Everyone’s favorite lights

[Luis leon]

Would you mind sharing your settings you run with these and the depth of your aquarium ? Recently put a hydra 26 on my bio cube 32 and cant seem to find a good setting, every one I talk to runs radions and have no idea what to run on the hydras

I run my lights from 4 PM to 12:30 am. Uv 30 violet 25, royal 55, blue 65 red, green and white at 0. I have a nuvo 20 gallon.

 

[fishface NJ]

I use ATI blubs. Here is a thread with how to choose your color bulbs https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/which-ati-bulb-combination-should-i-choose.205103/

add a Reefbrite to your T5


Visit Premium Aquatics: https://premiumaquatics.com

 

[Zach W]

Sorry, it is you who are wrong here. Sure, turning up your radions or UV curing system to use more watts will produce more light intensity. That is not in dispute. However, saying that your system produces more light than an entirely different one because it uses more watts is unsupportable (and I am being polite).

We are all glad that you like your Radions...

Just look at the rated par distribution from the two systems. This is all public information. I don’t understand why this is in contention.

 

[Zach W]

The entirety of this disagreement is solely surrounded on the statement that was made that the Current USA fixture could put out more par over a given area then a Radion G4 Pro. That is what I disagreed with, it devolved from there but that is the genesis of the contention.

 

[Zach W]

The actual spec sheet for the 4114 version (you listed the ic pro version).

Compare this 18” to the Radion at 18” tested by BRS....

This is from a single fixture mounted 9” above waterline. Video linked here.

BRStv Investigates: A complete look at the Ecotech Radion XR30 G4 PRO LED Lights

Today on BRStv, we have a brand new episode of our series, BRStv Investigates. In this series, we explore popular reefing theories, products, methods, and what the manuals are missing, with a focus on putting them to the test! Today we are taking an in-depth look at the Ecotech Radion Xr30 G4...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[Dragonreef202]

I have used T-5 on 1 tank and maxspect razr on my other tank.

 

[dutch27]

OP, you can make things pop with T5 with the right bulb combo. Not sure how many bulbs your fixture is, but if you go with all blue+ with a purple+ you'll get great colors, likely close to a 20k look in terms of color. I've run a 4-bulb like this, and at the start and end of the light cycle would run just a blue+ and purple+ for a little time to see the extreme pop. IMO the extreme blue people set their LEDs to makes tanks look like a black light poster opposed to a reef, so it isn't my preference for a tank during the majority of the light-on time.

 

[Sarah24!]

Compare this 18” to the Radion at 18” tested by BRS....

This is from a single fixture mounted 9” above waterline. Video linked here.

BRStv Investigates: A complete look at the Ecotech Radion XR30 G4 PRO LED Lights

Today on BRStv, we have a brand new episode of our series, BRStv Investigates. In this series, we explore popular reefing theories, products, methods, and what the manuals are missing, with a focus on putting them to the test! Today we are taking an in-depth look at the Ecotech Radion Xr30 G4...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

You didn’t even post the proper spec sheet for the model light. Then compare it to a third party test for the radions by brs. How about the test both of them at the same time, identical tanks with identical rock scape. Then have them plumbed where both have the same water and use the ly-core 1500 par meter or higher to measure. But your still missing the point, par is not relevant pux is more relevant and corals don’t need par over 200 anyway. So you posted a single third party test showing possible readings. Big deal. A true scientist would do them in the same setting, water tank size etc. way too many factors and your still comparing a puck light to a light that is 72 inches long. Even my own par readings are higher than sheet current put out. Mine is consistently above 120 34 inches down. But there are several factors and more importantly I don’t care about par. I care about consistency and hot spots. Some the most important aspects of reefing your missing. Not to mention, as another person stated, more wattage does not mean it’s brighter.

Metal halides, all else being equal they are my favorite. Because replacement bulb costs and heat, are issues in real life, and ramping for sunrise and sunset is important to me, I had to compromise my halide Puritanism. I am a kessil fanboy now. Closest thing to halides that I have seen. The new Red Sea lights are a close third but again they are missing some je ne sais quoi, of the halides, even more than the kessils. That being said it’s hard to justify the cost difference were I to buy new leds today.

I vehemently dislike the disco ball effect from the radions, and AI lights. The color blending is subpar, adding a diffuser after the fact seems silly, if the light needs a diffuser than it should be built to give a diffuse spread out light source, not in small pucks. of course this is all aesthetic opinion, lots of really nice tanks are run on radions and AI lights.

I would be really interested in trying some of the larger orphec point sources if I have a large enough tank and the cash to pony up, but I can’t say I have an opinion on them for better or worse.

For wider tanks I do like T5 LED hybrid setups I haven’t found a LED which faithfully replaces the type of diffused light from a T5 bulb. Though I think some of the ones mentioned by others, reef brights and orphec strips, are getting close.

Not going to beat around the bush: In my opinion and experience the current lights are awful for a reef. They have a horrible disco ball effect and seem to slowly kill corals. (This is not a slight on anyone specifically, just a statement of my experience looking at lots of tanks and build threads, and with the current lights on my own and customer tanks. If you have an enviable tank that has been running these long term I would love to be proven wrong, and it’s easy to do, just post your build thread or full tank shots showing coral growth and progress. I’m far from an authority on lights, nice current lit tanks may be out there, just never seen one truly successful long term with them. If they actually worked well they are at a good price point) Fine lights for a fish only or a freshwater tank it seems. The current pro I got is the equipment purchase I most regret. I use it only as a moon light now. was inadequate for a tiny coral tank, or even a fuge light in my opinion. While working at a fish store, I hated when my boss would load promises on them and sell them to beginners. Then a few months later customers would come back complaining about how they were struggling with corals. If you are running them and happy with your results then that’s all that matters. I would love to see successful long term coral growth with anyone’s lights. And want to thank those that have already shared theirs with other lighting systems. The progression of my tank on kessils can be seen in this post of my build thread.

lighting is largely personal preference; there are many paths to successful lighting. I strongly reccomend going to some local fish stores or friends and looking at tanks with different types of lights. Even on the forums look at build threads of tanks you want to emulate and look at their lighting. Ask people why they chose the lights they had, and if they dislike things about them. Go with the ones you like the look of most, that are known to have consistent good results for others. If you like the look, and they work for others, it can be worth figuring out how to make it work for you. lights can have a huge impact on tank aesthetics, and coral growth.

Hello,

I agree with you to some extent, the beginner lights are not overly good and even the marine orbit ic pros are decent but nothing compared to the 4114 version. The newer lights are more an affordable light and placement is critical. I say this and as people can see I totally support current usa, their dc pumps are just monsters, wave makers do great (unless constantly cleaned in vinegar which is actually the root cause for all wave makers that are plastic and have a impeller).

but my tank has been up for 2 years and started from nothing same lights. My tank is a 240 gallon, it’s 34 inches tall, 24 wide and 72 long. You can read my main thread but it’s crazy long and about 220 pages. But here are some pics at one year mark roughly and in my thread I moved, so the rock scape changed, but everything else stayed the same. I have lost more corals from when I moved (rated to the move than lights or anything else.)
So first 7 pics are at 6 months which after I added more and here are some at 12 month roughly so I have had tremendous growth and all of these pics are in my thread. Also take note that I have a maximus clam 24’ inches from the water line, and they need lots of lights. To be honest up front have I lost corals yes, but 99% outside of the move was my own mistakes with swings in salinity or a parameter. I dose everything manually.
The two year mark which was just right before thanksgiving is different because I moved August. Granted I moved a mile away, some corals didn’t do very well. Some have recovered but for being freshly moved, you will see the same corals just different place Places. I have always ran my whites at 33% and blues at 100.
Next set of pics are ones after my move which is the different rock scape but, if you look closely you will be able to see where the corals was before and now. Also I won’t lie I suck at smart phones so these are taken with just my iPhone 6. Not the best pics but they don’t do it justice either. Much mich more vibrant than pics show all pics are with lights on normal settings.

 

[Sarah24!]

Whoops too many pics so here are pics right before my move and after. First 12 are 18 month old tank and the last pics are right after the move to current so I guess 2 years or 3 months but let’s make it more fair and say 2 years old. I also can’t take pics with my blues on because my phone is kinda dumb. The last pic is me in front of my tank a few months before i moved. I hope this will also show the op he has options and lights are only a variable in keeping a reef. The op should get the hospitality award for us horribly Rail roading his thread. For that I’m sorry, and maybe why he hasn’t posted so with that terrible sorry.