Xho vs orphek 3 blue plus

[Ruizm]

Hi,

I'm wondering which light gives more pop to coral.

 

[Smite]

Tagging along. I know reefbrite kills it in the spread department but I'm interested in a color comparison also.

 

[Ruizm]

Tagging along. I know reefbrite kills it in the spread department but I'm interested in a color comparison also.

Many claim orphek gives more pop.. interesting to see more thoughts

 

[kev.2013]

AliExpress sells a light bar, you can get it customized for 450/470nm lights. Super good build quality, looks the same as Orphek and is only like $50. Recommend this 100%

 

[Hermie]

When you want to compare the two bars....

It comes down to How far above your water surface are you putting the light??????????

High = go with the Orphek
Low = go with the reefbrite

Want some serious spotlight punch? go with orphek mounted low but it's not my cup of tea. It shadows hard.


What did I do???

I got two orpheks and removed the lenses and sanded/dulled the surface of one of the bars' clear plastic lens cover to diffuse the light more. So I basically mount Orpheks low and DIY diffuse them. I think the Orphek LEDs are more powerful watt for watt when you look at light output.

 

[Hermie]

Many claim orphek gives more pop.. interesting to see more thoughts

brings out colors in my red acan that make me feel guilty like I'm over-exposing/lighting the coral; it does give more of the disco ball effect since it uses a more varied set of LEDs; the XHO will blend that LED disco effect a bit more since it's using multiples of the same LEDs (wavelength), but in the end they are both LED bars which means tons of disco ball that T5 does not have.

 

[Ruizm]

When you want to compare the two bars....

It comes down to How far above your water surface are you putting the light??????????

High = go with the Orphek
Low = go with the reefbrite

Want some serious spotlight punch? go with orphek mounted low but it's not my cup of tea. It shadows hard.


What did I do???

I got two orpheks and removed the lenses and sanded/dulled the surface of one of the bars' clear plastic lens cover to diffuse the light more. So I basically mount Orpheks low and DIY diffuse them. I think the Orphek LEDs are more powerful watt for watt when you look at light output.

Hi,

Thanks , besides the par and spread. Which light gives more pop regardless?

 

[Hermie]

Hi,

Thanks , besides the par and spread. Which light gives more pop regardless?

define pop

 

[Ruizm]

define pop

Pop , meaning more color fluorescence to the coral. Thanks

 

[smiley28]

When you want to compare the two bars....

It comes down to How far above your water surface are you putting the light??????????

High = go with the Orphek
Low = go with the reefbrite

Want some serious spotlight punch? go with orphek mounted low but it's not my cup of tea. It shadows hard.


What did I do???

I got two orpheks and removed the lenses and sanded/dulled the surface of one of the bars' clear plastic lens cover to diffuse the light more. So I basically mount Orpheks low and DIY diffuse them. I think the Orphek LEDs are more powerful watt for watt when you look at light output.

I thought reefbrites put out higher par with the actinic/blue bars? Will definitely have to take another look soon.

 

[bobnicaragua]

The XHO is comparable to the Orphek blue sky. The blue plus has a wider range of LED colors and does not pop as well. As stated above, the Orpheks needs to be mounted higher and have a narrower spread.

 

[HeyLookItsCaps]

XHO’s with T5 in the middle for growth hours!

 

[minus9]

I currently use a combo of Kessil and Orphek OR2 blue plus and when the Orpheks kick on, there’s another level of fluorescence that happens. Colors pop pretty good with Kessil’s alone, but the combo of sides in the blue plus really bring out some colors. That said, I would probably use the blue sky’s or better yet, modded AliE bars.

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Orphik for color, reefbrite xho for par and spread.

 

[Hermie]

Orphek likely has more PAR in wavelengths that the reefbrite LED's do not. To the best of my knowledge it is better to have LEDs that can excite corals using specific wavelengths and thus hit their "sweet spot" instead of having a lot of "broad range" LEDs but that is just my guess.

 

[Hermie]

I thought reefbrites put out higher par with the actinic/blue bars? Will definitely have to take another look soon.

No that isn't the case. If anything the Orphek may put out more PAR when you mount it higher and match the width of the reefbrite beams however that is the Orphek's weak spot. The Orphek is like a laser beam almost so you need to space them almost like T5's IMO over the tank in order to spread their hot spots over the entire tank surface.

 

[mfinn]

I tried both and decided I liked the Reef Brite XHO's color better.
Just a personal choice.
I had 2 pairs of both and mounted them over my 66 gallon lps tank at the same time. This way I could switch back and forth and compare color instantly.
I tried each brand alone, then with 2 T5 bulbs on and then with all 6.