Choosing new lighting

[KPH]

Hello all!

In the next little bit I’ll be choosing some new lighting for my Red Sea Reefer 350. I currently have the 40 inch Current USA Marine Orbit LED unit. It’s doing a solid job but i think i need a little more punch. This tank started FOWLR but I’ve jumped into corals (LPS and softies only) and would like to step up a little. I’m weighing my options of going with the newer Current USA R24 lights...the three light set, three of the Red Sea 50 lights or 2 of the Red Sea 90 lights.

Thoughts on these options and what you’d go with? I’m trying not to spend tons of money on lights and would prefer LEDs and these options fit my budget.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Spare time]

What is your max budget and ideal budget? I can list a variety of options that could work.

 

[KPH]

What is your max budget and ideal budget? I can list a variety of options that could work.

Ideally 800 is absolutely top of the budget.

 

[Spare time]

Ideally 800 is absolutely top of the budget.

How would you prefer to mount the lights (hanging, mounting arms, etc.)?

Do you care about having an app?

Do you like that caustic line ocean shimmer look, or a very soft or muted appearance?

 

[Kodski]

For a $800 take a look at the Uno by Reefi. I keep recommending it to people it feels like every day. But that’s because it’s under rated and overlooked. $350 for each light. 180watts for each light. Built in WiFi controller and lots of mounting options available.

Not to mention the colors are amazing. Just the right amount of shimmer too. All with the least glare of any light I’ve seen in person to date due to the special LED reflectors. But best of all Daniel is amazing at answering any questions or helping with any issues you may have along the way.


These lights will be PLENTY powerful for LPS and softies but they will also be great for if you ever want to try some SPS or even go full SPS.

 

[KPH]

How would you prefer to mount the lights (hanging, mounting arms, etc.)?

Do you care about having an app?

Do you like that caustic line ocean shimmer look, or a very soft or muted appearance?

Mounting arms to the glass.

id prefer an app.

I lole a variety of looks honestly.

 

[KPH]

For a $800 take a look at the Uno by Reefi. I keep recommending it to people it feels like every day. But that’s because it’s under rated and overlooked. $350 for each light. 180watts for each light. Built in WiFi controller and lots of mounting options available.

Not to mention the colors are amazing. Just the right amount of shimmer too. All with the least glare of any light I’ve seen in person to date due to the special LED reflectors. But best of all Daniel is amazing at answering any questions or helping with any issues you may have along the way.


These lights will be PLENTY powerful for LPS and softies but they will also be great for if you ever want to try some SPS or even go full SPS.

Sweet. I’ll look them up now!

 

[KPH]

For a $800 take a look at the Uno by Reefi. I keep recommending it to people it feels like every day. But that’s because it’s under rated and overlooked. $350 for each light. 180watts for each light. Built in WiFi controller and lots of mounting options available.

Not to mention the colors are amazing. Just the right amount of shimmer too. All with the least glare of any light I’ve seen in person to date due to the special LED reflectors. But best of all Daniel is amazing at answering any questions or helping with any issues you may have along the way.


These lights will be PLENTY powerful for LPS and softies but they will also be great for if you ever want to try some SPS or even go full SPS.

You have these?

 

[Kodski]

You have these?

Yes I do. Love them. Running about 40% on my nano. Could easily raise them up and turn it up to keep the same par. I have a mixed reef and grow pretty much everything. I actually replaced my Kessil A360x with the Uno. I really like the Kessil but I just wasn’t getting great par. I bought the Uno to see if I’d like another light better than the Kessil and I sure do. Haven’t looked back yet. I’ll be purchasing a second light for my tank upgrade coming soon. 48”x24” 80 gallon tank. The plan is to raise the lights fairly high up and turn the lights up to get the par and coverage I’m looking for. I may add a third or add a few LED bars to the mix as well if I need to combat shadowing. But again, I do keep SPS along with a good other mix of corals. Two would do you just fine.

check out the Reefi owners group on Facebook. Lots of tank pictures there as well as Daniel (the maker and owner or Reefi) posts there with updates and answering any questions.

 

[dedragon]

+1 2 reefi unos, everyone seems to love them while I have seen some hating on the red sea led (i think some dont like the colors it puts out and lack of full control)

 

[KPH]

Yes I do. Love them. Running about 40% on my nano. Could easily raise them up and turn it up to keep the same par. I have a mixed reef and grow pretty much everything. I actually replaced my Kessil A360x with the Uno. I really like the Kessil but I just wasn’t getting great par. I bought the Uno to see if I’d like another light better than the Kessil and I sure do. Haven’t looked back yet. I’ll be purchasing a second light for my tank upgrade coming soon. 48”x24” 80 gallon tank. The plan is to raise the lights fairly high up and turn the lights up to get the par and coverage I’m looking for. I may add a third or add a few LED bars to the mix as well if I need to combat shadowing. But again, I do keep SPS along with a good other mix of corals. Two would do you just fine.

check out the Reefi owners group on Facebook. Lots of tank pictures there as well as Daniel (the maker and owner or Reefi) posts there with updates and answering any questions.

Sweet! I’ll check out the Facebook group. Does it have an app or more like a mobile page you connect to to control the colors, schedule etc?

I like the look of them. I actually just got an AI Prime 16HD and I gotta be honest, I’ve tinkered with a lot of the settings and I just don’t like the look it gives my biocube. That’s made me nervous about spending big dollars on different lights for my reefer 350.

 

[KPH]

+1 2 reefi unos, everyone seems to love them while I have seen some hating on the red sea led (i think some dont like the colors it puts out and lack of full control)

Gotcha. Thanks for the reply. Def going to check out the Facebook page. The Red Sea lights were lower on the list for me. I have their gyre, the 25 I think, and I really don’t like the Red Sea app. I’ve had lots of problems with it.

 

[Spare time]

You could do 3 red sea 50

Mounting arms to the glass.

id prefer an app.

I lole a variety of looks honestly.

3 red sea 50's could work. If you can't mount in the center then yes it would work. Multiple smaller fixtures is always better than fewer higher powered lights. Alternatively, there is the ai prime. Prime will allow more white light if you prefer that. There are plenty of other lights out there. I haven't used the uno.

As for the red sea app, I understand. Honestly, I prefer no app nowadays because once it is setup, you really should never touch it. The AI lights nowadays are good on the app. They use Bluetooth now vs wifi like the old ones which were the bane of my existence.


There are other options without apps that are cheaper that would work. Bulk reef has lots of videos on lights if you want to check them out. Their lighting showdown series is great.

 

[RicanKing]

For a $800 take a look at the Uno by Reefi. I keep recommending it to people it feels like every day. But that’s because it’s under rated and overlooked. $350 for each light. 180watts for each light. Built in WiFi controller and lots of mounting options available.

Not to mention the colors are amazing. Just the right amount of shimmer too. All with the least glare of any light I’ve seen in person to date due to the special LED reflectors. But best of all Daniel is amazing at answering any questions or helping with any issues you may have along the way.


These lights will be PLENTY powerful for LPS and softies but they will also be great for if you ever want to try some SPS or even go full SPS.

Any more updates on this light ?

 

[Kodski]

Any more updates on this light ?

Still loving the light. Anything in particular you want to know?

 

[RicanKing]

I'm getting into sps and was wondering if you had any u Der these lights and how are they growing?

 

[Kodski]

I'm getting into sps and was wondering if you had any u Der these lights and how are they growing?

Yes, I keep a good mix of corals, SPS included. These lights will easily grow sps. I'd highly recommend using a par meter to set up ANY light though. These lights are powerful and would produce high par even in 30" deep tanks. So without a par meter you could easily cook your corals. In my opinion, water chemistry has a larger effect on coral growth than what brand of light you're using. As long as it has a spectrum with good blue peaks and UV, which I'd say the Uno has one of the best spectrums out right now, and you set up the light for the proper par values your corals will thrive.