Current orbit marine pro

[GoVols]

Scratch off the dual. Looks like they don't offer the 36"-48" in the dual version

 

[679x]

Scratch off the dual. Looks like they don't offer the 36"-48" in the dual version

Not trying to steal this thread or anything.

Was just typing a message when you posted this. Is there a different light that you would recommend for growing SPS? I'm still not 100% on this light because I read a review that said it was a bad light, and the person bought an AI Hydra 26, whatever it's called, the one that comes with the Red Sea Reefer Deluxe set, which is what I was thinking of getting, and they "can't believe the difference."

What do you think? If the dual does not work on that size, what do you think I should do? e.g. which light do I get?

 

[GoVols]

Not trying to steal this thread or anything.

Was just typing a message when you posted this. Is there a different light that you would recommend for growing SPS? I'm still not 100% on this light because I read a review that said it was a bad light, and the person bought an AI Hydra 26, whatever it's called, the one that comes with the Red Sea Reefer Deluxe set, which is what I was thinking of getting, and they "can't believe the difference."

What do you think? If the dual does not work on that size, what do you think I should do? e.g. which light do I get?

When your getting into led and SPS there are a lot of choices. I'm not saying the PRO is in the same league as Hydra's. Most of my led knowledge is with Kessil.

If I were you, I'd ask saltyfilmfolks for his help.

 

[679x]

When your getting into led and SPS there are a lot of choices. I'm not saying the PRO is in the same league as Hydra's. Most of my led knowledge is with Kessil.

If I were you, I'd ask saltyfilmfolks for his help.

Thank you for your help If only buying lights was easy...

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

When your getting into led and SPS there are a lot of choices. I'm not saying the PRO is in the same league as Hydra's. Most of my led knowledge is with Kessil.

If I were you, I'd ask saltyfilmfolks for his help.

Salty would suggest an LED with mant emitters over a single puck style.

Thank you for your help If only buying lights was easy...

He's a super cool guy right? ANd yes it would be nice.
A single emitter needs to be higher of shading and shadowing. (use a flash light to experiment with). In MH and T5 is a very large source of light. That said said the Hydra radion kessil solution does work well if done correctly.
For me I like coverage, Ie Ocean revive, Photon, multiple black boxes (SBreeflight) or one BB that covers as much the length of the tank 16in 30 in 32 in.
SO when choosing a puck look for power at the height you need for coverage, AND how the tank will look (furniture quality) when looking at BB styles. Most BB have MORE than enough power.

The only curve ball is the kessil AP700 as somehow the managed to get two pucks to cover a 48x25 area completely evenly. (although L and R) may still have some shadow.

I have 3 12in ai sol on my 48inw 55g, and one 16in SBreeflight on my 20x20 cube. The ai is meh, the SB is oddly amazing. If I upgrade the 55 it'll be SB's or buildmyled.com.

 

[GoVols]

That said said the Hydra radion kessil solution does work well if done correctly.

+1

 

[679x]

Salty would suggest an LED with mant emitters over a single puck style.

A single emitter needs to be higher of shading and shadowing. (use a flash light to experiment with). In MH and T5 is a very large source of light. That said said the Hydra radion kessil solution does work well if done correctly.
For me I like coverage, Ie Ocean revive, Photon, multiple black boxes (SBreeflight) or one BB that covers as much the length of the tank 16in 30 in 32 in.
SO when choosing a puck look for power at the height you need for coverage, AND how the tank will look (furniture quality) when looking at BB styles. Most BB have MORE than enough power.

The only curve ball is the kessil AP700 as somehow the managed to get two pucks to cover a 48x25 area completely evenly. (although L and R) may still have some shadow.

I have 3 12in ai sol on my 48inw 55g, and one 16in SBreeflight on my 20x20 cube. The ai is meh, the SB is oddly amazing. If I upgrade the 55 it'll be SB's or buildmyled.com.

Thanks for your reply. Since I don't have the tank to experiment with lighting or anything, it makes things a bit more difficult in terms of seeing light coverage, etc.

Anyway, I'm trying to think of my options for saving money and still getting what I am hoping to be able to get. Currently I'm planning the tank and don't have any equipment, and I've never done saltwater before, so I can't compare lights or use what I've used in the past, because I haven't used anything in the past lol.

Right now, I'm wondering whether to get a Current USA Orbit Marine Pro, since it's apparently good for SPS corals, although that's just what the manufacturer says I think. Not sure whether it's good or not. Or, instead of that, I could get the sBox Pro 32" with the timer. OR, instead of THAT, I could get an AI Hydra 26 or 52.

Looking at the AI Hydra 26, two is expensive, but a single one would not cover the entire tank I don't think, because 'coverage specifications' says 'recommended spread: 18"x18" ' on one of the websites I looked at. And if I were to get the 52, at that point I think I'd rather just get two 26s so that I know for sure that I'm getting full spread. But after saying that, I'm wondering if I can put high light corals at the top below the light, medium light corals at the bottom ish of the tank (still below the light), and low light corals where the light doesn't quite reach. Would this work for the low light corals, e.g. would they get enough light if the tank light isn't directly on them? If it makes a difference, I sometimes get natural light coming in on part of where the tank will be, and I think it's sort of on the side, so could I put a single AI Hydra 26 on the other side where there is no natural light, and still put corals on the natural light side even if the tank light doesn't fully reach it?

I kind of don't want to bother with the single emitter thingy, like where I have to get multiple and place them properly in order to avoid shadowed spots. So, what would you recommend?

And I sure hope the OP doesn't mind that I'm asking lots of questions on HIS thread. lol

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

And I sure hope the OP doesn't mind that I'm asking lots of questions on HIS thread. lol

HAha. Lets go back to the orbit. Yes, Its fine and will grow corals. The PAR specs on the site are pretty much correct as we've had folks on the site test em out.
BUT, If oy have or want rally takk rocks it might no be the best as it is only a few inches wide and sits on top of the aquarium, and a, 18in tank you may need 2 OR make sure the rock work is farther twards the bottom.

A simple exercise in spread. Take a flashlight and shine it on the table at 4in. bring the flashlight up. the circle gets bigger. Add a flash light next to it and the circle is even bigger. Now do the same thing with a cardboard box. If you hit the entire bottom of the box, your missing the sides of the box and also anything not in the cone of light.

 

[GoVols]

A simple exercise in spread. Take a flashlight and shine it on the table at 4in. bring the flashlight up. the circle gets bigger. Add a flash light next to it and the circle is even bigger. Now do the same thing with a cardboard box. If you hit the entire bottom of the box, your missing the sides of the box and also anything not in the cone of light.

Good Stuff ! ... (love It)

@679x
JMO...
If this is your first saltwater then hold off on SPS until your get the hang of easier corals and water parameters.

 

[679x]

HAha. Lets go back to the orbit. Yes, Its fine and will grow corals. The PAR specs on the site are pretty much correct as we've had folks on the site test em out.
BUT, If oy have or want rally takk rocks it might no be the best as it is only a few inches wide and sits on top of the aquarium, and a, 18in tank you may need 2 OR make sure the rock work is farther twards the bottom.

A simple exercise in spread. Take a flashlight and shine it on the table at 4in. bring the flashlight up. the circle gets bigger. Add a flash light next to it and the circle is even bigger. Now do the same thing with a cardboard box. If you hit the entire bottom of the box, your missing the sides of the box and also anything not in the cone of light.

I plan on having taller rocks towards the middle/back, then have it get shorter as you come to the front, so yes, part of the tank will have tall rocks, but the rockwork would be in such a way that the top of the rocks follow the spread of the light (that is my plan, anyway.)

With that being said, I think I will go with the Orbit Pro. Since finding it I've liked it, and it can be placed on top of rimless tanks, correct? I won't need to rig up something to rest it on? If so, that's fine, just wondering.

Good Stuff ! ... (love It)

@679x
JMO...
If this is your first saltwater then hold off on SPS until your get the hang of easier corals and water parameters.

Yup, that's what I'm going to do! I'm going to start with easy LPS corals because I keep reading about soft corals potentially being incompatible with hard corals, although maybe I'll start with Xenia and leave that as my only soft coral. The SPS corals are the ones I like the most, so I ultimately wanted a light that will be good for them, although I know there is more to SPS than just proper lighting. And I'm going to plan out where to put each coral so that I won't have to move corals to make room for a new one.

So I think I've made a decision on lighting. Thanks again GoVols and saltyfilmfolks for your help

 

[GoVols]

With that being said, I think I will go with the Orbit Pro. Since finding it I've liked it, and it can be placed on top of rimless tanks, correct?

Yes, They come with pull out steel mounting arms that rest on top of a tank.

 

[ChronicRage]

So I bleached a coral with my light. It was way too strong, (I had just gotten it) and was too close to the tank. Tank is about 12" deep. Had an sps on the top and it bleached out within 48 hours. Oops. I turned down my settings to blues at 30% and whites at 10% raisers came in 2 days ago and I raised it to 35% and 15%. Have 2 corals that look healthy on my sandbed. The Xenia, which was the first coral in my tank has been growing like crazy since I added the light. I can almost see growth on a day to day basis lol. The other coral is an sps and seems to be doing just fine the week that I've had it. I'll throw up some pics.

Ramp/dim time: 30 min.
Day length: 12 hours
Current intensity: 35% blue, 15% white.
Tank: 5.5 Fluval Spec V
Tank depth: 10 1/2 inches.
Distance from light to sandbed: 13 inches.

Decided to throw up an update since I know intensity and length is a question to some.

 

[Sarah24!]

Have you seen my post w my tank which is 240 gallons. I use two of the current marine pro, and my coral including sps is amazing color and growth. If you can’t find the post ask me or search under my name. My 240 tank is only 6 months old.

 

[Susan Edwards]

I know this thread is a year old but I'm about to put my first corals in my tank under dual marine ic pros. I have the lights on their brackets 7" above water. Not sure if I shouldn't have them a bit lower, at the 5 inch or even 3 inch. Eager to see how the lights do! Have to adjust the lighting. Not sure if I should leave the greens and reds on low or off--heard they are good for cyano and algae. Going with blues 70 and whites 30,

 

[mcarroll]

@Susan Edwards Lower is better since it lets you put more intense light into the tank.

But you also want good spread, which may mean that you can only go "so low" with the mounting before you start seeing edge shadows.

At 7" off the water, they should be casting light out about 7" from the edge of the lights.

At 3" off the water, they would cast light out about 3" from the edges.

(Easy 1:1 answer thanks to 90º lenses.)

 

[Sarah24!]

I run min right on the tank, I didn’t suspend mine st all, but I also have the current orbit marine pros which can go deeper. Honestly I have used these lights for almost 2 years now. I don’t recommend hanging even three inches. If you have 90 by 2 that’s 180 degrees of you find the middle of your tank and go equal distance out from center you will have spread front to back equally. My tank is 24 wide and I onky have 60 degrees on my pros, and they both hit front to back and they sit right on top of the tank. Have fun w this play around, you can always move them and change them later. If you see shadows then you will need to come up. But I would maybe do an inch at a time. The green and red lights shouldn’t create cyano or much algae. If that was be case any one runnnng ecotech radions and aqua illuminations would be over run with it. They run reds and greens th same level as the other lights. Yes you can change and control them, but I have seen people run them the same as all the others w no issues. Sunlight, pure sunlight will cause algae problem. Cyano is started from to much feeding and not enough flow or you have too many dead spots (meaning no water flow) the extra food and no flow is what creates cyano.

 

[Sarah24!]

Here is a few pics of my tank Susan to give you an idea. Hope it helps.

 

[Susan Edwards]

nice, Sarah. Right now, they are at the 7 inches --highest the brackets go. I have them spaced about equal across an 18" wide tank and full length. Will adjust lights to more green and red.

thanks @mcarroll Prob. should put them at least down to 5". No real corals in there yet, just a few extra frags. With 2 lights, 18" tank, 22 deep, should I go 3 now or wait for corals?

 

[samnaz]

I've had the current orbit pro on my 20L for over a year and honestly couldn't be happier considering the price and ease of use. It was my first tank and has been more than capable of sustaining all sofites, all lps, and even some lower light sps. My montiporas have grown so fast I've had to move them lower to slow growth, some even as low as a few inches above the sand bed and they still grow. This light is HIGHLY underrated.

I never have exceeded 25% for the white channel, and I run the blues at 100%. (white max is currently at 14% to lower algae growth)

 

[Sarah24!]

@samnaz was curious do you have the same lights I do, or Susan? I have had amazing luck w these lights and I agree w you that they are very underrated. I have amazing growth on all types of corals including those high demand sps. They even grow good from mid to upper tank. My Maximus clam does amazing and those are light monsters. But was curious how you set your white intensity that low. We both have to use the remote but mine goes from 0-10 but then 20-100. I never change it anyway because I normally use preset 3, and when I get new corals then I use 4 (or there is a setting for acclimation just can’t remember off the top of my head. But I usually do the clouds on one and clouds and sun on the other for a week. But they are great light.