top. So far, it's been all about placement - if I choose the right spot, the corals are happy. You do need to be thoughtful with your rockscape though. If you like LPS more, make sure to give yourself lots of spots down low for them - same up high for SPS.

Much as I love BRS, they ARE in the business of selling us stuff, and I feel like they recommend the "ideal" while we at home have to consider budget constraints. Sometimes it isn't about what will work best, but what will work with my budget. I recently set up a 75 gal softie tank. According to their recommendations I needed 3 AI primes, but I"m trying it with two on the recommendation of my LFS. We'll see how it goes.

I run a mixed reef with 3 ai Primes and an ati hybrid fixture that holds 4 T5s. Mine is a 6 foot 125 gallon 18 inches deep (front/back). The lowlight corals do fine on the bottom and sides. Euphelia is pretty happy. Under the LEDs I have had trouble with too much light and bleaching and have had to turn them down. Psammacoral, birdsnest, and pavona adapted after some bleaching. It was too harsh for a stylo and even a pocillo if you can believe that. There is definitely a spike of light right under the leds and softer to the outside. I did not use a par meter. Not sure what the price is, but it is pretty cheap compared to high end lighting. I have had no problems with the T5 housing or the AI primes. You do have to buy an extra special mount for the primes to make them work with the fixture.

I had a similar issue with my fixtures using Kessil A360s. Raising the fixture worked well to fix it - it made the "hot spots" much less intense without much effect on PAR at the bottom/edges.