Non-bias lighting help, please?

[MGarvo2]

If you had great success, why switch?
Use them and add fill lights like pc or led strips.
Keep it simple.

Gave them away when I moved. Gave away my tank. Gave away my skimmer. Gave away the whole darn thing. It’s a sore subject.

 

[MGarvo2]

Unfortunately, there's no such thing as a non-biased opinion. All opinions are shaped by personal experience, which may be incomplete.

My biased opinion is stick with the black boxes. Mine have been working great. I agree on pricing for black boxes vs premium fixtures. I can't justify spending a thousand dollars on a single light when you can light the entire tank with black boxes for less.

I think another thing people tend to under-appreciate about black boxes is coverage. Puck-style lights don't distribute light very well. As long as the black box has good distribution of the different diodes colors, you'll get much better coverage than with a single point light.

Some black boxes are actually pretty good. If you look at the tests BRS did on the black boxes, some of the color specturms are pretty scary. They're completely missing peaks in the violet and teal/cyan ranges, or they're biased one way or the other. The Viparspectra in particular has spectrum peaks exactly where you want them.

Good point about “non-biased.” Kind of a stupid thing to say, really!

 

[MGarvo2]

I've had ai, radion, maxspect and orphek. I bought some viparspectras as a short term solution until I went back to orphek. That was a year and a half ago and don't plan on changing anything. I'm acro heavy as well. Definately no frills with the vipars but power and coverage are great.

Very appreciated post! Do you miss the app interface or the higher degree of control with the other lights?

 

[billyocean]

Very appreciated post! Do you miss the app interface or the higher degree of control with the other lights?

The ai prime was my favorite app. Radion G4 was my favorite gen for color. Orphek was my favorite light overall but the gateway was finnicky for me on the v4 but once you set it there wasn't really a reason to mess with it. The ability to tweak things is nice and I do miss sunrise/sunset for visual purposes. I just consider the vipars like t5 or MH in that you set it and leave it alone...although I do dislike the whites in them but can supplement with something else. Apparently, the brand new 165s can only be adjusted in 10% Increments which sucks if it's true. If I was going to upgrade I would probably go icons but the cost keeps me where I'm at. I am intrigued with the reefi that others are mentioning and it seems like a well priced light with a good bit of coverage. There are a lot of people that like the noopsyches for the money as well. Someone mentioned the quanta bars which I hear are fantastic. Lol..so many choices.
Here's some shots from the vipars

 

[JGK17]

Posting here because I’m planning for a mixed tank, but if I were to lean in a direction, it’d be towards sps.
2 part lighting question for folks with bigger tanks,…
My past tank was a standard 120, 4x2x2. I had two black box LEDs similar to Viparspectras. Everything was good. SPS grew pretty well and my LPS was happy. Coverage seemed just fine.
My new tank will be 48w30d24h. First, am I silly for worrying about the coverage of the additional 6” of depth? I’m having a heck of a time finding higher quality lights for under $1500 that seem to be a good option to fill the 48”x30” floor. I’ve been looking at Kessils, Radions, and now I’m on an Orphek kick. This shouldn’t be so painful.
Second thing that keeps haunting me is should I even buy more pricey lights? I had no problems or real complaints with my black boxes. Is the additional $1000 really worth it? Especially, knowing I could replace those black boxes 4 times over if they didn’t last with the amount I’d be saving.

If you really want to dive into the data and hear other people opinions look up “Telegraham’s lighting tests” on humble fish. Definitely worth a read imo.

 

[GatorGreg]

The ai prime was my favorite app. Radion G4 was my favorite gen for color. Orphek was my favorite light overall but the gateway was finnicky for me on the v4 but once you set it there wasn't really a reason to mess with it. The ability to tweak things is nice and I do miss sunrise/sunset for visual purposes. I just consider the vipars like t5 or MH in that you set it and leave it alone...although I do dislike the whites in them but can supplement with something else. Apparently, the brand new 165s can only be adjusted in 10% Increments which sucks if it's true. If I was going to upgrade I would probably go icons but the cost keeps me where I'm at. I am intrigued with the reefi that others are mentioning and it seems like a well priced light with a good bit of coverage. There are a lot of people that like the noopsyches for the money as well. Someone mentioned the quanta bars which I hear are fantastic. Lol..so many choices.
Here's some shots from the vipars

Mic drop pics lol

 

[MartinM]

Posting here because I’m planning for a mixed tank, but if I were to lean in a direction, it’d be towards sps.
2 part lighting question for folks with bigger tanks,…
My past tank was a standard 120, 4x2x2. I had two black box LEDs similar to Viparspectras. Everything was good. SPS grew pretty well and my LPS was happy. Coverage seemed just fine.
My new tank will be 48w30d24h. First, am I silly for worrying about the coverage of the additional 6” of depth? I’m having a heck of a time finding higher quality lights for under $1500 that seem to be a good option to fill the 48”x30” floor. I’ve been looking at Kessils, Radions, and now I’m on an Orphek kick. This shouldn’t be so painful.
Second thing that keeps haunting me is should I even buy more pricey lights? I had no problems or real complaints with my black boxes. Is the additional $1000 really worth it? Especially, knowing I could replace those black boxes 4 times over if they didn’t last with the amount I’d be saving.

For sub $1500 T5s from ATI or Geisemann should do the trick and get you flawless coverage!

 

[MGarvo2]

Take a look at ReeFi Uno 2.0 Pro, you'll have some change money left over and will get better spectrum, more power and more spread out of them than both the Radions and Kessils.
Oh, and they come with 3 times more warranty than the others, as well as a hanging kit.
And no, that's not a joke, they are really as good as everyone who had any experience with them say.

As for wether you should upgrade or not, it really is up to you.
If everything grew like it was supposed to, then I can see no harm in using them either.

The ReeFi’s look like a fantastic product! Any experience with order shipping times? Are you using these and possible to get a pic or two?

 

[MGarvo2]

The ai prime was my favorite app. Radion G4 was my favorite gen for color. Orphek was my favorite light overall but the gateway was finnicky for me on the v4 but once you set it there wasn't really a reason to mess with it. The ability to tweak things is nice and I do miss sunrise/sunset for visual purposes. I just consider the vipars like t5 or MH in that you set it and leave it alone...although I do dislike the whites in them but can supplement with something else. Apparently, the brand new 165s can only be adjusted in 10% Increments which sucks if it's true. If I was going to upgrade I would probably go icons but the cost keeps me where I'm at. I am intrigued with the reefi that others are mentioning and it seems like a well priced light with a good bit of coverage. There are a lot of people that like the noopsyches for the money as well. Someone mentioned the quanta bars which I hear are fantastic. Lol..so many choices.
Here's some shots from the vipars

Thanks so much! Great info! Hard to argue with such great pics!

 

[billyocean]

Mic drop pics lol

Thanks! I attribute it more to putting in the work and staying on top of the tank more than anything. Just socks and rocks in the sump with no skimmer and 3 kamoer dosers (alk, calc, phosphate). I was just showing that you can get sps growth out of them which I think you can with most lights. Maybe it would be improved with a higher quality light but they can definately get growth if the work is put in.

 

[Perry]

Reefbreeders as Tim @therman suggests, who is the MAN with the choicest acro collection! Adam @Battlecorals who is the MAN with likely one of the best acro vendors, endorses and uses Reefbreeders.
That is all I needed to make the same choice. I am just a humble hobbyists

Efit: My bias is not over lighting, but certainly over two amazing acro legends

 

[DanyL]

The ReeFi’s look like a fantastic product! Any experience with order shipping times? Are you using these and possible to get a pic or two?

Shipping times would be vastly different, given that I live in Israel
ReeFi is based in the US, so shipping times should be a lot quicker and a lot cheaper for you.
However, I've seen a post by Daniel (ReeFi's owner) saying that he flew to visit his parents in Taiwan for the new Chinese year, and new orders will be delayed - so that's something you need to take into account and advice you to reach out to him for more information, he's very friendly and will gladly answer your questions.

I do use ReeFi's myself, I've been using the 1st gen Uno (180W) over a 6ft tank for over a year and a half now, and more than satisfied with the results. I also have the new ReeFi Uno 2.0 Pro here waiting to lit a new frag tank I'm planning to setup soon.

1 of the main differences between gen 1 and gen 2, besides the power and spread is also the spectrum.
Gen 1 leans more to the purple side, while gen 2 more to the royal blue.

Here are some pics of my main display tank (some taken with daylight, others nighttime:

 

[Eric R.]

The ReeFi’s look like a fantastic product! Any experience with order shipping times? Are you using these and possible to get a pic or two?

I know that Daniel is active as username ReeFi on the humblefish forum and on the reef beef discord. I don't know that he's active on this forum, I just did a quick search for that username and didn't find anything. There's a thread over there for the 2.0 Pros if you search for it. Says he was last on the forum this morning. Probably some users that are currently using the light that you can ask for more info.

 

[DanyL]

I know that Daniel is active as username ReeFi on the humblefish forum and on the reef beef discord. I don't know that he's active on this forum, I just did a quick search for that username and didn't find anything. There's a thread over there for the 2.0 Pros if you search for it. Says he was last on the forum this morning. Probably some users that are currently using the light that you can ask for more info.

He can also be reached through his Facebook account (ReeFi or Daniel Lu), and companies pages, as well as his email address found on the website. Usually he replies back fairly quickly.

 

[MGarvo2]

Shipping times would be vastly different, given that I live in Israel
ReeFi is based in the US, so shipping times should be a lot quicker and a lot cheaper for you.
However, I've seen a post by Daniel (ReeFi's owner) saying that he flew to visit his parents in Taiwan for the new Chinese year, and new orders will be delayed - so that's something you need to take into account and advice you to reach out to him for more information, he's very friendly and will gladly answer your questions.

I do use ReeFi's myself, I've been using the 1st gen Uno (180W) over a 6ft tank for over a year and a half now, and more than satisfied with the results. I also have the new ReeFi Uno 2.0 Pro here waiting to lit a new frag tank I'm planning to setup soon.

1 of the main differences between gen 1 and gen 2, besides the power and spread is also the spectrum.
Gen 1 leans more to the purple side, while gen 2 more to the royal blue.

Here are some pics of my main display tank (some taken with daylight, others nighttime:

Wow! Thank you for the great pics! Your tank is very impressive. I’m totally sold on reefi uno 2 pro. I also read he was out of the country til Feb 11.

 

[jacksin]

Have I seen Thermans acros

 

[jacksin]

Have You seen Thermans acros
What more could u want

 

[DanyL]

Wow! Thank you for the great pics! Your tank is very impressive. I’m totally sold on reefi uno 2 pro. I also read he was out of the country til Feb 11.

Thank you! These are really fine lights with more than awesome specs, You won't regret it.

Telegraham is supposed to normalize his captured data soon and produce Price/PAR comparable to BRS's latest test results, I already know it'll blow the others away, but we'll be able to see how it compares to the others side by side in practice, which is quite intriguing.

 

[billyocean]

Definately interested in the reefi in the future. Looks like a solid product at a reasonable price for the coverage. Anyone have a realistic coverage/spread number on their tank?

 

[DanyL]

Here is my PAR measurement with the Seneye (calibrated against apogee 510).

A few things that need to be noted:
- Realistically for an even 6ft spread you'll need either 5 Uno1 (180W) or 4 Uno2 (270W).
Given our fairly high aquascape and limited budget we opted for 4 Uno1 mounted higher than usual.
- The Seneye doesn't properly capture Near-UV wavelengths and it adds up, so PAR is in fact higher.
- The picture is just a random picture (early morning, so not much light), it does not represent the measured settings.
- Measurement locations were positioned spot on by modeling a proper mask with the correct sizes and distances.
- Each Uno1 is running at around 86% power (155W/180W).

There are also real life PAR measurements of the Uno2 over the Facebook ReeFi members group. From what I've seen both spread and power are far, far greater than the Uno1, to the point where people are running at 30% and getting 300-500 PAR EASILY (and unsurprisingly, given that it's close to 100W more per fixture, and more spreading options are available).

Once I get my frag tank setup and measured (which is still a few more months away) I'll post my results with it as well.
But so far, from turning on the Uno2 and temporarily mounting on top of the DT - this thing should not be run at 100%, at least not at the same height we run our Uno1, which is fairly high for LEDs.