Lighting upgrade, worth it?

[Ribo15]

Hey guys I’m looking for anyone who ran a Black Box LED setup and switched to a Kessil or Radion. (Or other high end light) is the upgrade really worth it?? Will I notice my corals perk up or get better colouration? I’m wanting to upgrade but struggling with the thought of getting ready of my fairly new LEDs. Wondering if I’d be better off buying a PAR meter and dialing these in better?
Thanks for any help!

 

[Ippyroy]

Hey guys I’m looking for anyone who ran a Black Box LED setup and switched to a Kessil or Radion. (Or other high end light) is the upgrade really worth it?? Will I notice my corals perk up or get better colouration? I’m wanting to upgrade but struggling with the thought of getting ready of my fairly new LEDs. Wondering if I’d be better off buying a PAR meter and dialing these in better?
Thanks for any help!

The PAR meter would be a great idea. Black boxes work, but usually not for long. Most do not a good heat sink causing the light to run hot and burn out faster. The good news is, you can start saving up to buy a better light and research to figure out the one that works best for you. I'd definitely get a PAR meter and check it all out though.

 

[Ribo15]

Thanks for the input! Is the apogee meter the best bet? Or would a seneye work?

 

[saltyfins]

love my kessil A360WE's!!!

 

[bsr2430]

About time you rent a par meter and do all of that, you could buy a used G3 Radion for probably $250?
I think renting a par meter will cost probably $100.
Someone correct me if I’m wrong.

I run Radions on my tank. Have a Kessil in my garage for Chaeto and love that grow light.
You should save $20 a week and wait until you have enough or if this one fails on you.

 

[X-37B]

About 4 years ago I went from blackbox to 150 watt MH with no issues on a 18" cubed nano.
What size is your tank?
Any of the high end leds will work well. Used g4's will save you some money.
Take a look at orphek OR3 led bars.
Many locals are running them instead of radions.

 

[George81]

I am one of those, I ran viparspectra, got drunk and bought 4 g5 xr15 pros. I’ve had them on my tank since dec 31, at first I was unimpressed. However I have noticed better colouration in all my corals and growth has seemed to increase on my encrusting montis, sunburst monti, and a few of my Millis. my alk consumption increased. I never did a light acclimation when I switched.
are they worth 10x the price? I’m still undecided. Viparspectras definitely throw out my par. I have the radions at 100% intensity and 12” down I’m getting 250-300 par. Something that the viparspectra was able to exceed at 72 blue, 18 white.
the viparspectra are good lights. I was getting decent colour and growth. I actually put one back on my tank,
i Have my xr15s set to the brs spacing for 48” tank. Mine is 60”. So I have one set in the middle of the tank now between the two sets of xr15s.
also I had to build a canopy. The xr15s light spill was far too much for me handle.
I may purchase another xr15 or 30 down the road...I do quite like the lights now.

I also forgot to mention I do like my viparspectras too, I have 4 of them, and I intend on keeping them.

 

[Boxofpurplerocks]

Just recently switched from Mars Aqua black box led after 3 years to an ATI Sunpower 6 bulb t5. Definitely noticed a large difference in coloration, coral growth, and overall coverage. That being said, my corals (mostly Acros with some euphyllia) grew great under the black box which were turned up 100% on both channels. It was definitely a great upgrade but not earth shattering.

 

[Ribo15]

My tank is a 8’x2’ 240 gallon. So I need quite a bit of lighting. I have 5 black boxes over it currently. Thanks for all the quick replies guys. Definitely helps the decision. I’m up in Canada so lights aren’t cheap, one guy has 4 gen 3 radion 30 pros not sure that would be worth the upgrade from my black boxes though.

 

[blasterman]

I run a black box on my 20L and have better growth than half the tanks I see Radions on. Reefer I buy frags from has black boxes on his 450, and not very good ones. He has table acros 2feet wide and clams the size of a thanksgiving turkey.

Its not the light....its what you do with it. Most black boxes have trouble with both channels being cranked to max and getting a deep blue because they have too many white LEDs. So, they tend to hit a PAR wall or you have to deal with a tank that's too white and little pop. I modded mine with more blue LEDs to get around the issue.

You get a Kessil for the shimmer and small foot print. If you like shimmer, and black boxes don't have much of this because of their wide footprint get kessils.

Look at BRS lighting showdown on YouTube. I think Radions are over priced on small tanks, but their tests showed Radions scale up competently on bigger tanks and become more competitive in terms of PAR per dollar

 

[Ribo15]

I have watched that LED showdown. It’s very informative. I like the AP9Xs also but then when I watch the AP9X video and it says they are good for 24”x24” area so now I’m up to needing 4 of them and it becomes yikes if you’re not loaded either financially or with booze lol