Which Lighting for a Reefer 250 or Reefer 300

[Timsz]

Hey,
my name is Tim and im from germany. I want to start my first saltwaterreef but im not sure which Lighting is the right for my tank. I want to run a mixed Reef with some LPS and SPS corals. My Budget for a Lighting is about 600-800$.

 

[Rick Krejci]

I have the reefer 250 and run an Orphek Atlantik on it and it's fantastic. Great coverage, great light and can be gotten at times for about $900.

Getting 2 of the new Ecotech XR15 Gen 5's would be great as well, but again a little high ($840).

Your best bet for a great setup would be 2 XR15 Gen 4's bought used...there should be a lot coming on the used market with the new Gen 5's coming out.

You can also pick up a XR30 Gen 4 light for $544 at Premium Aquatics and add it to and Aquaticlife 36" Hybrid T5 fixture which would be about right at your high end.

Other lights (Kessil, Hydra...) are all great as well.

 

[NanoDJS]

Um the redsea 90s of course

 

[Timsz]

So is 1 orphek even enough for a reefer 250?

I literally dont like the look of the Redseas 90

 

[NanoDJS]

What do you mean about the look , the light itself or the light it makes in the tank. My testing so far puts these lights waaaay out in the lead for LEDs . Also you could make the spectrum anything you wanted . from 25k -8000k The shimmer is awesome and the only lights with cloud cover variable , research the cloud effect on sps reef , youll be surprised also the growth , color , and health is insane. They are extremely powerful lights also akin to MH .

 

[Rick Krejci]

The non-compact is definitely enough...it's 28" wide and provides great coverage and deep penetration. Brs did a nice review of it. Provides a good compromise of shimmer and lack of harsh shadows without disco effect, which I hate. I found the single lens lights like the Kessils (and I suppose the redsea) overly shimmery, but that's just my taste. I actually didn't like the XR15 gen4's disco effect, but with the diffuser it was great.

I love the ability to get deep violets on the Radions and the Orpheks, and wasn't too fond of the windex look of the Kessils (and looking at the reviews the Redsea).

I find the Orphek is quieter than the Radion Gen 4, and it sounds like the Gen 5's are no quieter.

What really sold mo on the Orphek over the Radion (that I had before) was that I HATE the glare of the light when you're looking at the tank, and the Radion's are very glarey. The Orphek's lenses don't allow much light at all outside the tank. I wasn't fond of the thick exposed plexiglass at the bottom that kind of glowed, so I put some black tape around it and it looks like it was meant to be there.

All just personal preferences....been through a lot of different lights and ended up with this one and I really like it.