Replace T5's with Reefbrite Lumi Pros or XHO's?

[ellisz]

I know some of this is subjective but figured I get some opinions.
I have 2 XR30 blues over a 3ft 65 gal tank - should be plenty of light. I also have 4 2ft T5's that I supplement with. I had the t5's prior to the Gen5's but they need to be replaced for age. Do I replace the T5's, add some LED actinics(XHO/Lumi pros), or just run the XR30's?

Getting the best colors in my acros, torches and acans is the main goal. I don't want to throw equipment at it, if not needed but want to have the best options for color.

Thanks

 

[Jon's Reef]

You have 2 things to gain with supplement. Spectrum and shadow reduction (I am guessing you have plenty of PAR). If your primary concern is to boost the 420 nm area of the spectrum, go Orphek. If you want to fill in the shadows, go with RB XHOs.

Another option would be to mount the XR30's front to back and put a Kessil A360x in the middle. The 360x will boost the 420 nm and will also give a different dynamic to the lighting. Mounting the XR30's front to back will give plenty of shadow coverage. Note that it has to be an "X" series light (360x, 500x etc) for the extra violet channel.

 

[ellisz]

Thanks for the feedback. I had not looked at the Orpheks before. They look to be very similar. The current setup as 2 T5's on either side of the XR30's. I assume adding 1 bar to replace each pair of T5's would be the plan. Height of my fixtures is 10" off the water and PAR is not an issue. The XR30's are only at 55% output and I see 150 par at the bottom for non shaded areas.

I don't want to introduce any more hot spots but since I need to replace the T5's it may be a better long term investment to more to a set of bars vs. spending $100+ each year for bulbs.

 

[oreo54]

Thanks for the feedback. I had not looked at the Orpheks before. They look to be very similar. The current setup as 2 T5's on either side of the XR30's. I assume adding 1 bar to replace each pair of T5's would be the plan. Height of my fixtures is 10" off the water and PAR is not an issue. The XR30's are only at 55% output and I see 150 par at the bottom for non shaded areas.

I don't want to introduce any more hot spots but since I need to replace the T5's it may be a better long term investment to more to a set of bars vs. spending $100+ each year for bulbs.

The "important" difference between rb and o

Reefbrite XHO Blue VS Orphek OR3 Blue Plus - Pics and Par Results

Since BRS hasn’t covered this yet I did a quick output comparison between a Reefbrite XHO Blue (30”) and an Orphek OR3 Blue Plus (24”). Figured I’d share my results with the community. I’ve always been extremely happy with XHO output and spread, in fact I have them over every single reef tank...

www.reef2reef.com

At 10" above the water line the orpheks are about a 20" spread..so not as "extreme" as you would think.
TEST was done at 6" and supposedly w/ 120 degree lenses that they estimated were 60 degree lenses.

so keep the above in mind but generally rb's spread better. At what height is it too much spread?
Using basic trig and those images the angle would be about 64- 67 for the reefbrites and 20-80 degrees for the Orpheks depending how you measure.

LED Lighting Beam Angle Calculator

A simple calculator that determines spot size by a light's beam angle

store.marinebeam.com

 

[oreo54]

Corrected Orpheks based on .5 x I max(PAR) from data..
Something appears "wrong" w/ those lenses..

 

[ellisz]

Wow. Thanks for that. Is there noticeable spectrum differences? Spectrum maps look similar to me but I am not a good judge of this.

 

[Jon's Reef]

RB XHO's definitely win on spread. Orphek has the bump in 420-430 nm, but the lenses are not as good as the reflectors. Would be nice if RB added the 420 nm diodes to the XHO. Could always do the XHO and turn the XR30 violet channel up.

This is the G5 Blue spectrum (BRS):

Here is the RB Actinic XHO (BRS):

Orphek Blue Plus (Orphek site):