New Tank Recommendations (Powerheads and Lights)

[Jd0122]

Looking for recommendations/feedback as part of the build I have been planning. I'm planning on upgrading from a Biocube to a Red Sea Gen2 425 later this year once Red Sea has another sale. That said, initially I had been thinking of going with 2 of the ReefWave 45's as part of a bundle, but also started looking at alternatives and am now leaning towards the Orbit 4's or the Nero 7's or a combination of 2 Orbit 4's and 1 Nero7. The key is i wanted to ensure compatibility with the Apex controller which the Orbits and Nero can have (with the Mobius Wireless control module), but the ReefWaves do not. So anyone have experience the the Orbit 4's in that size tank? Will two be enough or would you go with the 2 orbits and a Nero 7?

Secondly, I am looking at the Radion XR 15 or XR 30? I may go two XR 30's even though the reccomended is the XR 15's. Initially, I will only have Softies/LPS, but would gradually like to add SPS in the future after the tank is established. My local store recommended T5's as well, so I may add the Aquatic Life Hybrid 4 lamp at a later date, but from what I have read the XR30's should be able to handle the SPS growth on their own, so this may be overkill. Appreciate any feedback that anyone would have on my approach and the equipment noted.

 

[Reef Wizard]

Looking for recommendations/feedback as part of the build I have been planning. I'm planning on upgrading from a Biocube to a Red Sea Gen2 425 later this year once Red Sea has another sale. That said, initially I had been thinking of going with 2 of the ReefWave 45's as part of a bundle, but also started looking at alternatives and am now leaning towards the Orbit 4's or the Nero 7's or a combination of 2 Orbit 4's and 1 Nero7. The key is i wanted to ensure compatibility with the Apex controller which the Orbits and Nero can have (with the Mobius Wireless control module), but the ReefWaves do not. So anyone have experience the the Orbit 4's in that size tank? Will two be enough or would you go with the 2 orbits and a Nero 7?

Secondly, I am looking at the Radion XR 15 or XR 30? I may go two XR 30's even though the reccomended is the XR 15's. Initially, I will only have Softies/LPS, but would gradually like to add SPS in the future after the tank is established. My local store recommended T5's as well, so I may add the Aquatic Life Hybrid 4 lamp at a later date, but from what I have read the XR30's should be able to handle the SPS growth on their own, so this may be overkill. Appreciate any feedback that anyone would have on my approach and the equipment noted.

Cant speak on those powerheads with that tank but Check out Reefi unos for lights highly recommend them

 

[Dom]

The lighting demands of a Reef Tank are far greater than that of a Fish Only With Live Rock setup. So when choosing a light for your reef tank, consider the following:

• Light Spread. When we speak of light spread, we are speaking of the area which a light covers.

An easy way to demonstrate light spread would be to take a flashlight, turn it on and stand it on end with the light facing down on a table. Now, slowly pick it straight up, moving away from the table. Notice that as you move the flashlight further from the table, the area of the table covered by light increases. The growing and shrinking of the area covered by light on the table based on the distance from the table is the spread.

So when selecting a light, the spread must cover the footprint of the tank. And much in the same way you adjusted the spread of light on the table top by changing the distance of the light from the table, you can adjust the spread of your light by changing the height at which the light hangs over the aquarium. But there is more…

• Light Intensity. It isn’t enough that your light spread covers the entire footprint of your tank. It must do so with the proper light intensity as well.

When speaking of light and it’s intensity in aquariums, people will reference light measurements in “lumen” or “PAR”. What is the difference between PAR and Lumen? As I understand it, lumen are used to measure the brightness of light as perceived by the human eye.

PAR is the amount of light that is actually available to be used during the photosynthesis process. So when speaking in terms of PAR, we are speaking about the portions of the light spectrum usable by the inhabitants in the tank.

​

 

[Darstar301]

I have a redsea 525 and upgraded to 3 reefi uno2 from 3 XR15 pro gen 5. The XR15 at 100% had very little power and spread on the sand bottom. I should have went with the XR30 at the start to save time and money since my LFS offered a great discount on the XR30 bundle. I am running 3 nero 5 and 2 ice cap 4k gyre, you may need more later.

 

[Jd0122]

@Darstar301 @Reef Wizard Thanks for the comments. I took a look at the Reefi Unos after your posts and looked at some other threads. They look really promising as an alternative and I'm now leaning towards the Uno Pros 2.1 based on the reviews and documentation. @Darstar301 I think the ice cap gyres are very similar and had read some good review on them as well. I'll probably start off with the orbits plus at least one nero and see how it goes. @Dom thanks for the explanation. I've read up on it, but your explanation was very simple and straightforward.

 

[Dburr1014]

Probably don't want to here this but, I would upgrade to anything but redsea tanks and ecotech lights.
I think you will be highly disappointed in both.

Tanks; Glass cages, planet, ect.
Lights; Reefbreeders, noopsyche, reefi, ect.

These are way better and more bang for the buck.

My Reefbreeders light is at 80% and is flanked with a total of 4 T5. 8" above the water, @ 8" below the water I have 400 par.
I admit, my light is too small. My footprint is 60"x24" and my light is only 43" long. I added 4 T5 to help and they are only 48"and on for 6 hours.

 

[Shawnd08]

You could get away with two XR15s to start and then when you get into SPS you could add light bars I have a IM 100g EXT with two xr15 G6 Pros and a 39 inch Blade Grow over the front and a 21inch Grow over the back ( I had the extra 21inch from another tank and didn't need a ton of light over the back) and that works great for SPS. the Xrs are set to 70% and Blades 65% and par on the sand bed is around 150 and top of my rocks is 400.

I also have an Orbit 4, Nero 7, and 2 Nero 3s. The Nero 3s are in the back corners to move water across the back. The Orbit 4 is on one side and the Nero 7 on the other. The 7 and Orbit are both very strong and I only run them at 25-30% max right now. this setup gives me a lot of random flow. They are great pumps and have not given me any problems.

 

[Shawnd08]

Have you consider other tank brands or are you set on redsea?

 

[RWReefer]

My two cents.

I run two XR30s on a similar sized tank (waterbox 110). Will have PAR readings I can share later this week to give you an idea.

Regarding Red Sea, I personally wouldn’t touch them. Water box should have an end of year sale the same time, but their 110 is currently going for $800 less than a Red Sea 425 (not even considering the Red Sea seam issues). It’s a great tank.

Best of luck with your build with whichever direction you decide to go!

 

[Jd0122]

Probably don't want to here this but, I would upgrade to anything but redsea tanks and ecotech lights.
I think you will be highly disappointed in both.

Tanks; Glass cages, planet, ect.
Lights; Reefbreeders, noopsyche, reefi, ect.

These are way better and more bang for the buck.

My Reefbreeders light is at 80% and is flanked with a total of 4 T5. 8" above the water, @ 8" below the water I have 400 par.
I admit, my light is too small. My footprint is 60"x24" and my light is only 43" long. I added 4 T5 to help and they are only 48"and on for 6 hours.

I have looked at others. Originally, I was all in on Waterbox, but LFS swayed against it given some challenges they have experienced with Waterbox the past couple of years. I had also researched the Red Sea seam issues which seem to have gone away with G2 based on what I have read. Looks like those seam issues were more G1 and a bad batches of them. I've seen nothing on that being prevalent on the G2 issues. Long story short, I'm not 100% on Red Sea, but that is where I am leaning. I also looked at Cade and quite honestly I really like the thought they put into their cabinet layouts as well as the internal ATO. Concern is that I want the ReefMat 500 and not sure whether it can fit. I won't be using filter socks in the sump and will have media baskets instead. In terms of lights, I'm definitely switching to the Reefi Pro 2.1 bundle after researching. @Shawnd08 To answer your question re: Red Sea

 

[Jd0122]

You could get away with two XR15s to start and then when you get into SPS you could add light bars I have a IM 100g EXT with two xr15 G6 Pros and a 39 inch Blade Grow over the front and a 21inch Grow over the back ( I had the extra 21inch from another tank and didn't need a ton of light over the back) and that works great for SPS. the Xrs are set to 70% and Blades 65% and par on the sand bed is around 150 and top of my rocks is 400.

I also have an Orbit 4, Nero 7, and 2 Nero 3s. The Nero 3s are in the back corners to move water across the back. The Orbit 4 is on one side and the Nero 7 on the other. The 7 and Orbit are both very strong and I only run them at 25-30% max right now. this setup gives me a lot of random flow. They are great pumps and have not given me any problems.

Appreciate the feedback on the pumps/lights. I think I'm pretty sold on the Orbit 4. Think I will start out with 2 orbit 4's on either side and either an MP40 or Nero in the middle and see what i get in terms of flow. I like the suggestion on the nero 3's in the back. Thanks!

 

[Shawnd08]

Appreciate the feedback on the pumps/lights. I think I'm pretty sold on the Orbit 4. Think I will start out with 2 orbit 4's on either side and either an MP40 or Nero in the middle and see what i get in terms of flow. I like the suggestion on the nero 3's in the back. Thanks!

I think you will find two Orbit 4s will be more than enough for anything you want to do with that tank. Good luck with the build.