Viparspectra vs NiCrew vs Red Sea

TCoach · May 24, 2021

So, I'm looking to upgrade my lighting on my 92 corner. My local LFS really recommends the Red Sea LEDS (50 or 90), but at a cost of $700-800 for a pair, that seems to be a lot of money. I keep looking at the Viparspectras and their long history of success, and also the Nicrew lights. Both of them would be about 50% of the cost of the Red Sea's.

So my question is, are the Red Sea's really worth 2x the cost? I'm right the tank has shrooms, zoa's, and some Frogspawn. I'll probably keep it more of a softie/LPS tank going forward. There is a possibility of some SPS, but it would not be the primary focus of this reef.

Thanks for any insight.

dhnguyen · May 24, 2021

It depends what you're after. All of those lights mentioned will work and grow corals (SPS included) but the Redsea will have a lot more controllability and programmability. The Vipar and Nicrew have some basic controls for on/off timer and that's about it.

The Red Sea ReefLED will have more of a metal halide shimmer also which a lot of people prefer.

There is another option if that's what you like, check out Popbloom RS90

new popbloom rs90

Hi I am looking to change my old maxspect razor 420r (have 1 x 160w & 2 x 120w over 180gal mixed reef) and I was looking the popbloom rs90 (I know, chinese light) which looks a lot like the RS reefled90, but at half the price and without wifi (I dont need, once my light are programmed, I dont...

www.reef2reef.com

Here are some vids of them running

new popbloom rs90

everything is going great, growth, PE and coloration is very good. I am very pleased with how things are going. I plan to take some more pictures of my corals this week end to show how its going. Technically, you should be good with 2 on a 90. I have 4 on a 180. 72x24x24. Yeah I was thinking...

www.reef2reef.com

Gtinnel · May 24, 2021

I've never used Red Sea lights so I can't give any insight into if they're worth it, but I have been using Viparspectra lights for about 2 years now. The only complaint I will give about the viparspectra is the lack of control, I would love to have ramping up and down built into them. For me personally if I was looking at the cost of the Red Sea I would consider other manufacturers as well.

Since you said you are upgrading and are considering Viparspectra and Nicrew, if you don't mind me asking what do you have now? I like my Viparspectra lights for the price but I can't see them being used as an "upgrade".

NoahLikesFish · May 24, 2021

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it

dhnguyen · May 24, 2021

I've seen the Red Sea 90 in person at my LFS since that's all they run. It's an awesome looking light and it looks very much like metal halide (more so than any LED I have seen or used) Their price point is prohibitive for me though.

TCoach · May 24, 2021

Gtinnel said:
I've never used Red Sea lights so I can't give any insight into if they're worth it, but I have been using Viparspectra lights for about 2 years now. The only complaint I will give about the viparspectra is the lack of control, I would love to have ramping up and down built into them. For me personally if I was looking at the cost of the Red Sea I would consider other manufacturers as well.

Since you said you are upgrading and are considering Viparspectra and Nicrew, if you don't mind me asking what do you have now? I like my Viparspectra lights for the price but I can't see them being used as an "upgrade".

My tank came with 2 Current USA strip lights and I've added a Nano Nemo Light that I had. The Current USA lights are very weak.

dhnguyen · May 24, 2021

TCoach said:
My tank came with 2 Current USA strip lights and I've added a Nano Nemo Light that I had. The Current USA lights are very weak.

yeah anything would be an upgrade compared to those

oreo54 · May 24, 2021

3PCS PopBloom RL90 WiFi Led Aquarium Light for Saltwater Coral Reef Grow Tank | eBay

PopBloom RL90 WIFI Led Aquarium Light Full Spectrum Coral Grow Reef Tank 150cm. â³â³â³RL90 is reef-spectrum, 4 channels of white, blue, purple UV, cyan blue leds provides a reef coral-safe range of color temperatures that enable all corals to flourish.

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Spares..

TCoach · May 24, 2021

Decided to jump on these PopBloom RS90's. Ordered 2 and we'll see how they do.

. Thanks for the references on them.

dhnguyen · May 24, 2021

TCoach said:
Decided to jump on these PopBloom RS90's. Ordered 2 and we'll see how they do. . Thanks for the references on them.

Definitely update us on them once you have them up.

I'm still a bit on the fence about them as well for my new 90g.

AutumnReefs · May 24, 2021

TCoach said:
So, I'm looking to upgrade my lighting on my 92 corner. My local LFS really recommends the Red Sea LEDS (50 or 90), but at a cost of $700-800 for a pair, that seems to be a lot of money. I keep looking at the Viparspectras and their long history of success, and also the Nicrew lights. Both of them would be about 50% of the cost of the Red Sea's.

So my question is, are the Red Sea's really worth 2x the cost? I'm right the tank has shrooms, zoa's, and some Frogspawn. I'll probably keep it more of a softie/LPS tank going forward. There is a possibility of some SPS, but it would not be the primary focus of this reef.

Thanks for any insight.

The main difference is mounting height and spread. Red sea lights can be mounted closer to the surface without hotspot issues vs vipaspectras need to be 2ft above the water to fix the issue. Nicrews also don't have the best spread unless you mount them higher. The red sea also doesn't give the disco ball effect. The red sea also has shimmer lines more like the kessil.

Jedi1199 · May 24, 2021

TCoach said:
My tank came with 2 Current USA strip lights and I've added a Nano Nemo Light that I had. The Current USA lights are very weak.

I have a Current USA strip on my 55 and while I like the controllability, the intensity is awful. I will be upgrading soon I am sure. Not sure what direction I am going to go though. I am thinking Kessil, but as you said the cost is prohibitive.

I got this for my 32 Biocube and I am very happy with it. It, lacks the controllability I want, but the intensity (especially the blues) is spot on. My corals and fish look fantastic under this light.

Fakegolfnews · Oct 17, 2021

dhnguyen said:
It depends what you're after. All of those lights mentioned will work and grow corals (SPS included) but the Redsea will have a lot more controllability and programmability. The Vipar and Nicrew have some basic controls for on/off timer and that's about it.

The Red Sea ReefLED will have more of a metal halide shimmer also which a lot of people prefer.

There is another option if that's what you like, check out Popbloom RS90

new popbloom rs90

Hi I am looking to change my old maxspect razor 420r (have 1 x 160w & 2 x 120w over 180gal mixed reef) and I was looking the popbloom rs90 (I know, chinese light) which looks a lot like the RS reefled90, but at half the price and without wifi (I dont need, once my light are programmed, I dont...

www.reef2reef.com

Here are some vids of them running

new popbloom rs90

everything is going great, growth, PE and coloration is very good. I am very pleased with how things are going. I plan to take some more pictures of my corals this week end to show how its going. Technically, you should be good with 2 on a 90. I have 4 on a 180. 72x24x24. Yeah I was thinking...

www.reef2reef.com

Disclaimer for anyone reading this. Redsea led's are nothing like a metal halide in any way. A point source light being compared to a metsl halide is one of the most irresponsible statements i have ever read. The red sea will have about 1000x as many shadows as a metal halide

Spieg · Oct 17, 2021

IMO the RedSea 50s are pretty worthless on anything larger than a nano tank. The 90s are better but too expensive for the amount of light they provide.

legionofdoon · Feb 18, 2022

Fakegolfnews said:
Disclaimer for anyone reading this. Redsea led's are nothing like a metal halide in any way. A point source light being compared to a metsl halide is one of the most irresponsible statements i have ever read. The red sea will have about 1000x as many shadows as a metal halide

Isn't Metal halide a point source light?

Spieg · Feb 18, 2022

legionofdoon said:
Isn't Metal halide a point source light?

Not with a good reflector.

dhnguyen · Feb 18, 2022

Fakegolfnews said:
Disclaimer for anyone reading this. Redsea led's are nothing like a metal halide in any way. A point source light being compared to a metsl halide is one of the most irresponsible statements i have ever read. The red sea will have about 1000x as many shadows as a metal halide

Really dude? I never said the Redsea is the equivalence of metal halide. Only that it has a metal halide like shimmer.

oreo54 · Feb 18, 2022

Spieg said:
Not with a good reflector.

Technically it' s now a 1000's of point light source.
"Shimmer" is a product of that.

The shiney reflector does not diffuse the err points 100%
Leds are multipoint point light sources.

T5's are non- point light sources.

Sun is a practically perfect point light source. Clouds and molecules its diffuser.

Yes mh's have less shadows and or lighter ones than most leds but more than the t5 " pointless" light source..

Sort of just semantics.

This distance is not so for the MH lamps used. These are point sources of light and when placed in a reflector the light emanates in a cone with intensity gradually decreasing as we move away from the central axis of the cone and with increasing distance from the source. For all practical purposes, the intensity as a single measure is not a sufficient measure of the quality of the reflector.

Analyzing Reflectors: Part I – Mogul Reflectors

Reflectors should be an integral part of any lighting system considered by the aquarist, since they play a vital role in establishing the intensity and light distribution over the aquarium.

reefs.com

Point is leds are closer to mh than mhs are to t5's

Reeferaddicts · Mar 10, 2022

I use 3x popbloom 90s on my 125g and then I use 2x red sea 50 on my 37g bowfront. The 125g some corals have grown a bit in 4 months. But the 37g has grown a lot in just 2 months. It could be the light schedule I have set on the red sea. Where as the popblooms I just have set to 4 season with lunar. I have 3 kessil a360x tuna I'm going to put on the 125g to replace the popblooms. But all in all they both look similar in lighting atleast to the eye. Shimmer is definitely better on red sea in my opinion.

Koh23 · Mar 10, 2022

Red sea are better lights than popbloom, and cost way more..

Yes popbloom units growth coral, but...

My main reason against them is totaly stupid presets, whuch arent controlable, so, if you select one of them, you cannot customize to your needs... I mean, how hard is to implement that into controller?

I want "reduce algae" preset, i want it to run from 8 am to 8pm, and i want it at 73% intensity... Sory, cant do that.....