Lighting Options - Not a boutique guy

[Brucealmighty]

Doesn't anyone think about the depth of the tank when buying lights? I have a 90cm deep tank x 1.5 meters wide x 50cm width, I went with the original T5's that came with it but no corals would survive (happily) at the bottom of the tank so I switched to LED's and went down the cheaper route too, buying a DsunY system which was a nice set for about 12 months until the driver units failed one by one and £280 for the experience, then I went to the LFS and tried to get a deal from them I got a set of LED's from them called Cyrex second hand for about £400 which then lasted another 18 months before the fans in the driver unit seized and I was back to square 1, so I bit the bullet and I am now the proud owner of 2 Red Sea led 160s units, now I know why my corals at the bottom of the tank were always miserable the light from these 2 units is the best I have seen in any tank, they only have 2 channels blue and white and a separate channel for moonlight, but they've brought my tank back to life and the fish have shadows underneath them as they swim across the sand at the bottom of my tank, something not seen before with the previous incarnations of lights I had, I would recommend them 100% and the price is also not just for the label Red Sea, its also the 2 years of warranty that comes with them and a whole lot of work that went into the development and I am now a convert from cheap to not cheap.

 

[RELLIK-REEF]

I have a reefbreeders photon v2 50+ and it has very good numbers and great coverage. I'm hitting about 70par on the sand under the glass in the center of the DT and 110 par outside of the glass at 24" depth. Light is 13" above the water and at peak time that's 60 on royal blues and 50 light blues and violets 15 on whites reds and greens. I also am at 290 par about 5" from the surface. Sorry no filter for the camera yet but here is the best picture I could get. The Nexus app for these lights works great and it's very easy to install onto the fixture. Just cover the fans when you go to put it back together so you don't drop your last screw through it like I did and had to take it all apart again.

 

[Kalinina]

I have a reefbreeders photon v2 50+ and it has very good numbers and great coverage. I'm hitting about 70par on the sand under the glass in the center of the DT and 110 par outside of the glass at 24" depth. Light is 13" above the water and at peak time that's 60 on royal blues and 50 light blues and violets 15 on whites reds and greens. I also am at 290 par about 5" from the surface. Sorry no filter for the camera yet but here is the best picture I could get. The Nexus app for these lights works great and it's very easy to install onto the fixture. Just cover the fans when you go to put it back together so you don't drop your last screw through it like I did and had to take it all apart again.

What size tank do you have the 50 on? You have big fish, so I’m assuming your tank is large!

(I am thinking of the photon v2’s, but I was thinking 4 16” versions mounted sideways for an 8ft tank.)

 

[vetteguy53081]

I'm looking for a quality, low maintenance lighting option for our 6' 125g reef tank. I feel like a lot of the top brand fixtures pay 90% for the branding and profits to the people who sell them. I don't need a McLaren. Where's the Honda? Reliable / Reasonable.

We established our 125g reef tank in Sept '17 with (4) Kessil A360WE's & a Controller in addition to a backup A360WE and all requisite mounts. From my perspective, ~$2500+ in aquarium lighting was a serious premium. I thought we were DONE with lighting for life. Today, 3 of our 5 Kessil A360's are dead. Kessil wants $100ea + shipping to assess them for repair. To their credit, they will apply those dollars toward a repair or purchase of new lighting at a slight discount. Fair enough, but the discounted rate is ~$1200 for those 3 lights. I don't really want to spend $1200 MORE dollars on aquarium lighting, but if I have to, I don't want it to be with a company whose products only lasted 4 years (with considerable maintenance). How long will it be before the other 2 original fixtures need replacement? To compound the issue, the Kessil's have always seemed to be the weak link in our reefing efforts with low output.

Where is the fixture for people who love coral reefs and their inhabitants, not the gear?

I on my 135g placed 2 and about to be Three Orphek OR3-150. Just Phenominal for lighting as I already have bars on another tank
Go i sky blue and 1 blue plus

 

[RELLIK-REEF]

What size tank do you have the 50 on? You have big fish, so I’m assuming your tank is large!

(I am thinking of the photon v2’s, but I was thinking 4 16” versions mounted sideways for an 8ft tank.)

Actually these guys are still small. This is our grow out tank. We are building around a 1400 gallon DT after we move. Looks like around June or July. This tank is 100gallons 60x24x18
We do have another 180 that has current duel 72s but honestly the par numbers they show are not even close. I am going to get another 50 for this tank soon.

 

[Kalinina]

Actually these guys are still small. This is our grow out tank. We are building around a 1400 gallon DT after we move. Looks like around June or July. This tank is 100gallons 60x24x18
We do have another 180 that has current duel 72s but honestly the par numbers they show are not even close. I am going to get another 50 for this tank soon.

Thanks for the reply! That makes sense you’re going with two 50’s for that tank, I just watched brs’ video on the photons and that was their suggestion as well with the lights longways.

Those fish are lucky to be going into such a huge tank!!

 

[RELLIK-REEF]

No problem. Yeah I'm only doing softies in the 200 so I'm only going to use one for now. I'm piecing stuff together for the

 

[RELLIK-REEF]

Dang fingers haha. So I'm getting ready for the big build. I want to use 3 of the 50s and 1 of the 32 on each end. Or at least that's what I'm thinking as of now. Then everything from birth tanks will go into the big one. I can't wait. Haha. Have a wonderful Christmas happy holidays.

 

[outhouse]

Doesn't anyone think about the depth of the tank when buying lights?

my ocean revives cooked everything on the bottom of a 30" deep 210g tank, and at 8% growth is amazing.

So I have no clue what your on and about

 

[Brucealmighty]

my ocean revives cooked everything on the bottom of a 30" deep 210g tank, and at 8% growth is amazing.

So I have no clue what your on and about

We were talking about whether or not the expense of a 'designer light' or 'name branded light' was worth the extra cost versus a cheap light

That's what I thought we were on about


As I put I tried cheap but didn't work for me so how much were your ocean revives?

And for those of us who are imperial 30 inches is shallower than my 90cm because 90cm it 35 inches

 

[outhouse]

As I put I tried cheap but didn't work for me so how much were your ocean revives?

I dont remember, they can still be found, but the company is out of business, viparspectra have identical electronics but much better spectrum. Just another black box maybe 179 each

You just did not choose properly, lots of cheap lights out there have great reliability. I didnt choose the best either because my choice went out of business. Luckily I can still get parts if needed.

If you want cheap lights that are strong, get viparspectra, but the new gen BB cant be beat, try the ones I mentioned on page 1

35 inches

They do 35" with no problem and will burn your coral on the bottom at 80% intensity, like most 3w led chips will.

Seems to me a lot of low dollar and high dollar leds are hit and miss. kessils sure seem to have a lot of failures, and that would be a brand I would have bought into. Instead I decided to keep my 5 year old perfect ocean revives and just add some UV supplementation leds