Red Sea 50 vs Red Sea 90

[Amantijt]

Newer to the hobby currently have mediocre lighting, was looking for experiences from anyone who has/had with the redsea 50 and 90 lights. Mainly looking to upgrade possibly and want to know differences and pros and cons of each from your experiences to help me make a decision. I have a 40 gal breeder size tank so i will need 2. Thank you in advance!

 

[ScottB]

I installed three RS Reef LED 90s for a customer in May. These were some of the first deliveries we were told.

Likes:
- Price is pretty good value
- fixture itself is fine. Very compact with ample power
- The Kessil-like LED setup is a huge plus IMO.

Not so good IMO:
- The App is not great. Granted, it was my first go so there was a learning curve, but my first Aqua Illumination set up took 5 minutes. This set up took two of us, the manual, and more than 45 minutes.
- The firmware needs work. I sure hope updates are coming. If there is a power outage or blip, or the WiFi bounces, some of the units reconnect and restart while others do not. I have been back there twice to get one or two of them running again. Sometimes, just cycling the unit will reconnect it, other times I had to do a hard reset which requires removing the unit. Sometimes you have to OPEN the unit to remove the battery for a hard reset.

AI handles power and connectivity blips without issue. Even Reeflink does a better job (which ain't saying much). Admittedly, not a large sample size and these were early production units, so your experience could be different.

 

[Amantijt]

I installed three RS Reef LED 90s for a customer in May. These were some of the first deliveries we were told.

Likes:
- Price is pretty good value
- fixture itself is fine. Very compact with ample power
- The Kessil-like LED setup is a huge plus IMO.

Not so good IMO:
- The App is not great. Granted, it was my first go so there was a learning curve, but my first Aqua Illumination set up took 5 minutes. This set up took two of us, the manual, and more than 45 minutes.
- The firmware needs work. I sure hope updates are coming. If there is a power outage or blip, or the WiFi bounces, some of the units reconnect and restart while others do not. I have been back there twice to get one or two of them running again. Sometimes, just cycling the unit will reconnect it, other times I had to do a hard reset which requires removing the unit. Sometimes you have to OPEN the unit to remove the battery for a hard reset.

AI handles power and connectivity blips without issue. Even Reeflink does a better job (which ain't saying much). Admittedly, not a large sample size and these were early production units, so your experience could be different.

thank you for the great info, with the AI were you speaking on the 16, 32 or 64?

 

[Terry Mattson]

I have 2 - hd 26 over a 4 foot tank. They have plenty of power and the app is easy once I learned to set up. I have mostly lps, mushrooms, zoas, and a Birdsnest. Had the lights for a year. So far all is well.

 

[ScottB]

thank you for the great info, with the AI were you speaking on the 16, 32 or 64?

My experiences with AI are with the "old" (but now on sale!) 26 and 52 HDs.

Realizing I never actually answered your original question on 50s versus 90s. You could probably get by with two of the 50s, but if you go with the RS units I would suggest 2 of the 90s so you can put SPS anywhere in the 40 breeder and they will be fine. You are also kind of "future proofing" for potential tank upgrades.

 

[Amantijt]

My experiences with AI are with the "old" (but now on sale!) 26 and 52 HDs.

Realizing I never actually answered your original question on 50s versus 90s. You could probably get by with two of the 50s, but if you go with the RS units I would suggest 2 of the 90s so you can put SPS anywhere in the 40 breeder and they will be fine. You are also kind of "future proofing" for potential tank upgrades.

yeah im thinking future and only reason im looking at possible upgrade. Its always been trying to decide if i was to upgrade to which brand and what exact light fixture. It just seems that there's a huge jump in price when it comes to AI fixtures if i want to over buy in lighting compared to redsea50 to 90.

 

[bar|none]

I have a red sea 90 over a Reefer 170 with 4 x T5 Fixture above it. If you are going to be growing SPS, I would get 2 x 90s. 100 watts of LED are not enough IMO unless will add T5.

I enjoy the light but am actually changing to Kessils (arriving today), not because the red sea has not performed, but because I want two and the footprint would shade my T5s too much. Better to run lights at less than 100% than to be lacking the power when you need it.

 

[Amantijt]

I have a red sea 90 over a Reefer 170 with 4 x T5 Fixture above it. If you are going to be growing SPS, I would get 2 x 90s. 100 watts of LED are not enough IMO unless will add T5.

I enjoy the light but am actually changing to Kessils (arriving today), not because the red sea has not performed, but because I want two and the footprint would shade my T5s too much. Better to run lights at less than 100% than to be lacking the power when you need it.

I don't really have the bug for SPS right now, i love LPS. I'm sure id get into it but truly kinda intimidating. So mainly looking for light to accommodate a bunch of Softies and LPS at this moment. Id get into SPS if I end up getting a way bigger tank 100+ gal.

 

[bar|none]

I don't really have the bug for SPS right now, i love LPS. I'm sure id get into it but truly kinda intimidating. So mainly looking for light to accommodate a bunch of Softies and LPS at this moment. Id get into SPS if I end up getting a way bigger tank 100+ gal.

Then 2 x 50s could definitely work, as long as you don't think you will be upgrading in the future.

 

[Amantijt]

Then 2 x 50s could definitely work, as long as you don't think you will be upgrading in the future.

Now my only issue is...most of these lights are made for rimless tanks...can i make the arm work on a regular glass tank? without the pendant over hang style holder.

 

[Terry Mattson]

Now my only issue is...most of these lights are made for rimless tanks...can i make the arm work on a regular glass tank? without the pendant over hang style holder.

Maybe a picture of your tank set up could help

 

[Amantijt]

Maybe a picture of your tank set up could help

just a basic tank from petco