New Build - LED Questions

james211 · Jan 31, 2016

Hello,

I'm new to this forum, heard great things so I thought I'd give this a shot. I'm cycling my 50 gallon now, 36" wide, but still haven't decided on an LED yet.

I'm considering three options:

1. Radion - XR30wPro (I found it interesting that this light is unavailable at most resellers though....is there a new revision on the way?)

2. AI Hydra 52HD

3. Orphek Atlantik v3

I'm guessing with the radion or the hydra I'll need two of them for proper horizontal coverage.

Any advice is welcome, thank you.

BigKid4788 · Jan 31, 2016

I've had orphek atlantiks for a few years and love them. Can't go wrong with them. Thinking of upgrading from the v1's to the v3's myself

twilliard · Jan 31, 2016

If the Orphek Atlantik is in the budget then I would jump on their website and read about the spectrums.
Last I heard from Scott they are not in the states yet, the V3.
Might want to shoot him an email and ask.
My tank is lit by the V2.1b I absolutely love the controls and it's dead silent.

twilliard · Jan 31, 2016

And welcome to the R2R family!

fragit · Jan 31, 2016

@james211,@twillard I just checked out premium aquatics.com the Atlantic v3 is available $1100, will light a 48"x24x24" tank with one fixture. At least that's what they are claiming. One down fall at least that I can see is that this wifi model is only controllable with android.

djbetterly · Jan 31, 2016

I have the Atlantic v2a single chip and I'm relatively happy. I did a PAR check and was a bit disappointed at first but I also think my light is a bit too high. The controls aren't as fancy as other lights but in the end do you really use the thunderstorm and cloud effects?

twilliard · Jan 31, 2016

Ya I would have sworn I saw them release for the ios but not seeing it.
Scott is the best for specifics

djbetterly · Jan 31, 2016

Their initial press release did say iOS but it won't be available immediately.

twilliard · Jan 31, 2016

djbetterly said:
I have the Atlantic v2a single chip and I'm relatively happy. I did a PAR check and was a bit disappointed at first but I also think my light is a bit too high. The controls aren't as fancy as other lights but in the end do you really use the thunderstorm and cloud effects?

It's on the way

james211 · Jan 31, 2016

Good info on the Orphek's.

From what I gather if one wanted the same coverage they'd need two Hydras or two radions correct? How do you think the PAR compares? Shadowing? Disco effect?

BigKid4788 · Jan 31, 2016

I spoke w/ Scott a few weeks ago and the IOS should be released any day now.

twilliard · Jan 31, 2016

james211 said:
Good info on the Orphek's.

From what I gather if one wanted the same coverage they'd need two Hydras or two radions correct? How do you think the PAR compares? Shadowing? Disco effect?

Not sure how it compares but I can say at 80% I am getting about 400 par 18" from the fixture

james211 · Jan 31, 2016

If anyone knows anyone who has radion or hydras would you mind asking them to chime in?

I know a lot of people hate getting involved in LED conversations.

IronVulture · Jan 31, 2016

I recommend watching this video by BRS it is a little long but very informative.

fragit · Jan 31, 2016

I believe @CastAway is running the hydras with a lot of success maybe he will chime in.

james211 · Jan 31, 2016

@IronVulture ill check it out. Is it about all LED's or just radions and hydras?

james211 · Jan 31, 2016

Not to add one more to the mix, but it's negligible at the moment, I was hoping for more info on the upcoming reefbreeders supernova. They haven't released much info at all but they were happy to list the price tag at $800. I emailed them and received a short response that wasn't very encouraging. That seems to be the only other option that would provide the spread that the Orphek offers.

hart24601 · Feb 1, 2016

Personally I would go with a couple AI hydra 26s.

Posted the same thing in another thread, but I won last years acro growout contest with 26s and used them on my spotlight tank. I prefer multiple 26s over a 52 as you spread out the clusters more.

james211 · Feb 1, 2016

Interesting...I've actually considered this. After doing a lot of reading about the Orphek's, I'm not so sure how I feel about them. I do believe they are a good light, but it seems in terms of hardware updates, and customer support it seems they might lack a bit.

Going to watch that BRS video now.

jolt · Feb 1, 2016

james211 said:
Not to add one more to the mix, but it's negligible at the moment, I was hoping for more info on the upcoming reefbreeders supernova. They haven't released much info at all but they were happy to list the price tag at $800. I emailed them and received a short response that wasn't very encouraging. That seems to be the only other option that would provide the spread that the Orphek offers.

I'm thinking the Photon V2 may be what we get rather than the Supernova