Photon vs Blade

squarereefer · Apr 17, 2023

I am setting up a new mixed reef tank which will be mixed SPS/LPS. The tank in a IM Nuvo 75g (35x24x20"). I am torn between the AI Blade and the Reefbuilders Photon which seems to get high ratings here. I am intrigued but a bit concerned over the Blade lights being new and receiving some negative PR about being more blue on one end.

If I go Blade - should i do (2) 30" Grows or (1) 30" Grow and (1) 30" Glow? Are two Blades enough for a healthy mixed reef of this size?

If I go with the Reefbuilder, can the Photon 24" v2 Pro be sufficient?

My aquascape is only 30" wide if it helps in determining spread issues.

Hooz · Apr 17, 2023

I think the better options would be 3 Blades or a single 32" Photon. Of those two options, the single Photon would get my vote.

mrpontiac80 · Apr 17, 2023

Hooz said:
I think the better options would be 3 Blades or a single 32" Photon. Of those two options, the single Photon would get my vote.

I love my photons. I agree on the 32. The size of photon is not actual size to measurement. For example I have a 48 and a 24 over a 6’ tank and there is probably 6”-9” on each side of the tank not under the light

squarereefer · Apr 17, 2023

Thank you for the input. I am chatting with AI right now and it sounds like the 30" blades only have a 30" spread.. I assumed there would be at least a little spill over on the ends to reach the ends of my tank.

I am so conflicted on lights, the Photon 32 is $$$ but sounds like it worth it. I was really hoping to stick to a $600 or so lighting budget.

mrpontiac80 · Apr 17, 2023

squarereefer said:
Thank you for the input. I am chatting with AI right now and it sounds like the 30" blades only have a 30" spread.. I assumed there would be at least a little spill over on the ends to reach the ends of my tank.

I am so conflicted on lights, the Photon 32 is $$$ but sounds like it worth it. I was really hoping to stick to a $600 or so lighting budget.

Keep an eye on classified or marketplace. When I upgraded my tank recently from 4’ to 6’ I found a 24 photon already converted to Wi-Fi for $300. Either way I feel the photons have a good history while the blades are still new.

Jesse571 · Apr 22, 2023

Love my Photon 48" on my 75 gallon. I also have 2 Blades on another tank but prefer the Photon.

Bpb · Apr 23, 2023

Ive used the photon lights for years. I have not used the blades. Looking at the physical design of the lights they are complete opposites in their design.
The blades use densely packed diodes under a reflector, almost like a dense matrix or multichip diode, with sort of a diffuser plate over them to blend the different colors. They are trying to have a softer spread with lots of scatter and wide beam angle. You can basically mount the flush to the tank and have zero light spill

The photons diodes are spaced even wider than those of a black box, and they have super tight 90 degree lenses. You will have a strong hot spot directly under the panel, and there will be disco. They need to be mounted pretty high to reduce this effect. The included mounting legs have a short side and a long side, like the letter "L". if you use the long side and extend them all the way, and use the locking screw to keep them fully extended, you can get them 15" off the water (if the water is around 1" below tank level like most tanks). That is reasonably effective. They'd do even better at 18-24" off the water, and the intensity cranked real high. Then the light distribution will be good and even and disco reduced, but there will be massive amounts of light spill.

The photons will work extremely well, and some of the more successful boutique sps growers use them successfully. But they do carry some limitations on best practice uses of them.

Fernthereefer · Apr 23, 2023

Also a photon user and I can vouch for them. As said above, you need to bring them up a little to better cover and blend the LEDs. Otherwise they grow sps/lps no problem. I use the recommended settings and leave them be.

PS: for color blending I also added 2 T5s but that adds little for coral growth

flashsmith · Apr 23, 2023

One blade 48" over an IM SR80. I'm running 2 16" photons over my red sea reefer 625xxl. I can grow anyhing I want in either tank. I haven't noticed my blade being more blue on one end. Check out reef dudes video on the blade.

squarereefer · Apr 24, 2023

Thanks everyone for providing solid info! I decided to go a completely different route for this build and have ordered (2) Noo-Psyche K7 Pro III's for the tank. I'll update once I've had a few months running them to let everyone know how they are doing.

N11morales · Jun 27, 2023

squarereefer said:
Thanks everyone for providing solid info! I decided to go a completely different route for this build and have ordered (2) Noo-Psyche K7 Pro III's for the tank. I'll update once I've had a few months running them to let everyone know how they are doing.

Any update on running the 2 Noo-Psyches? I been debating on getting 2 of those or 1 32-V2 Pro photon

squarereefer · Jun 27, 2023

The K7's are running great, my corals seem happy and the fans are pretty quiet. I have not ventured past 50% power yet but no issues with over heating so far. With that said, the app is nothing short of frustrating which makes programming the lights a major pain. Once programmed, there is not a lot of reason to mess with them so it's not a big deal, just expect major frustrations. The wifi is nearly impossible to get going, and depending on your router, might actually be impossible. In order to connect, you will need to have a router that fully separates 2.4 and 5gz SSIDs with a different wireless password. Simply disabling the 5gz band will not be sufficient if it shares the same password as the 2.4 band. Unfortunately, a lot of newer routers will not allow customers tod o this for sake of being "easy" to manage (I am looking at you EERO).

All that said - I am happy enough and I hope that NP listens to the customer feedback here and puts some effort into developing their app further. However, there is still a good part of me that wishes I had spent a little more for a light with better app/support.

N11morales · Jun 27, 2023

squarereefer said:
The K7's are running great, my corals seem happy and the fans are pretty quiet. I have not ventured past 50% power yet but no issues with over heating so far. With that said, the app is nothing short of frustrating which makes programming the lights a major pain. Once programmed, there is not a lot of reason to mess with them so it's not a big deal, just expect major frustrations. The wifi is nearly impossible to get going, and depending on your router, might actually be impossible. In order to connect, you will need to have a router that fully separates 2.4 and 5gz SSIDs with a different wireless password. Simply disabling the 5gz band will not be sufficient if it shares the same password as the 2.4 band. Unfortunately, a lot of newer routers will not allow customers tod o this for sake of being "easy" to manage (I am looking at you EERO).

All that said - I am happy enough and I hope that NP listens to the customer feedback here and puts some effort into developing their app further. However, there is still a good part of me that wishes I had spent a little more for a light with better app/support.

Thank you for the update. Sound good I can't decide if I just want to fork out the cash and get radions or K7's lol. This was helpful though.