Need recommendations on water flow pumps and lighting for a Red Sea Reefer 750XXL

[ReefOC]

I am back in the hobby after a 25 year break. Needless to say, everything has changed. A friend of mine sold me his Red Sea Reefer Classic 750xxl. I am aware of the leak concerns, but I have already leak tested it and it is great!

I am looking now at the flow and lighting for the tank. My local fish store went out of business and I was able to pick up 2 XR15 Gen 4 lights which seem to be a good fit for the new reefer.

What wave makers would you suggest It seems like for flow the Ecotech MP40's are the Ferrari choice and then there is the Aquaillumination Orbit 4's)? Need your recommendations on which are recommended and how many I need, as I have nothing yet.

What lighting would you suggest? I have heard that my XR15's are great, but I only have 2. I hear Orphek OR4 (not yet released) are going to be the ferrari's. Then I see many using black box Viparspectr. Not sure where to go with this.

I am trying to get a good setup that isn't going to be a mortgage payment. I appreciate anyone's guidance!

 

[Spare time]

If you could tell me more about what features you want in the light, including mounting style, shimmer, and price, I can list a few.

 

[ReefOC]

If you could tell me more about what features you want in the light, including mounting style, shimmer, and price, I can list a few.

My wife is skeptical of the attractiveness of my new tank (picture here from this morning). So I need to find a lighting solution that is elegant and functional. One last item, I also got a 4' long mounting bar when my LFS went out of business, but it came with the metal wires that are used to hang from the ceiling, which I don't think are attractive.

To respond directly to your questions:
Mounting style: back mount or something that doesn't involve things hanging from the ceiling

Shimmer: I love shimmer, so that is something I seek, but don't have a clue to attain that.

Price: I bought 2 XR15 Gen 4 for $350 each. I assume that is a good deal. Given that lights are critical for me since I am planning on it having corals, I am hoping to keep my costs in the middle (not cheap, but not Ferrari). I don't know how to describe my cost goals other than I need a Toyota, not a Ferrari or a Yugo.

Thank you for those questions, as I hadn't even considered that those are very important for the lighting.

 

[Spare time]

Expensive: Radions, Kessils, Reefi

Cheap: Noopsyche


My favorite would be kessils plus an led bar like the AI Blade but Noopsyche is great for the money.

 

[ReefOC]

Expensive: Radions, Kessils, Reefi

Cheap: Noopsyche

Is there any middle ground on lighting? Any recommendation on which you would choose?

 

[Spare time]

Is there any middle ground on lighting? Any recommendation on which you would choose?

Unfortunately I think there is very little in between. Most companies have been focusing on high end lights. If money is a big factor, noopsyche would be my option. You could do 3-4 and they are pretty popular on here. You could try 3 AI blades too which would be in between. You may want to add another down the road depending on the coral (though I would think 3 to be enough; 2 probably would work too but this is a guess off of the par map on their website.).

 

[Spare time]

As for powerheads, I tend to buy the cheap sicce voyagers because they last forever and are anemone proof. They are not DC though. I have used jebao slw's without an issue and those are dc.

 

[ReefOC]

As for powerheads, I tend to buy the cheap sicce voyagers because they last forever and are anemone proof. They are not DC though. I have used jebao slw's without an issue and those are dc.

Since my tank is a 160 gallon and the glass seems exceptionally thick (Red Sea Reefer 750xxl classic) which of the Jaebo and Sicce would you choose?

 

[Spare time]

Since my tank is a 160 gallon and the glass seems exceptionally thick (Red Sea Reefer 750xxl classic) which of the Jaebo and Sicce would you choose?

Hmm I would check the rating on them to see which works with that glass thickness. Is this an lps/softie tank, mixed, or sps?

 

[ReefOC]

Hmm I would check the rating on them to see which works with that glass thickness. Is this an lps/softie tank, mixed, or sps?

I'm not very good at my corals yet, but here is what I have thus far. I have hammer coral, torches, bubble tip anemones, oregon blue tort, slimer red and green, rainbow stony coral and frogspawn thus far. I am dabbling to be honest. I love the look of some stony stuff and the shelving coral looks amazing to me also. Does that help answer your questions?

 

[ReefOC]

As for powerheads, I tend to buy the cheap sicce voyagers because they last forever and are anemone proof. They are not DC though. I have used jebao slw's without an issue and those are dc.

What size would you use of those two for a 160gallon? I see a Jaebo slw 30. Is that large enough?

 

[ReefOC]

Unfortunately I think there is very little in between. Most companies have been focusing on high end lights. If money is a big factor, noopsyche would be my option. You could do 3-4 and they are pretty popular on here. You could try 3 AI blades too which would be in between. You may want to add another down the road depending on the coral (though I would think 3 to be enough; 2 probably would work too but this is a guess off of the par map on their website.).

Thank you!! I truly appreciate the feedback. So much to consider.

 

[ReefOC]

Since my tank is a 160 gallon and the glass seems exceptionally thick (Red Sea Reefer 750xxl classic) which of the Jaebo and Sicce would you choose?

So do I understand? You'd prefer sicce over the DC Jaebo?

 

[Vinaka_vakalevu]

lights are truly subjective. they will all grow coral. id look at these A8SE lights talked about here in this post and add a led bar angled from the front of the tank to fill shadows.

AliExpress A8SE Reef Light

Anyone have any experience with this light? Just found it browsing AliExpress and thought it looked to be a pretty good knock off of the XR30 AliExpress A8SE I tried searching but nothing came up unless I was searching wrong

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Spare time]

So do I understand? You'd prefer sicce over the DC Jaebo?

Its really a preference and depends on the corals you want. If I was going to do an SPS only tank, I would probably get a dc wavemaker that can create variable surges. The budget option is to have two cheaper wavemakers on each side. I tend to be budget oriented (PhD student budget yay) so I tend to avoid the extravagant options. You can always try a cheap wavemaker like the ones I mentioned, and if it doesn't work to your liking, you can keep it as a backup. Jebao is hit or miss from what I have read but I haven't had problems. There are lots of relatively cheaper dc options out there so that is always something to remember.

 

[Vinaka_vakalevu]

ill be adding Jebao ow powerheads and gyres to my 70 gal that im currently setting up.