Another light recommendation please

[OrionN]

I am in need to upgrade my light. I am an exclusive Radion reefer for the last 10+ years, ever since the first XR30 came out. I find the need to upgrade my light.
Please give me your opinions on which light you use, what you like and don't like about it.
My tank is a 72Lx30W and 28D. I mainly keep high light required animals, Gigantea anemones, Magnifica anemones and a lot of SPS. I like to keep Clams on the sand bed, the light needs to be strong enough to enable me to do this.
Light cost money. I am not going to cut corners and go cheap on lights. However, the high price got to be worth it. I obviously don't want to spend a lot of money for crabs. My tank is in a fish room so the actual artistic presentation of the light fixture may not be that important to me.
TIA if you care to give me your opinion. I will go through them carefully and use them in my consideration of which light system to get.

 

[jda]

Why are you replacing lights? Might be good to know.

 

[Crustaceon]

Have you considered metal halide?

 

[keatonmjenkins]

Check out Orpheks new OR3s for the Osix controller.

 

[LordofCinder]

MH + OR3 = amazing

 

[JamesTh]

Also how many lights are you looking to replace? With that length of tank you might need 2 at least? Most manufacturers will post the spread of each light on their sites.

so I’m still new to reef keeping (5 months), but I have a Kessel 360x light that I’m happy with. They get good reviews, but you pay extra eg for Wifi or a manual controller, which is built into other lights say like an ai prime. Something to bear in mind, when looking at them.

 

[jda]

If you have some acute issues that you are looking to deal with, then you might be able to get some help. Otherwise, you are likely better equipped to decide what is best for your tank than the people answering these threads - you know what you are doing.

If I was lighting this tank, reflectors would be my jam since they cover larger areas better. Hard to recommend MH right now with some new stuff likely coming and some other changes happening, but I also have gear laying around. I also don't live in a heat and humidity factory like the Texas Gulf Coast. If I had to use LEDs, I would use 2 rows of Photon V2s (4x36") since the best acropora reefs that I have ever seen are lit by them and especially Therman's tanks.

 

[keatonmjenkins]

Yeah I saw somewhere they they are going to stop producing the bulbs for MH.

 

[OrionN]

Why are you replacing lights? Might be good to know.

I only have old models mostly G3 and G4 pro Radion XR 30. I started out with 12, now I am down to 5 (after swabbing parts to get 5 working ones). 1 I cannot connect to adjust the programing. Connection with EchoSmart Live is problematic at best. downright terrible most of the time. My plant is to shiff all 5 to one side of the aquarium and use 1 or 2 fixture for the other side. EcoTech was the cutting edge of light technology 13 years ago. I don't think it is the best now, at least there are other options that are at least comparable. I plan to search and then decide.

Have you considered metal halide?

I have, but do not want to do it. I still have reflectors and ballasts. I am not going to use it. I think the heat output is too much for my fish room. I used to light my previous tank with 2400W total MH, then the pumps too. I have to get chiller running again and then air-conditioner for the fish room. I rather not. I think LED light is the way to go, as long as we can get the spectrum correct. I think our knowledge of light is such that we are there. I never have problem with color of my corals, anemones or clams.

Check out Orpheks new OR3s for the Osix controller.

MH + OR3 = amazing

I consider this but I saw a thread on this light with spread pattern at 30 inches on a white wall that have various color area, which really turn me off on this light.

Also how many lights are you looking to replace? With that length of tank you might need 2 at least? Most manufacturers will post the spread of each light on their sites.

so I’m still new to reef keeping (5 months), but I have a Kessel 360x light that I’m happy with. They get good reviews, but you pay extra eg for Wifi or a manual controller, which is built into other lights say like an ai prime. Something to bear in mind, when looking at them.

One side 36X30, then eventually both side

If you have some acute issues that you are looking to deal with, then you might be able to get some help. Otherwise, you are likely better equipped to decide what is best for your tank than the people answering these threads - you know what you are doing.

If I was lighting this tank, reflectors would be my jam since they cover larger areas better. Hard to recommend MH right now with some new stuff likely coming and some other changes happening, but I also have gear laying around. I also don't live in a heat and humidity factory like the Texas Gulf Coast. If I had to use LEDs, I would use 2 rows of Photon V2s (4x36") since the best acropora reefs that I have ever seen are lit by them and especially Therman's tanks.

I don't need it acutely. but I will eventually need to cover both sides. My tank has a metal bar in the middle so I cannot divide it into three area, just two.



I am hoping for pros and cons of these new lights. Price of reefing is going up and up. Each will be around $1000 so I am looking to spend 3000+ for lights.

 

[minus9]

If I were going all LED, the I would choose Reefi Uno Pro 2.0 as my main light, then add in some Quanta Pro bars (meso blue and tropic sun). I would also add a couple Kessil's for shimmer, but that's purely for aesthetics. Reefi's are super strong lights, so they can get the job done on their own. Read Telegraham's take on the Reefi here.

 

[dadnjesse]

Yeah I saw somewhere they they are going to stop producing the bulbs for MH.

Most likely has something to do with climate control

 

[OrionN]

If I were going all LED, the I would choose Reefi Uno Pro 2.0 as my main light, then add in some Quanta Pro bars (meso blue and tropic sun). I would also add a couple Kessil's for shimmer, but that's purely for aesthetics. Reefi's are super strong lights, so they can get the job done on their own. Read Telegraham's take on the Reefi here.

Is this a blue spectrum light. What about the duo extreme? Is this light have a daylight around 7500K to 10000K visual look?

 

[minus9]

Is this a blue spectrum light. What about the duo extreme? Is this light have a daylight around 7500K to 10000K visual look?

I’m not sure about going down to 7500k, but I think it has a 10k setting? @telegraham can give you the skinny on the exact spectrum offerings. Kessil Tuna Sun would give the 6500k look all day long. As I mentioned earlier, I would pair it with the Quanta pro Tropic sun bars.

 

[OrionN]

@minus9
I really like the Reefi Uno Pro 2.0. Looks like the 2.0 version really has significant innovation and improvement over the previous version, not just boost power. Are you updating your light to the Uno Pro 2.0?
Do/will you have the glass panel under the light to protect it from water spashes? I plan to mount it about 10-14 inches or so over the water, but my fishes are rowdy so I think I will get the glass. I hope that the fixture will feel solid instead of flimsy to handle.
I am going to sit on this for a few weeks, trying to read more about other lights, but I think I will get the Uno Pro 2.0
Thanks a lot.

 

[telegraham]

Is this a blue spectrum light. What about the duo extreme? Is this light have a daylight around 7500K to 10000K visual look?

If you want a whiter look, consider the GHL Mitras. Keith's peninsula is a great example of a whiter tank lit by Mitras - https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsLp84SgDhH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MTIyMzRjYmRlZg==

I can provide the spectrum he's running.

I run two Mitras and a single ReeFi Uno Pro 2.0 over an IM100. The Uno adds more intense violets and gives me the look I like. The Duo Extreme will produce a spectrum that's more similar to the newer Uno Pro 2.0, but that's all just opinion. Since you asked about the Duo Extreme, here's some data:

Duo Extreme (tuned spectrum) vs ATI Blue Plus

Duo Extreme vs Neptune Sky (all channels at 100%)

 

[OrionN]

@telegraham
The Duo Extreme is the color graph and the other is the white line, correct?
The second graph is where everything is at 100% on Duo Extreem (or both fixture), while the first on is with white light chanels turn down somewhat?
Thanks for taken the time.

Does the fixture handle solid to your feel?
How easy is it to clean the heat fins. I find it is a pain in the behind to try to clean heat sink fins in the Radion. This is an extremely important thing to do to keep the light function well. I though the designer would pay more attention to this step so user can easily clean it.

 

[telegraham]

The second graph is where everything is at 100% on Duo Extreem (or both fixture), while the first on is with white light chanels turn down somewhat?

Both fixtures are running all channels at 100%. The ReeFi will give you more adjustability than the Sky.

Cleaning is easy, as disassembly is easy. The ReeFi's are well constructed.

 

[minus9]

@minus9
I really like the Reefi Uno Pro 2.0. Looks like the 2.0 version really has significant innovation and improvement over the previous version, not just boost power. Are you updating your light to the Uno Pro 2.0?
Do/will you have the glass panel under the light to protect it from water spashes? I plan to mount it about 10-14 inches or so over the water, but my fishes are rowdy so I think I will get the glass. I hope that the fixture will feel solid instead of flimsy to handle.
I am going to sit on this for a few weeks, trying to read more about other lights, but I think I will get the Uno Pro 2.0
Thanks a lot.

No plans on going back to all LEDs just yet, but if I were, these (Uno 2.0) would be the top of my list, along with Quanta Pro bars. I've always like the Mitras, but I absolutely hate GHL's software, as I'm a mac user and think PC's are for computer programmers who love to constantly tinker around. If GHL ditched the mandatory PC connection to update/control their products, I would be sold on them. Sorry, if you can't tell, I hate PC's!
I am running an all Kessil system on my nano setup, which uses two 360x's and a single 500x over my 10g lagoon, which has a couple mangroves and hopefully a couple croceas in the near future. I'm using their 35 degree lens on the 500x and have my new derasa in there and it's putting on new shell growth every day. I have it mounted about 2' from the water line and I'm only at 40% intensity now, which gives me 250 micro moles on the sand. I love Kessil's, so I would probably have a mix of different LEDs on an all LED system, but that's just me. @telegraham is right about Keith's system, it looks great and has the "radium" look, which is very familiar to us old school reefers.
The Mitra's may be better suited to your liking, it's just a matter of dealing with their software when first setting them up? I don't tinker with lights, so this may be a non issue once they are set up and running. Sorry to take you down a side street here, but just thinking out loud.

 

[oreo54]

Most likely has something to do with climate control

https://mercuryconvention.org/en

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www.thelancet.com

 

[telegraham]

The Mitra's may be better suited to your liking, it's just a matter of dealing with their software when first setting them up? I don't tinker with lights, so this may be a non issue once they are set up and running. Sorry to take you down a side street here, but just thinking out loud.

The Mitras are like second nature to me now, but I understand we all have our preferred interface. I actually prefer the GHL interface over Mobius.