Orphek v4 gen 2 or ?

[dcuevas74]

Hello,

Would appreciate if anyone can share their experience about lighting on a larger setup. This is one of my first ones going bigger. I have a 60" x 30" x 30" that I want to do a mixed reef. SPS atop, lps and zoas mid to lower. I have (2) 400w MH and (2) reefbrite XHO Blues I planned on using but now I am considering using (2) Orpheks instead. I am considering this since the LED units would keep a cleaner look not to mention maybe keeping the temperature parameters more stable. Just not sure if these would grow corals as good as the MH/LED combo. Any thoughts are appreciated. Not really trying to do the whole LED vs MH discussion just more or less looking for different points I might not be considering. Thanks!

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Hi,

Sorry I am way late to the party ;Nailbiting

I’m not too familiar with the orpheks other than they pack some power and controllability from what I have read.

Staying away from the whole led v mh discussion may be hard since you are kinda asking that. I’ve been thru MH, VHO, T5, Power compacts, Led, hybrids and a few other over the years. So this is only opinion but, love MH. The heat stinks for sure, I actually like shimmer from them better than led.

Both will grow good coral, the led may need more tuning.

Maybe better light folk will stop by. I’m wondering if sps on top may be too much par since you will need to run high to get light to the bottom of the higher tank.

 

[AbdominalSnowman]

I can't provide any input on the coral growth potential of the Orphek's, as I am still in the buildout phase of my tank, but I purchased 3 Atlantik Compacts for my 60" x 30" x 20" Peninsula. The compacts have a recommended spread of 30" x 24", so they will cover the width of the tank, and provide overlap on the length of the tank.

The lights themselves are pieces of art, and look beautiful. I don't know if that matters to you, but it was one of the requirements from my better half.

 

[Dlealrious]

2 Orpheks hung high up will you decent coverage, gives corals really nice colour. Will just need to place you acro to suit light but you will get alot of shading on the acro.

 

[mtraylor]

The Orpheks really bring out the pop and color in the corals. I"m actually testing one out now. My aquarium is 72" long and 27" front to back. I have the unit turned way down to keep PAR levels under control. I was originally thinking to put 4 over my aquarium, cut now I"m thinking just 2 up high and see what kind of PAR I get and shading. Will probably have to supplement front and back with something. Will let you know.

 

[dcuevas74]

Hi,

Sorry I am way late to the party ;Nailbiting

I’m not too familiar with the orpheks other than they pack some power and controllability from what I have read.

Staying away from the whole led v mh discussion may be hard since you are kinda asking that. I’ve been thru MH, VHO, T5, Power compacts, Led, hybrids and a few other over the years. So this is only opinion but, love MH. The heat stinks for sure, I actually like shimmer from them better than led.

Both will grow good coral, the led may need more tuning.

Maybe better light folk will stop by. I’m wondering if sps on top may be too much par since you will need to run high to get light to the bottom of the higher tank.

Thanks for chiming in. I appreciate the feedback. I too love MHs. I guess I just had second thoughts about how the whole setup would look with so much stuff hanging from my ceiling. Good point about tuning and possible too much par atop.

 

[dcuevas74]

I can't provide any input on the coral growth potential of the Orphek's, as I am still in the buildout phase of my tank, but I purchased 3 Atlantik Compacts for my 60" x 30" x 20" Peninsula. The compacts have a recommended spread of 30" x 24", so they will cover the width of the tank, and provide overlap on the length of the tank.

Thanks! do you have a thread I can follow?

The lights themselves are pieces of art, and look beautiful. I don't know if that matters to you, but it was one of the requirements from my better half.

I am in the same boat as you. As soon as my wife saw the canopy I was building she was not on board. Glad to hear the Orpheks are that nice. Thanks for the feedback.

2 Orpheks hung high up will you decent coverage, gives corals really nice colour. Will just need to place you acro to suit light but you will get alot of shading on the acro.

Great point. Thanks for the input. Think I will finally breakdown and get a par meter or rent one.

The Orpheks really bring out the pop and color in the corals. I"m actually testing one out now. My aquarium is 72" long and 27" front to back. I have the unit turned way down to keep PAR levels under control. I was originally thinking to put 4 over my aquarium, cut now I"m thinking just 2 up high and see what kind of PAR I get and shading. Will probably have to supplement front and back with something. Will let you know.

Thanks for the feedback. I just got two of these in and working on suspending it over the tank. I think I too will supplement with their light bars maybe a blue plus and uv?