Show us your sps tank with Reefbreeder Photon V2/V2+ light

[Bpb]

BEAUTIFUL CORALS!!
Would you mind sharing your light schedule/settings, height from water, depth of tank, and how deep the acros are located?

Thank you! This tank is now days away from scheduled dismantling and none of those corals exist anymore. Sad. But! I used a single reef breeders photon v2+50 along with a pair of sbreef sbar actinic strips

Sbreef strips run at 100%. All lights 12” off the water. Standard 48”x18”x24” 90 gallon.

I stink at excel so I’ll try to share my schedule best I can

Sbreef strips 100% from 10:00-22:00

Reef breeders
10:00-12:00
Royal blue, Blue, Violet ramp to 80%

12:00-16:00
Royal blue, blue,violet hold at 80%
White ramp to 47%
Red & green ramp to 15%

16:00-20:00
Royal blue, blue, violet hole at 80%
White hold at 47%
Red & green hold at 15%

20:00-21:00
Royal blue, blue, violet hold at 80%
White, red @ green ramp down to 0%

21:00-22:00
Royal blue, blue, violet ramp to 0%

Full darkness from 22:00-10:00

Par readings were very even from end to end front to back.

Top 1/4 of the tank got about 400-500 par
Middle half got between 200-400 par
Bottom 1/4 was between 100-200

Readings were taken during peak photoperiod.

Thoughts:

The overall aesthetic was a little blue for my taste. On my new tank I will run two photon v2+ 50’s along with the sbreef strips. I favor the 10k halide look. Bright and bold like the reef visible on about one breath hold mid-day clear skies. I will be mounting my lights 17” off the water on the next tank and mimicking the @Battlecorals profile of all Channels mostly maxed out during peak hours. I’ll adjust the overall intensity to reach a 200-400 par goal where all the acropora will be, but I’d like to keep ratios of all colors equal during peak hours for a nice bright tank

Lastly. All photos I contributed in this thread were shot by an iPhone X without a filter, lights set to the “sunny” preset on the reef breeders, and sbreef actinic strips turned OFF. Daylight pictures turned out best under this setting. My regular programming made for smurf water pictures

 

[Bpb]

I’m running 48” photon v2, along with 4 bulb t5 retrofit. It’s a great budget led, and can totally get the job done... but comparing directly to radions is a stretch. Also, color and growth is dependent on so many other factors besides lighting.

That’s goals status right there

 

[ApoIsland]

Many have said that Reefbreeder Photon V2/V2+ light can grow sps really well. I want to know if the Photon can compete with the Radion in growing and coloring up sps.

Please show us sps (or SPS dominant) tanks that use the Reefbreeder Photon V2/V2+

Saying the spread on these fixtures are not good is the nicest way to possibly put it. Any branching SPS will experience major shading. At least that is what happened for my digitata, stylo, birdsnest, montis and pocilipora. If you are running a standard 48'' x 12'' 55g tank then this fixture would be great. Or if you are running a minimalist tank that is all the rage now with almost nothing near the back or sides you will be ok. Unfortunately I have it on a 48'' x 24'' 120g tank packed wall to wall and it doesn't even come close to covering that tank.

Needed to add two light bars and that still doesn't get the job done. The leds are laser beams straight down. Zoas on the sides are reaching straight up, monti and digi on the sides and back are fading to nothing and I run the lights at 80% blue and 40% white. If I go any higher the corals in the middle start to bleach from too much light. Some serious disco ball effect too even when I mount them 12'' off the water.

I give the light credit as the coral color looks better but the growth has slowed dramatically compared to what I had before. The 48'' Photon V2+ replaced 4x cheap chinese black boxes so to the defense of the Photon it is trying to replace 220 leds and that is just never going to work out. I definitely was unrealistic in that expectation. 80-100 LEDs will never compete with 220 LED's no matter how crappy the fixture. I was just hoping it wasn't going to be quite as bad as it is spread wise.

 

[Bpb]

Saying the spread on these fixtures are not good is the nicest way to possibly put it. Any branching SPS will experience major shading. At least that is what happened for my digitata, stylo, birdsnest, montis and pocilipora. If you are running a standard 48'' x 12'' 55g tank then this fixture would be great. Or if you are running a minimalist tank that is all the rage now with almost nothing near the back or sides you will be ok. Unfortunately I have it on a 48'' x 24'' 120g tank packed wall to wall and it doesn't even come close to covering that tank.

Needed to add two light bars and that still doesn't get the job done. The leds are laser beams straight down. Zoas on the sides are reaching straight up, monti and digi on the sides and back are fading to nothing and I run the lights at 80% blue and 40% white. If I go any higher the corals in the middle start to bleach from too much light. Some serious disco ball effect too even when I mount them 12'' off the water.

I give the light credit as the coral color looks better but the growth has slowed dramatically compared to what I had before. The 48'' Photon V2+ replaced 4x cheap chinese black boxes so to the defense of the Photon it is trying to replace 220 leds and that is just never going to work out. I definitely was unrealistic in that expectation. 80-100 LEDs will never compete with 220 LED's no matter how crappy the fixture. I was just hoping it wasn't going to be quite as bad as it is spread wise.

Yeah I’d call that unrealistic expectations. When I upgrade to a 24” deep tank I will be using two photon v2’s lengthwise one front one back, and strips in the middle. Anything with 90 degree optics really needs to be 16-20” off the water and you basically need enough to almost cover The whole footprint. Yes the optics are tight. I wouldn’t expect a single unit to have the front to back coverage to create enough scatter to eliminate shading on branching corals if using a 24” deep tank

 

[ApoIsland]

Yeah I’d call that unrealistic expectations. When I upgrade to a 24” deep tank I will be using two photon v2’s lengthwise one front one back, and strips in the middle. Anything with 90 degree optics really needs to be 16-20” off the water and you basically need enough to almost cover The whole footprint. Yes the optics are tight. I wouldn’t expect a single unit to have the front to back coverage to create enough scatter to eliminate shading on branching corals if using a 24” deep tank

100% agree.

Two of these fixtures though would be $1500. Add in the fact I still need to supplement the lights on the side and I'm looking at about $1700 to light a 48x24 tank. I'm pretty sure there are much better options out there for close to $2k. If I had seen a post like yours or mine a few months ago then I would have seriously considered other lights.

 

[Bpb]

100% agree.

Two of these fixtures though would be $1500. Add in the fact I still need to supplement the lights on the side and I'm looking at about $1700 to light a 48x24 tank. I'm pretty sure there are much better options out there for close to $2k. If I had seen a post like yours or mine a few months ago then I would have seriously considered other lights.

Retail pricing on these would have certainly driven me to black boxes most likely. I was fortunate enough to get them wholesale which made them a lot more attractive.

 

[ApoIsland]

Retail pricing on these would have certainly driven me to black boxes most likely. I was fortunate enough to get them wholesale which made them a lot more attractive.

I don't think I could go back to black boxes after seeing how much nicer the coloration of the corals is under the Photon but I definitely would have looked for other higher end options if I knew it would cost this much to adequately cover my tank.

 

[laxman05]

I’m running 48” photon v2, along with 4 bulb t5 retrofit. It’s a great budget led, and can totally get the job done... but comparing directly to radions is a stretch. Also, color and growth is dependent on so many other factors besides lighting.

WOW exact set up I will have shortly. Currently have 3x kessils in the Hybrid but too many cords. Just ordered the 48” . Looks great and excellent growth!

 

[Bpb]

I don't think I could go back to black boxes after seeing how much nicer the coloration of the corals is under the Photon but I definitely would have looked for other higher end options if I knew it would cost this much to adequately cover my tank.

4 gen5 radions along with supplements would work well also

 

[waqas_01]

Thank you! This tank is now days away from scheduled dismantling and none of those corals exist anymore. Sad. But! I used a single reef breeders photon v2+50 along with a pair of sbreef sbar actinic strips

Sbreef strips run at 100%. All lights 12” off the water. Standard 48”x18”x24” 90 gallon.

I stink at excel so I’ll try to share my schedule best I can

Sbreef strips 100% from 10:00-22:00

Reef breeders
10:00-12:00
Royal blue, Blue, Violet ramp to 80%

12:00-16:00
Royal blue, blue,violet hold at 80%
White ramp to 47%
Red & green ramp to 15%

16:00-20:00
Royal blue, blue, violet hole at 80%
White hold at 47%
Red & green hold at 15%

20:00-21:00
Royal blue, blue, violet hold at 80%
White, red @ green ramp down to 0%

21:00-22:00
Royal blue, blue, violet ramp to 0%

Full darkness from 22:00-10:00

Par readings were very even from end to end front to back.

Top 1/4 of the tank got about 400-500 par
Middle half got between 200-400 par
Bottom 1/4 was between 100-200

Readings were taken during peak photoperiod.

Thoughts:

The overall aesthetic was a little blue for my taste. On my new tank I will run two photon v2+ 50’s along with the sbreef strips. I favor the 10k halide look. Bright and bold like the reef visible on about one breath hold mid-day clear skies. I will be mounting my lights 17” off the water on the next tank and mimicking the @Battlecorals profile of all Channels mostly maxed out during peak hours. I’ll adjust the overall intensity to reach a 200-400 par goal where all the acropora will be, but I’d like to keep ratios of all colors equal during peak hours for a nice bright tank

Lastly. All photos I contributed in this thread were shot by an iPhone X without a filter, lights set to the “sunny” preset on the reef breeders, and sbreef actinic strips turned OFF. Daylight pictures turned out best under this setting. My regular programming made for smurf water pictures

How much light spill do you get from the 50v2 over a 48in tank? I know the 50 is actually close to 47in long and the 48 is actually 43in. I'm thinking of getting a 50 for a 48x18x18 tank to replace a 4 bulb t5 fixture, but I'm hesitant with the light spill at 10-12" off the water.

 

[Bpb]

How much light spill do you get from the 50v2 over a 48in tank? I know the 50 is actually close to 47in long and the 48 is actually 43in. I'm thinking of getting a 50 for a 48x18x18 tank to replace a 4 bulb t5 fixture, but I'm hesitant with the light spill at 10-12" off the water.

No light spill for me because I run them on top of a canopy. Instead of the legs resting on the tank rim, I just extend them slightly to where they hang over the sides of the canopy

 

[guylaga]

Thank you! This tank is now days away from scheduled dismantling and none of those corals exist anymore. Sad. But! I used a single reef breeders photon v2+50 along with a pair of sbreef sbar actinic strips

Hey there BpB

What variety of acro is/was this one?

 

[Bpb]

Hey there BpB

What variety of acro is/was this one?

Paletta Pink Tip from Battlecorals

 

[Clawfish]

Mostly a mixed reef but a lot of sps at the top. I only put the sps in about 2-3 months ago though.

do you have the 24 or the 32 version? I have same tank and looking to get one!

 

[ScottB]

I’m running 48” photon v2, along with 4 bulb t5 retrofit. It’s a great budget led, and can totally get the job done... but comparing directly to radions is a stretch. Also, color and growth is dependent on so many other factors besides lighting.

Beautiful reef. You should o a build thread.

 

[Perry]

My tank:
Acropora Dominant 90 gallon 36"x24"x24
Lights used: front- Reefbreeders Photon V2 32 pro $759 retail
Rear- SBREEF Rolan V22 $150 retail
Both lights mounted at 10" above water
Peak Measurements-
Whites- 30% All Blues and UV- 100%
Green- 25% Red-25%

Right side tank:

Left side tank:

I exactly decided to run Reefbreeders as main unit based on @therman and @Battlecorals
2 of my favorite acro vendors who both use them. Still a bit on blue side, but very happy with the performance

 

[Tonycass12]

I have a v2 over my 40 gal frag growout system. I will definitely be running these lights over my main tank when I upgrade to a larger system. My main tank currently runs 2 xr 15s and although they are great fixtures you can't beat the reefvreeders for price and the amount of light they put out.

Tony on Instagram: "Sunday evening shot. Tank is clean everything has been tested and waterchange is over with. Ready for the new week. #ecotechmarine #radionxr15wpro #reefbreedersled #photonv2 #waterboxaquariums #spscoral #acropora #reef2reef"

19 likes, 0 comments - northernmichiganreef on August 28, 2022: "Sunday evening shot. Tank is clean everything has been tested and waterchange is over with. Ready for the new week. #ecotechmarine #radionxr15wpro #reefbreedersled #photonv2 #waterboxaquariums #spscoral #acropora #reef2reef".

www.instagram.com

 

[Lonely reefer's]

IMO any lights in the market at the moment will grow corals
I had the opportunity to pick up the
reefbreeder that fit my budget

 

[Dburr1014]

Old thread, I'm game.
Currently rb v2 WITH NO LENSES. They are tucked in my short canopy 4.5" above the water. 100% blue 82% white, l. blue, violet. 12% green and 6% red.




If you don't like the 90 degree optics, ask Logan for the 120's. He used to give them out, not sure if he still does.
I took mine out cuz they are so close to the water and no disco in my tank.

 

[Lonely reefer's]

My tank:
Acropora Dominant 90 gallon 36"x24"x24
Lights used: front- Reefbreeders Photon V2 32 pro $759 retail
Rear- SBREEF Rolan V22 $150 retail
Both lights mounted at 10" above water
Peak Measurements-
Whites- 30% All Blues and UV- 100%
Green- 25% Red-25%

Right side tank:

Left side tank:

I exactly decided to run Reefbreeders as main unit based on @therman and @Battlecorals
2 of my favorite acro vendors who both use them. Still a bit on blue side, but very happy with the performance

You probably get ~500+ pars at the tips of acropora ?
I’m only run 50% white, blue, purple,violet and get ~ 350-400 with the flow on